"Monstro Bizarro" - Reviewed

Here's the link to the review, and below is how it begins...


Monstro Bizarro is a new book from Lyle Blackburn. Its subtitle will give you a good idea of its contents: An Essential Manual of Mysterious Monsters. This is an excellent book, one which covers a wide and varied body of subjects and which is both informing and entertaining. Before I get to the matter of the content of the book, however, there’s the important issue of the layout, style and design. I have to say this is a very skilfully designed book that is filled with photos, paintings, drawings, movie posters, etc. Every single page of the book is lavishly illustrated. Most of the pages contain at least two or three images – and the vast majority of the images are in color, which is a major bonus.

As the author of both The Beast of Boggy Creek and Lizard Man (and of the forthcoming Beyond Boggy Creek) Blackburn knows his subject-matter well. If you are interested in the issue of so-called “Hairy Hominids” – Bigfoot, the Yeti, etc. – then you won’t be disappointed. We begin with “Bigfoot Beasts” and a section titled “On the Track of Sasquatch Cinema,” which is an extremely well compiled summary of all the essential Bigfoot/Yeti-themed movies, such as The Snow Creature, The Abominable Snowman, The Legend of Boggy Creek, and Exists. Of the latter, Blackburn says: “The plausible story, exceptional creature suit and skilled filmmaking set a new mark for Sasquatch cinema.”

Hanging Out...

Hanging out last night with a few good friends: Lyle Blackburn (author of The Beast of Boggy Creek and Lizard Man), Micah Hanks (author of The Ghost Rockets), and Cameron Hale and Kyle Philson of Expanded Perspectives radio. A good time!

The Boggy Creek Festival

A few photos from yesterday's Boggy Creek Festival in Arkansas, with various friends and colleagues, including Ken Gerhard, Tom Shirley, Christy Newhouse, Lyle Blackburn, Sandy Blackburn, Craig Woolheater, and Larry Parks. There were lots of cool lectures (all on various aspects of the Bigfoot mystery), plenty to eat and drink, and a good time was had by all!

Lizard Man - The Book

There's a new article from me at Mysterious Universe on Lyle Blackburn's brand new book, Lizard Man (for which I wrote the Introduction). And here are my opening words of the article...

"In 2012, Anomalist Books published what I personally consider to have been the finest cryptozoological title of that year: Lyle Blackburn’s The Beast of Boggy Creek. It quite rightly received excellent reviews and justifiably thrust both Lyle and the Fouke Monster, itself, firmly into the limelight. Sometimes, however, when an author puts out such a great first book it can beg a potentially awkward question: how do you follow it with an equally good second one?"

Well, the answer to that question is you follow it just as Lyle has - with an excellent new title, Lizard Man, of course!

For fans of Cryptozoology and Forteana, don't miss this one!

Lizard Man: Published on Halloween

Published on (very appropriately!) Halloween, is the new book from Lyle Blackburn. Its title: Lizard Man: The True Story of the Bishopville Monster.

It's an excellent book - and I know, as I wrote the foreword. If cryptozoology, Forteana and mystery animal-themed road-trips are your thing, don't miss this one!

Here's the publisher's (Anomalist Books) info on Lizard Man:

"From the swamplands near Bishopville, South Carolina, come reports of a seven-foot-tall, scaly humanoid creature the locals call the 'Lizard Man.' Over the years, the creature has been seen by numerous witnesses, including a teenager who claimed it attacked him one night near a remote area called Scape Ore Swamp. The young man's testimony and physical evidence was so compelling, it not only launched a serious investigation by the local sheriff's office but an all-out monster hunt that drew hundreds of people to the small town.

"This real-life 'creature from the black lagoon' has inspired major national news coverage, even a call from the famous CBS news anchor, Dan Rather, as he and the rest of the world clamored to know more about Bishopville's elusive monster. The case is often mentioned in books, websites, and television shows, but the full story has never been told... until now. This book provides unprecedented documentation for one of the most bizarre and hair-raising cases of an unknown creature. The witnesses are convinced they've seen it, and the local law officials are backing them up. This is their story.

