The International Cryptozoology Museum has been picked as one of the “top weird stories of 2009,” by the Lewiston Sun-Journal.

Photo credit: Bryan Bruchman.

Staff writers Kathryn Skelton and Lindsay Tice, in “Weird, Wicked Weird: What a year” wrote, via the subsection, Bigfoot at home on Congress Street:

A few people have been halfway through the tour when Loren Coleman says they’ve looked up and realized, “Oh, you’re the guy on ‘MonsterQuest.’”

In November, Coleman opened the International Cryptozoology Museum and most days, he’s the one running the show.

The museum is laid out in…500-square-foot [of space] at 661 Congress St. in Portland, reached through The Green Hand Bookshop. With decades’ worth of Bigfoot, Loch Ness and other strange paraphernalia, the cryptozoologist says he plans to rotate part of the exhibit four times a year. It all used to be kept, by appointment only, in his home.

Museum-goers are already bringing in their own finds, like a Yeti’s Best produce box from Whole Foods and Vietnamese wine with a king cobra inside. For the latter, Coleman said he Googled and found that it’s the Asian equivalent of tequila with a worm at the bottom. Into his collection it went.

He has a three-year lease on the property, with an option for three more, and plans to expand….

Museum hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Sunday noon-5 p.m., closed Monday. Admission is $5 per person.