Reviews

Yeti Jacket

Hey, I want one of those as a gift for the holidays, don’t you? David Pescovitz mentions a great new piece of cryptozoology outerwear to add to anyone’s wish list. David writes at Boing Boing: This amazing track jacket embroidered with Tim Biskup’s Yeti illustration is part of his Gama-Go collection for Fall. It’s $78 and I am so deeply saddened that it doesn’t come in XXL to fit my Sasquatch frame. Thank goodness the Gama-Go collection has a soft but durable, fieldworthy but comfortably-sized X-L with good lines to fit me! (My apologies to anyone that didn’t see that [...]

Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come to Life

When I first saw the notice of Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come to Life coming back into print, I had emotions that ranged from joy and sadness, to caution and upset. I was happy to know that a whole new generation of cryptozoologists would be able to read Ivan T. Sanderson’s book. Sorrow nevertheless hit me. I was hoping to see the book reprinted in a high-quality hardback edition, as a celebration of the early days of Sanderson’s discovery of the diversity of unknown hairy hominoids. Afterall this is Ivan T. Sanderson we are talking about, the person who actually coined [...]

Cryptid: The Ultimate Cryptozoology Experience

I’ve written, in depth, about the definition of cryptid, a word that was coined in 1983, by John E. Wall of Manitoba. Now, a mere 23 years later, it has become such an important part of our popular culture that one of the most incredibly well-designed graphic novels to capture the topic of this blog is set to appear! Are you prepared for Cryptid? Secret Lab Studios, in association with Thrill House Comics, and the world renowned award winning Weta Workshop Design Team of New Zealand have announced that they are currently collaborating on designs for Cryptid, a new and [...]

Them! and Skullduggery: The Bridge to Johor

Sometimes I start one place, go down a side road, end up elsewhere, and find my way back to say goodbye. The 1950s-1960s movie and television character actor Christian Drake, who played Trooper Ed Blackburn in the classic 1954 film Them!, has died at the age of 82. Is it a coincidence that I just flipped on my television to catch the last hour of this movie on cable? Bizarre! The film Them! was directed by Gordon Douglas, who would later be the director for Skullduggery, a fascinating 1970 cryptozoology film about the Tropi (pictured below), bipedal hairy hominoids, which [...]

“White-Trash Werewolf Smorgasbord”

Yes, that quoted phrase is the subsection title that columnist Melanie Conklin of the Wisconsin State Journal of Madison, Wisconsin, employs in her little segment on the The Beast of Bray Road. It is not often that you see a modern newspaper writer employing what, in essence, is a racial slur with a mention about cryptozoology. But there it is. Actually, to be specific, Conklin is quoting Linda Godfrey who is rather upset these days. Here is what Melanie Conklin wrote on July 12th, even mentioning this humble blog site along the way: ‘White-trash werewolf smorgasbord’ If you attend Wisconsin [...]