Cryptozoology in the Movies - Coming Soon!

Coming soon...what looks to be a great new book from good mate, Neil Arnold!

Spirits of the Wildmen?

Is it possible that at least some reports of so-called British "wild men" are actually the ghosts of ancient, Neolithic hunters? If it sounds controversial, that's because it is! The question is one that is posed in my latest Mysterious Universe article, which begins like this:

"As people who have read my books Man-Monkey and Wildman! will know, I have a deep fascination for stories, accounts, and legends relative to what might be termed the 'British Bigfoot.' The problem, as I note in both the above-books, is that the UK is simply not large enough to hide, or feed, entire colonies of large, marauding, ape-like creatures, or primitive, hair-covered humanoids. That people see them, and have done so for centuries, however, makes the whole matter even more mysterious.

"When it comes to trying to ascertain the true nature of the British Bigfoot and 'wild man' encounters – which is a deeply fraught and difficult task at the very best of times – the theories are as wide and varied as they are controversial and thought-provoking. But, without doubt, one of the most engaging of all scenarios to explain this undeniably nationwide, ancient conundrum comes from friend and fellow creature-seeker Neil Arnold, whose views on the matter I secured in a January 2012 interview…"

As for the complete article, it's right here...

Reviewing the CFZ Yearbook

Over at Mania.com, my latest Lair of the Beasts article takes a look at the newly-published Center for Fortean Zoology Yearbook 2013.

Here's the link to the review, and here's an extract from it:

"...Neil Arnold tells the strange and entertaining saga of the 'Essex Lion.' In late 2012, fear and chaos broke out in the English county of Essex, when rumors spread like wildfire of a fully-grown, man-eating lion on the loose. Arnold does a fine job of dissecting fact from fiction as he seeks out the truth of the affair.

"Werewolves and lycanthropy in 18th Century France are the focus of Paul Williams’ paper, Le Gevaudan: The Man behind the Monster. This is an excellent study of a case involving an alleged outbreak of lycanthropy, as well as a fierce beast on the loose. It’s a saga that also inspired a very cool 2001 movie, Brotherhood of the Wolf..."

Shadows on the Sea: New Book

 

Neil Arnold has a new book out right now.

It covers a wide range of British-based fortean phenomena, but with one central theme: all of the cases in the book occurred at sea.

Very appropriately, it's titled Shadows on the Sea: The Maritime Mysteries of Britain.

In the UK, you can buy it here, and if you're US-based, right here.

And here's the press-release for the book:

SHADOWS ON THE SEA: THE MARITIME MYSTERIES OF BRITAIN

A new book by Neil Arnold (Published by The History Press) ISBN- 978-0-7524-8772-4

Ever wondered just what strange things lurk in the cold depths of Britain’s foaming seas? Ever taken the time to peek down into those grey waters as you’re fishing, or skinny-dipping off a rugged coastline?

Now, for the first-time ever Britain’s underwater domain can be viewed in a different light as monster-hunter Neil Arnold takes us hundreds, if not thousands of metres beneath the sea in the hope of finding out if those seafaring tales of monsters and mysterious manifestations are true. Do strange beasts resembling serpents inhabit those inky depths? What of those old folktales concerning mermaids - mere superstition or fact?

Fisherman have long spoken of “the one that got away” but what of those seemingly tall stories that speak of haunted boats and phantom vessels – ships believed to have been wrecked many years previous on harsh coastlines, only to reappear on the horizon with tatty sails unmoved by the wind. Can we truly believe the stories told by witnesses of spectral sailors and ghostly crewmen aboard ships that have not seen action for decades? And can we discount those even stranger tales where those aboard great ships and smaller boats too, have reported seeing unusual lights emerge from, and enter the frothing waters?

Forget Peter Benchley’s classic novel Jaws, SHADOWS ON THE SEA – THE MARITIME MYSTERIES OF BRITAIN is a real-life exploration in search of those horrors of the deep that you dismissed (or believed in!) for years.

