Breaking News

Dracontologist Jacques Boisvert Dies Suddenly

Monster hunter, scuba diver, historian, and ecologist, Jacques Boisvert, died on Saturday, February 4, 2006, at age 73, suddenly, untimely, and quietly, according to the Magog, Quebec newspaper The Outlet. Ironically, Jacques recommended I place myself on the mailing list of this small newspaper, which is not online. The paper’s arrival today was my first awareness of his death. Jacques Boisvert was born on October 11, 1932, in Magog, Quebec, the fourth of five children of Omer Boisvert and Jeanne Estelle Guilbert. He worked for his father’s insurance, investment, and ski management business for many years, assuming ownership in 1988. [...]

The Night Stalker Has Died

The Night Stalker is dead. Darren McGavin died at the age of 83, early on Saturday, February 25, 2006, in California. Kolchak: The Night Stalker, starring Darren McGavin in the lead role, in two television movies and in one of the shortest but most memorable television series (1974-1975), had frequent creature themes. It is often discussed with affection by cryptofiction fans. McGavin in the 1970s as "Carl Kolchak" As the Internet Movie Database notes: "Carl Kolchak was a reporter for Chicago’s Independent News Service, and a trouble magnet for situations involving the supernatural. Kolchak turned his investigative skills to vampires, [...]

Coelacanth Images

“The coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) is the darling of cryptozoology, a true living fossil. Its story demonstrates that unknown, undiscovered, or at least long-thought-extinct animals can still be found – especially in the oceans.” – – from The Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep . My Boing Boing buddy David Pescovitz, an astute student of cryptozoology, highlights the following coelacanth image and writes: “Ben Sakoguchi has painted hundreds of acrylic-on-canvas works inspired by the colorful labels found on crates of California oranges from the 1880s to the 1950s.” Pescovitz’s favorite fish has a [...]

“Flying Dinosaurs”

Two new publications have appeared on the little-discussed subject of what is popularly referred to as "flying dinosaurs." These two works, however, are at separate ends of the cryptozoology continuum. One is a non-fiction review of the sightings over North America of pterodactyl-like creatures, and the other is a comic graphic novel. Intriguingly, their promotional imagery is reminiscent of each other. In Volume 10, Number 2 of the journal Wonders, cryptozoologist and the journal’s editor Mark A. Hall tackles living dinosaurs, first in an article about ones that soar. The flying variety over his home continent are detailed. Also Hall [...]

Prominent Pennsylvania Puma Seeker Dies

Cryptomundo Exclusive Obituary On Saturday, February 18, 2006, at 6:05 AM, in Pennsylvania, one of the country’s best-kept-secrets, a modest but renowned behind-the-scenes eastern cougar hunter passed away. Roger Cowburn, 77, of Potter County, Pennsylvania, died. Roger Cowburn of Galeton, Pennslyvania, is a member of the Eastern Puma Research Network, a group actively searching for evidence that eastern panthers are still found in parts of eastern North America. (G. Parker) The Penn State’s Nittany Lions are nationally known, mostly as a football team. But the “Nittany Lions” didn’t pop out of the air as a name. Nittany is the mountain [...]