Year In Review

Alaska’s Prehistoric Monster

Cryptotourism has been in play for ages, especially highlighted by such sites as Loch Ness, which boasts of Nessie. Smaller examples of monsters and places, such as the Lizard Man of South Carolina or Tessie of Lake Tahoe, dot the maps of the world. But a new trend is the recognition of cryptids, history, and places in various locations, often further overlooked. Glacier Island’s monster is one case that even turned up in the old Books of Charles Fort. In Mr. X’s Hypertext of the works of Charles Fort, he notes the passage from Lo!: It may be that there [...]

Lake Monster or Giant Snake?

Milwaukee [Wisconsin] Sentinel September 4, 1886 THE SEA MONSTER IN MICHIGAN. Charlotte, Mich., Sept. 2. – Charlotte is somewhat stirred up over the report that a genuine sea monster exists in the water of Narrow lake, ten miles south of this city. The monster, it is claimed by the habitués of that vicinity, raises itself out of the water on moonlight nights to a height of ten feet and then disappears. Its body is said to be about the size of a stovepipe and its head to resemble that of a serpent. A party is being organized for an investigation. [...]

Vincennes Monster

St. Louis [Missouri] Globe-Democrat January 17, 1885 A Horrible Monster. Special Dispatch to the Globe-Democrat. VINCENNES, IND., January 16. – Some hunters were startled a few days ago by the appearance of an uncouth, horrible-looking animal, south of the O. and M. Railroad bridge over Fox River, near Olney. They had killed but little game, and were consoling each other over their bad luck, when their attention was attracted by a noise to the top of a fallen tree, and looking up they beheld a monster such as they had never seen before. They describe the beast as the ugliest [...]

Waikato Monster Killed: 1887

Wanganui [New Zealand] Herald November 8, 1887 The Waikato Saurian Monster. Some months ago the Auckland papers were full of accounts of a mysterious monster that cleared carcasses out of slaughter houses, chased children, left peculiar tracks in the mud, etc.; but for some time there had been no mention of it. It appears now[,] however[,] that the stranger has been caught, and shot. We take the following account of its capture from a letter of a Hamilton correspondent to the Auckland Star: — It appears that a native, whilst fishing in his canoe just off the South Spit of [...]

Monster Attack: 1892

The Daily Picayune of New Orleans, Louisiana, for December 4, 1892, published the following story, perhaps mistitled, “An Amphibious Monster.” A most extraordinary story comes from Boise City, Idaho, which is said to be well authenticated. It says that while three travelers were at the upper end of Lake Chelan recently one of them went into the water to bathe. He was seized by the foot by a marine [sic] monster and was being pulled into deep water, when his screams attracted the attention of his companions, who came to his rescue. They pulled him ashore, the monster hanging to [...]

Pelicanism 1897

Pelicans historically have held a bizarre place in animal folklore. The Physiologus says of the pelican that it of all birds loves its young the most. The young pelicans in the Pieter van der Borcht (1545-1608) copperplate engraving (above) appear to be about to drink the blood of their mother; some versions of the story say that she feeds them her blood. The pose of the mother bird is known as “The Pelican in her Piety.” Another illustration of this pelican tale is shown in a woodcut (above) from Rome, 1577. “Pelicanism” is a term I wish to borrow from [...]

Milestone: 3000

The last posting was the 3000th blog published here at Cryptomundo. We reached 40,000 comments earlier in the week. Thank you all for making this the number one cryptozoology blog worldwide!

Zorgy Awards Announced

I have really enjoyed reading your blog postings. Obviously, law school was not wasted on you. If your postings are any indication, your forthcoming book will be a welcome breath of fresh air, not to mention a delight to read.~ the late Karl Pflock, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, speaking of Paul Kimball’s blog, “The Other Side of Truth”. The Zorgy Awards for 2007 and thus the 2008 inductees to The Other Side of Truth Halls of Shame and Fame have just been announced on this early Monday, March 24, 2008. No doubt due to the heavy voting by [...]

50th Anniversary: Slick Begins Snowman Search

This week marks the 50th anniversary of Tom Slick’s most organized, first San Antonio Zoo-sponsored expedition in search of the Yeti. It was formally called the Slick-Johnson Snowman Expedition. Via a feature giving a flashback of 50 years ago, the Los Angeles Times reprinted an old Matt Weinstock column, from the reporter who was sort of the “Herb Caen of Los Angeles.” In this passage, Weinstock talked of the Abominable Snowman and Tom Slick, thus giving a good period view of one newspaper columnist’s way of dealing with the event. Matt Weinstock (You gotta love Weinstock’s 1950s’ haircut.) The following [...]