Along with several tales pertaining to sea-related superstitions, you’ll also hear about cursed sea-chests, the Devil and the deep blue sea, haunted cliffs and beaches, smugglers tales, strange coastal swarms, killer sands, haunted lighthouses, phantom bells at sea, ghostly lands, haunted buoys, spooky submarines and close encounters of the coastal kind.

SHADOWS ON THE SEA (which includes a foreword by Jonathan Downes of the Centre for Fortean Zoology) covers all manner of British maritime mysteries, so, just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water – it isn’t!

Available from all good bookshops and online. Priced £12.99

Kent Urban Legends: New Book

Good mate Neil Arnold has a new book out right now. Its title: Kent Urban Legends: The Phantom Hitch-Hiker and Other Stories.

And here's the blurb from the publisher:

"What happens if you dance naked around the Devil's Bush in Pluckley, Kent's most haunted village? Do 'big cats' roam the local woods? Does the Devil appear if you manage to count the 'countless stones' at Aylesford? Is Bloody Mary more than just a childhood rumour? Does a phantom hitchhiker haunt the dark lanes of Blue Bell Hill?

"KENT URBAN LEGENDS is a new book by full-time monster hunter and folklorist Neil Arnold, a strange, quirky and downright weird collection of tales reputedly true yet never proven, passed down through generations and best told around a flickering campfire.

"Chinese whispers, playground murmurs, Internet rumours, and friend of a friend tales are the most potent in that they can embed themselves into a local community despite the fact such yarns are not true. Stories can spread like wildfire despite lacking any detail, causing a snowball effect that can affect an entire village, town or city.

"KENT URBAN LEGENDS looks at a number of stories not just related to the county of Kent, but legends which have spread across the world, varying depending on the storyteller. Have you heard the one about the famous footballer who paid the mortgage of a couple who had booked their wedding on the same day as his?

"Have you heard about the girl whose hair was so dirty that all manner of creepy crawlies took up residence and eventually burrowed into her brain? And what about the woman who chomped down on her Chinese takeaway only to find the remains of some animal? These type of stories are known the world over, and you can guarantee that there's always someone you know who knows someone else this has happened to.

"Urban legends come in all shapes and sizes, but for the most part they are tales of horror - confined to mist-enshrouded lanes and eerie woods, but with KENT URBAN LEGENDS you'll also find out what happens if you play a heavy metal record backwards, or if some horror movies are cursed. You'll also find out if the Chelsea Smilers really did slash the mouths of school children in the 1980s, and what really happened to the woman who had a Killer In The Backseat of her car.

"Whilst tales of the Bunnyman, The Hook, and The Babysitter & The Man Upstairs may seem to have their origins in the USA, Neil proves that there's more to these scare stories than meets the eye, and delves into similar tales from Kent often involving lone female motorists and cavorting couples brave enough to venture into the night.

"From video nasties, to phantom viruses, from chain letters, to tales of monstrous bogeymen and out of place animals, KENT URBAN LEGENDS is one book you won't want to read before camping, driving, babysitting, or eating a meal! Be warned...the bogeyman is real after all!

"KENT URBAN LEGENDS, with a foreword by Janet Bord (Alien Animals), is an essential book to be read by candlelight! Available from Amazon and all good bookshops, priced £9.99."

Neil Arnold: Reviewing Wildman

Neil Arnold - the author of many excellent books on cryptozoological and paranormal subjects, including Monster! and The Mystery Animals of the British Isles: London - has written a great review of my book, Wildman, the subject of which is Bigfoot in Britain.

Here's Neil's review:

"For centuries there have been sporadic reports in the wilds of Britain of strange, bipedal hair-covered beings, akin to the humanoid known as Bigfoot, often sighted in the Pacific Northwest. Although Britain harbours dense woodlands and ancient forest it has never been inhabited by any species of ape - so, what exactly are people seeing? Flesh and blood creature undiscovered by science? Hoaxers dressed up in gorilla suits? Paranormal manimals? Or something far weirder?

