Merbeings

Mermaid Queen Has Died

Famed model Diane Webber, whose image influenced a pre-Disney generation of Merbeing admirers, has died. Images.

Hobgoblin At Hobbs Point

In the 1967 movie Five Million Years to Earth, a new subway excavation in the Hobbs End section of London unearths an apparent extraterrestrial craft. The scientists involved in the unraveling of this drama soon discover this part of London on Hobbs Lane has a long history of poltergeist, haunting and apparition activities. One keen young researcher discovers an old street sign near the diggings, and she notes the spelling is “Hob’s Lane,” not “Hobbs Lane.” “Hob,” it turns out, is another name for “devil,” or the “Devil,” if you prefer. Some words do not appear to be what they [...]

LaCrosse Lizardman

Then there’s… …the mid-90s encounter another man and his son had by the riverbank in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, while hunting for a lost dog. They saw what they described as a “Lizardman,” covered in brownish scales and very reptilian-looking. ~ Linda Godfrey

Tsuchinoko: 100 Million Yen Reward

Times have been rather hectic lately with the recent news of the Bigfoot “massacre” theory, the Bigfoot trail camera photo prize, and the Pepie challenge money. Therefore, I did want to acknowledge an item published over at the Pink Tentacle a few days ago. The essay was entitled “Seven Mysterious Creatures of Japan”. It is worth your reading, especially if you are not familiar with the Hibagon (unknown anthropoid), Kusshii (lake monster), Isshii (lake monster), Giant Snake of Mt. Tsurugi, Takitaro (giant fish), Kappa (merbeing, shown above), and Tsuchinoko. Specifically, I wished to point to the Tsuchinoko paragraphs, as a [...]

The Monsters of Templeton

Cryptofiction comes in all forms. Today’s selection is a unique book reviewed in the Los Angeles Times. What monsters are hidden there? Like many an excellent chronicler of village life, Lauren Groff gives us early in “The Monsters of Templeton” (Voice/Hyperion: 364 pp., $24.95) an ensemble view of the citizens of Templeton, a place very closely modeled on Cooperstown, N.Y., birthplace of baseball — and Groff. You know what an ensemble view is: an event prompting villagers to come out in force, an opportunity for the narrator’s camera to move from face to face. In Cheever’s “The Wapshot Scandal,” for [...]

Manatees In Merbeings Documentary

Did a posting of an old “Mermaid” account at Cryptomundo in 2007, stimulate the involvement of a certain location in an upcoming documentary film? According to the Ashley Park Press, this notice was referenced: “In 1869, two Toms River fishermen reportedly caught a monster resembling a mermaid. A copy of the report is available [here]” Reporter Matthew McGrath says in his article, “Mermaids or manatees? ~ Filmmaker: Sea goddesses may have been sea cows,” that Toms River, New Jersey was visited by a documentary filmmaker: Ancient legends, Renaissance fairy tales and modern comic books all tell stories of mermaids, the [...]

Cryptomundo Mermaids Do Exist

Recently someone emailed in a complaint: “I can’t help noticing the dearth or paucity of Mermaid information on an otherwise very complete site. Even I, a rank amateur, keep stumbling across references to live sightings. Even if some do turn out to be Dugongs, it seems as if some are less easy to explain — witness the case in Newfoundland, which is hardly Dugong territory.” I thought I would share a couple helpful hints about using Cryptomundo. Please click on the image for the full-size editorial image. First, of course, mermaids and all kinds of other fantastic creatures, curious cryptids, [...]