The ten best books produced on cryptozoology in 2017 were dominated by personalized discussions of Bigfoot-type creatures, with a sprinkling of skeptical, popular culture, and unusual cryptid topics. This is as opposed to the 2016 volumes that seemed to review, with a broader brush, collections of cryptids, globally or regionally.

Here are this year’s top ten books in cryptozoology.

 

 

 

 The Best Cryptozoology Book of the Year

Beyond Boggy Creek: In Search of the Southern Sasquatch by Lyle Blackburn

 

Best Personal Bigfoot Hunting Books of the Year

Monster Hike: A 100-Mile Inquiry Into the Sasquatch Mystery by Avrel Seale

Hunting Apes in America: My Life as a Bigfoot Hunter by Jerry Hestand

Witnessing Bigfoot by Glen S. Boulier

The Quantum Bigfoot by Ronald Morehead

Bigfoot in Pennsylvania: A History of Wild-Men, Gorillas, and Other Hairy Monsters in the Keystone State by Timothy Renner

 

Northern California Sasquatch Stories by Dan Lindholm and Cody Fredericksen

Best Popular Culture Cryptid Book of the Year

Stephen R. Bissette’s Cryptid Cinema: Meditations on Bigfoot, Bayou Beasts & Backwoods Bogeymen of the Movies by Stephen R. Bissette, Intro by David Coleman

Best Skeptical Cryptozoology Books of the Year

Yeti: The Ecology of a Mystery by Daniel C. Taylor

The Loch Ness Mystery Reloaded by Ronald Binns

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Several good books that appeared in 2017 are not on the list because they are

Revised editions…such as

The Inhumanoids by Barton M. Nunnelly

Because they are journals, like…

Wood Knocks Volume 2: A Journal of Sasquatch Research by David Weatherly

and

International Cryptozoology Society Journal: Volume One Editor, Jenny White Coleman

Or a review copy never received..and perhaps a bit too paranormal…

Shapeshifters: Morphing Monsters & Changing Cryptids by Nick Redfern

Also, if you are going to travel to the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine, it is recommended you pick up ICM supporter’s Vacationland, to learn a bit about the state before and after you visit.

Plus, for your humble consideration….

The Best Mothman Book of the Year

Mothman: Evil Incarnate by Loren Coleman

Other 2017 Lists

Top Ten Cryptozoology Deaths of 2017

Cryptozoologist of the Year 2017: Seth Breedlove

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 [Caveat lector: As with my past “top book lists” on cryptozoology, the chosen books are picked from review copies received or titles bought. These are strictly nonfiction adult books. This list does not contain juvenile, comedic, fictional, supernatural, paranormal, contactee, and/or speculative titles, nor does it include exclusive ebook and wireless volumes. Journals (such as the notable Animals & Men, Journal of Cryptozoology,  and Wood Knocks II), revised editions, pamphlets (such as Jeff Meldrum’s two-page foldout Sasquatch, Yeti and Other Wildmen of the World), and similar items are excluded from this book list.]