Pop Culture

What does 2006 hold for Cryptozoology?

What are your cryptozoological predictions for 2006? Where will new expeditions search? What cryptids will dominate the news this year? What cryptozoological wonder will be filmed? Will someone use a cellphone camera to "capture" an image of a cryptid this year? Who will win the $5000 top prize for a cryptid-related photo in February, and what will it show? Can the opening of Disney World’s new ride and mini-exhibition on the Yeti renew interest in the pursuit of the Abominable Snowmen of the Himalayas? Does the Malaysian hominoid flap have any staying power? What lakes have expeditions planned to search [...]

The New Yorker: “The Cryptozoologist” (A Critique)

The magazine The New Yorker will publish a contribution to fiction entitled “The Cryptozoologist” by Tony Earley, on the 9th of January 2006, but it is online now. Here’s my early literary critique of this effort at capturing cryptozoology in The New Yorker: We are introduced to the concept of Skunk Apes, cryptozoologists, and organized cryptozoology in one specific paragraph about midway through this fictional piece: About her Bigfoot sighting, Rose learned that such creatures were routinely spotted in all of the Southeastern states—although the scientific authorities of course denied their existence—and the animals were commonly referred to as skunk [...]

Cryptid

What is a “cryptid”? What meanings are in circulation? Here’s the definition, as I noted in my 1999 book, co-authored with Jerome Clark, Cryptozoology A to Z. I share it with those on Cryptomundo that are not aware of the full meaning. And throw it out for discussion and debate by those that feel it has expanded or shrunk. +++++ “Cryptid” is a relatively new word used among professionals and laypeople to denote an animal of interest to cryptozoology. John E. Wall of Manitoba coined it in a letter published in the summer 1983 issue of the ISC Newsletter (vol. [...]