"Nick Redfern has written one of the most important cryptozoological and Fortean books of all time in 'Wildman,' because whilst books regarding American Bigfoot are two a penny nowadays, this quest is something altogether more unique as Nick delves into the archives, interviews witnesses, and trudges through some of Britain's most inhospitable - and not so remote - wilds in search of a creature that simply cannot be. And yet the reports persist, a majority describing hulking ape-men with burning red eyes.

"These figures do not sound like your average monkey that has escaped from a zoo or circus , and yet Nick looks at these possibilities too with numerous cases pertaining to escapees from menageries and the like. Theories are put forward by several dedicated monster-hunters and zoologists as to what these manifestations could be, connecting such forms with age-old legends such as the Green Man, and the Woodwose of Medieval lore.

"It's as if folklore has come to life. Nick peels back the layers of these incredible mysteries, and covers all manner of surreal and frightening cases from places such as Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk, and the Bolam Lake area of Northumberland where a group of witnesses claimed to have seen a hairy man-beast.

"No stone remains unturned in 'Wildman', so, if you don't know your Man-Monkey from you Shug-Monkey, then it's time to grab a torch and with stout heart venture into the deep, dark woods of British folklore, and let Nick Redfern be your guide. 'Wildman' is essential reading for any monster-hunter, ghost investigator, paranormal enthusiast, zoologist, cryptozoologist, historian and seeker of all things unnatural. Brace yourself for a hairy ride."

Neil Arnold on my new book: Wildman

Neil Arnold, author of many books, including Monster! and The Mystery Animals of the British Isles: London, says of my new book, Wildman:

"For many years there have been occasional reports in the wilds of the UK of what people term 'hairy men' and by that we don't just mean the local flasher on the loose! Although legends pertaining to creatures known as Bigfoot and the Yeti are hazy to say the least, can you imagine just how absurd it would sound if such beasts - or similar forms - were reported in the not so inhospitable woods of Britain! Well, since Medieval times there have been alleged encounters with 'wild men of the woods,' hulking great hairy bipedal figures that quite simply cannot be flesh and blood animals. So, what are they? Hallucination? Too many witnesses coming home from the pub? Hoaxes? Or esoteric manifestations connected to the human psyche or something weirder? In his new book, WILDMAN, author Nick Redfern investigates numerous accounts across the British Isles involving those elusive and seemingly supernatural monsters that seem to resemble those hairy hominids of lands far away. Could a Bigfoot-type of animal roam the forests and woods of Britain and remain undetected by science? Highly unlikely, so what are people seeing? Are these creatures connected to the history or magic of a place? Have they been raised occult rituals? Nick Redfern presents a unique case study of such accounts, putting forward his theories - separating fact from fiction - and peeling back the layers of one of Britain's most intriguing yet obscure mysteries. Join Nick as he scours the valleys of Wales, the forests of Scotland, the woods of Kent, the darkest corners of rural Staffordshire, and just about every ruinous abbey, creaky mansion, and underground dwelling in search of those things that cannot be. Published by CFZ PRESS, 'WILDMAN' is one hairy read that should not be missed. Available from Amazon and all good bookstores."

A Puma Of The Black Kind?

Over at the Center for Fortean Zoology's Mystery Cats Study Group blog, Neil Arnold takes a look at the controversy surrounding the "Black Puma"...

Peacock High-Strangeness

This is weird. Well, kind of...

In Wisconsin new reports have surfaced of sightings of peacocks and Bigfoot. So what? Well, this is not the first time peacocks and bizarre beasts have appeared in the same story.

In 2004, me and Jon Downes (pictured proudly posing below in the El Yunque Rain-Forest), of the British-based Center for Fortean Zoology, traveled to Puerto Rico with the SyFy Channel's Proof Positive show to film an episode on the Chupacabras. While we were there, Jon and I headed out to a farm high in the hills where the owner had lost an entire collection of peacocks to what he believed was the diabolical predator, the Chupacabras.

