The Top Cryptozoology Books of 2023

The Top Cryptozoology Books of 2023

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by Loren Coleman, Director, International Cryptozoology Museum

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Our annual selections stroll across the usual landscape and literature, with familiar creatures and some surprises populating the wilderness, along with the proliferation of series we have grown to expect.

Best Cryptozoology Book of 2023 ~ Merbeings: The True Story of Mermaids, Mermen, and Lizardfolk by Mark A. Hall, Loren Coleman, and David Goudsward

Mark Hall’s completely enhanced, rewritten, and expanded volume has been published as the International Cryptozoology Museum’s first fully nonprofit volume. The authors have agreed to create a forward-thinking book in which all royalties will be recycled into the study of cryptids. The publisher has offered a generous royalty for sales of the book and the authors have agreed to donate their royalties to the museum. This is a first for the field.

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Best Hominology Book of 2023 ~ The Abominable Snowman of California: Giant Footprints, Wooden Stompers, and the Making of an American Legend by Dustin Severs

Not since Loren Coleman’s first book on early expedition sponsor Tom Slick was written in 1989 has such a well-researched, ground-breaking historical foundation tome appeared. A truly monumental contribution, Severs’ book is the first insightful cornerstone addition to this part of the literature since 1989.

Read the book with a view to examine the events, investigations, politics, and personalities without getting lost in contemporary contentious disagreements about the folklore vs factual nature of the biological entities. It is an unfolding story, and this is one individual’s telling of that beginning.

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Best Cryptozoology Adventure Book of 2023 ~ A Bulletproof Ground Sloth: On The Hunt In Brazil by Patrick Spain

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Porto Velho, Rondonia, Brazil: Pat with ornithologist David Oren and cast of allaged Mapinguari footprint.

Cryptozoologist of the Year 2023. Winner of the Golden Yeti: Pat Spain, biologist, author, cryptozoologist, documentary television series host.

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Best Cryptid Trivia Book of 2023 ~ The Big Book of Cryptid Trivia: Fun Facts and Fascinating Folklore about Bigfoot, Mothman, Loch Ness Monster, the Yeti, and More Elusive Creatures by Bernadette Johnson

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Best Illustrated Cryptozoology Book of 2023 ~ The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology by Vlad Stankovic

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Best CryptoComic of the Year ~ Scoopy-Doo! Where Are You! #121 Story by John Rozum

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Best American Regional Cryptozoology Series of 2023 ~ Monsters of America by David Weatherly

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Best Cryptoblog Book ~ Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, Jungle Walruses, and Other Belated Blog Beasts by Karl Shuker

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Best Paracryptid Book of 2023 ~ Crawlers: A Conclusive Casebook by Nathaniel Brislin

A few years ago everyone assumed that the San Diego Nightcrawlers were as fictional and as nonexistent as the Creepypasta’s Slendermen. This entities are beyond the biological realm, and today’s “cryptids” have grown from theories of “woo” and fantasy into “Paracryptids.”

In 2023, with the sudden appearance of Nate Brislin’s new book, Crawlers, the literature of Paracryptids has achieved a kind of milestone. Frankly, I’m not sure if Brislin is pulling our collective legs, testing out cryptofiction, or becoming a cryptofolklorist? Crawlers may not be Nightcrawlers, but they certainly are not going to be housed in a zoological garden in the near future. People have actually told these Crawlers stories to Brislin, but you can be the judge of what to make of his book.

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