Newcastle, UK: The home of the infamous Lambton Worm, known for its Curse and the Lambton Worm song. Journalist Tim Chapman shares his straight-from-the-scene report on the September 1-2, 2007, “Monster Weekend” in Newcastle, United Kingdom. With no official Fortean Times UnConvention this year (and, as I understand it, little prospect of one in the foreseeable future), FT stalwart Ian Simmons assumed the task of organising a partial substitute. Conveniently, Ian holds a senior job at the ‘Centre for Life’ science museum in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which just happened to be hosting a ‘Myths & Monsters’ exhibition on loan from London’s Natural [...]
African Americans, Snallygasters & Mokele-Mbembes
Mokele-mbembe being killed by Pygmies; drawn by Bill Rebsamen and used with permission. Who are today’s and tomorrow’s African American cryptozoologists? When I was at the 5th Annual Texas Bigfoot Conference, held October 14-16, 2005, I found it was a good event. I discovered the gathering was attended by a wider diversity of people than I have seen in my three decades of presenting at Fortean, cryptozoological, and Bigfoot gatherings. Of the 500 people there, I noticed more families, more women, more Hispanics, and more Native peoples than at any other public Bigfoot meeting, conference, and presentation I’ve personally experienced. [...]
Cuero’s Chupacabras Tee-Shirts
Photograph by Sonny Long, Victoria Advocate. A new creature report or series of sightings has turned into a “flap,” this time in Cuero, Texas. A flap is the term (with origins in the Air Force treatment of groups of ufo sightings) where there is a great deal of official and media attention, in this case related to a “monster,” such as happened in Texas during August, and now moving into September. What is part of the popular culture outcome from this out-of-control interest in such a beast? A new cryptid tee-shirt, of course. You’ve seen multiple examples of this recently. [...]
Pondering Cuero’s Chupacabras
Phylis Canion and her dead head are all over the internet and the media today. Is it a Chupacabras? The answer may rest soon in a lab in Maine. Perhaps Ms. Canion will read this or someone in authority in Texas shall – and they will contact me. I was telephoned tonight by Dr. Irv Kornfield, Professor of Biology and Molecular Forensics, at the University of Maine, who was helpful in running the DNA samples on last summer’s “Maine Mutant” carcass. Dr. Kornfield has volunteered to run DNA tests on this new Cuero specimen, and I shall be attempting to [...]
Circus Train Wreck Myth
Cecil B. DeMille’s The Greatest Show on Earth, released in 1952, influenced many future explanations of Midwestern “varmint” sightings in the 1950s – through the Present.
Ratatosk Predicts Red Sox Victory
I’ve spent some time here discussing melanistic or black squirrels. It seems only logical, perhaps even nuts, to not ignore the significant publishing of an article in today’s New York Times regarding some squirrel lore that can be seen to unfold in the coming weeks. What is being set up is a testable experiment. If a scholar of Norse mythology had been in the stands of Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night, he or she probably would have advised Yankees fans to not make too much out of the 5-3 victory against the Red Sox. The result, after all, still left [...]
Newcastle’s Monster Weekend
I’m traveling again, tomorrow, flying over to England, apparently via Paris. (I know, I know, my arms will be very tired from all the flapping.) Saturday, September 1 and Sunday, September 2, 2007, “Searching for Bigfoot and Other Cryptids.” It all will be taking place at Monster Weekend, Centre for Life (science center), Newcastle, United Kingdom. For more information, see “Monster Weekend” or look over the schedule below: Monster Weekend Speaking Schedule Saturday, September 1, 2007 Dragons: More than a Myth? (Richard Freeman) 10.00-10.45 Before daemons, vampires, werewolves or giants the dragon haunted the minds of men and coiled their [...]
Sasquatch News
This actually is fairly well-done, showing a “new video” from an entirely different point of view. It’s funny too.
Civil War Pterodactyl to Maine
I’ve returned from Patrick Huyghe’s cabana, completing this weekend, the extended adventure in transporting the “Civil War Mystery Pterodactyl” to New England. The following images are courtesy of Allie Huyghe. The photo above is courtesy of Gregg Hale, Executive Director, Haxan Productions, Fox TV (at the time). My deep thanks to the Huyghes for their great hospitiality, cryptozoological conversations and Fortean brainstorming. By the way, if you were the passenger in a car with New York plates driving on I-84, who rolled your window down to ask me “What is that?” – and then had a short dialogue with me [...]
De Loys’ Well-Known Prank
Michel Raynal continues the discussion of the de Loys photograph with a summary of his recent findings. Several people who met with François de LOYS in Mene Grande (Venezuela) in 1917-1920, when he was doing geological work for the Standard Oil in this area, have revealed that de LOYS made a joke with a simple spider-monkey: – from Earnest HOOTON, Man’s poor relations (1946): “at this time [1927], he [A. James DURLACHER, an American engineer in a petroleum company] made inquiries of men who had been in the de Loys expedition, and discovered that the specimen de Loys shot was, [...]
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