As the crew filmed, a familiar story was told to us of animals drained of blood; of vampire-style puncture wounds on the necks of the birds, and of an overwhelming paranoid fear that would pervade the entire area after darkness fell.

Moving on, in my 2008 book, There's Something in the Woods, I related the strange saga of a large, monkey-type creature seen crossing a field and a road next to the ancient Chartley Castle, Staffordshire, England in 1986. Yep, that's the castle:

The same field was the site of a Crop Circle I investigated in 2006 - inside of which were a number of peacock feathers (see the photo at the top of this post).

And here's the field and the Crop Circle:

Then, there are the following words of good mate Neil Arnold that appear in his Shadows in the Sky book. There's no attendant beast in this case, but it's still a weird peacock-themed saga:

"One of the most baffling ghost bird stories appeared on the BBC website in November 2006 under the heading, ‘Ghost peacock baffles rescuers’, after motorists in East Sussex had claimed to have run over a bird that left no trace. The mystery began when a female witness, driving on the A267 near Five Ashes, called wildlife rescuers to say she’d hit a peacock. The following day a lorry driver also claimed to have run over the bird. Rescue co-ordinator Trevor Weeks, examined the site of the alleged road kill but could find no trace of the bird. The arches of the lorry were examined but no sign of blood or feathers could be found..."

So what does all this mean? Damned if I know! If only John Keel or Charles Fort were still around to help us figure it out...





Neil Arnold on Binnall of America

This just in from Tim Binnall of Binnall of America:


Neil Arnold
Monster! - The A-Z of Zooform  Phenomena
2 Hours, 20  Minutes
BoA:Audio examines the nebulous area between cryptids and  the paranormal as we welcome Neil Arnold,  author of the book Monster! - The A-Z of  Zooform Phenomena. Over the course of the conversation, we'll discuss the  zooform theory, potential candidates for zooform phenomena, trends in zooform  reporting, creatures like Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, Mothman, and the  Highgate Vampire as well as UFOs, MIBs, and alien abductions. We'll also talk  about the Big Cat phenomenon in England as well as the overal 'tulpafication' of  many paranormal entities.
Altogether, it is a mindbending edition of the  program that will have you looking at numerous paranormal mysteries from an  entirely different angle as we delve into the realm of the zooforms with Neil  Arnold.

And here's the link to the episode...

That "Essex Lion" Farce...

Neil Arnold (right, in the photo above) takes a deep look at the "Essex Lion" story and provides us with what is probably the only voice of sanity in this sorry saga!

Neil begins:

"Okay, so the rumours circulated that there was a lion on the loose near Clacton in Essex. How many more stories like this are going to be followed up by droves of police officers and reported on my drama hungry papers ? It's a sorry state of affairs, and it's hysteria that makes a mockery of my research because when investigators, as usual, find no evidence of the lion king, everyone starts laughing and saying that there are no large cats roaming Britain."

And here's the link to Neil's complete post.

Monstrous Origins

Ever wondered how people in the Fortean world got their starts? Here's a new Lair of the Beasts post from me at Mania.com that focuses on good friend Neil Arnold's origins in the worlds of Cryptozoology and the unexplained.

The Hackney Horror

On May 24, over at Cryptomundo, Loren Coleman posted an intriguing article on a series of curious photos said to show a weird-looking animal at England's Hackney Marshes. You can find Loren's article right here.

As many within Forteana will know, the marshes are legendary for sightings of odd things, including (rather astonishingly and controversially!) bears, both physical and ghostly.

And, you can find more from me on these additional rogue-like cases from Hackney Marshes at Cryptomundo.

First, there's this one, that links to a feature good mate Neil Arnold (pictured with me above a couple of years ago) wrote on the Hackney mysteries.

Second, is this story, which reveals the latest news and theories on the creature - which, of all things, ties in with a UK rock band!

And, finally, there is this post from me, which covers an issue raised in the previous article. Namely, that of a famous Canadian dog and its ties to Cryptozoology...

A Monstrous Anniversary Looms!

So, what anniversary might it be? My latest post for Cryptomundo reveals all...