"Follow Lyle Blackburn, author of the bestselling book The Beast of Boggy Creek, as he and his partner, Cindy Lee, revisit the sighting locations, speak to the living eyewitnesses, and consider all possible theories in their search for the truth behind the legendary Lizard Man."

That's me and Lyle below, with some big hairy geezer:

Saturday and Bigfoot

So, what did I do Saturday? Well, I hung out at the Texas Bigfoot Conference in Fort Worth. Here's a couple of shots - one of me with Lyle Blackburn (the author of The Beast of Boggy Creek) and the other with Josh Gates of Destination Truth. It was a cool day and a good time was had by all!

The Weirdest Museum...

This past weekend I was lecturing down at the Austin, Texas-based Museum of the Weird, along with good friends and authors Ken Gerhard (Big Bird! and Monsters of Texas) and Lyle Blackburn (The Beast of Boggy Creek).

I drove down with good mate Craig Woolheater of Cryptomundo, and also met up with (for the first time) David Coleman, author of The Bigfoot Filmography book - definitely essential reading for anyone wanting a comprehensive study of Bigfoot in films and TV.

David discussed his book, as did Lyle, while I spoke about Britain's legendary "Man--Monkey" and Ken focused on weird flying man-beasts. And it was followed by dinner, then a showing of the 1976 film, The Creature of Black Lake, and, finally, drinks at a local bar.

Anyway, a good time was had by all, and here's a few photos from the event...

A Monster-Themed Night at the Museum

On Saturday, January 26, I'll be speaking about my books Monster Diary and Wildman at the Austin, Texas-based Museum of the Weird.

And I won't be the only one lecturing either!

Here's the full schedule (from the organizer), below, with a link at the foot of the post where you can find out more about the event.

A CRYPTOMUNDO NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM

Saturday, January 26th, 2012
3:00pm to 10:00pm

Museum of the Weird, in conjunction with the world's foremost website on all things cryptid, Cryptomundo.com, will be hosting a very special event on January 26th at the Museum of the Weird in Austin, TX:

Cryptomundo Night at the Museum!

Featuring an all-star line up of world famous cryptozoologists, experts and authors, it's sure to be a night of entertainment, intrigue and mystery as we explore the unknown creatures that lurk in the darker corners of the world we live in!

Please come out and join us for the festivities!

Speaker presentations and author book signings include:

Lyle Blackburn, frontman for rock band Ghoultown, writer for Rue Morgue magazine and author of The Beast of Boggy Creek.

Nick Redfern, author of Wildman! The Monstrous and Mysterious Saga of the British Bigfoot, Monster Diary: On the Road in Search of Strange and Sinister Creatures, The World's Weirdest Places, and Memoirs of a Monster Hunter.

Ken Gerhard, author of Big Bird! Modern Sightings of Flying Monsters and  Monsters of Texas.

Dave Coleman, author of The Bigfoot Filmography.

The event starts at 3:00pm and goes until 6:00pm, then a break for dinner and to explore 6th Street and downtown Austin.

It resumes again at 8:00pm with a special screening in the Museum's Weird Theater of the '70s drive-in classic Creature from Black Lake.

The event is $10 and includes admission to the Museum of the Weird and the movie (dinner and drinks not included).

Space and seating is extremely limited, so we recommend buying your tickets early!

And here's where you can find out more...

A Boggy Beast, Blackburn and Binnall

From good mate Tim Binnall of Binnall of America:

BoA:Audio resumes its search for cryptids with our guest Lyle Blackburn, author of The Beast of Boggy Creek. In this lengthy conversation, we'll be discussing Texarkana's Fouke Monster, made famous in the film Legend of Boggy Creek. Lyle will detail the evolution of the Fouke Monster phenomenon, the famous sighting which started a media frenzy, the filming and fallout of Beast of Boggy Creek, why the geography of the area makes it an ideal place for a large cryptid to lurk, the controversial claims of a Bigfoot skeleton found in the area, and much, much more. Altogether, it is a richly detailed conversation on one of cryptozoology's most popular, yet under-discussed, creatures as we separate Fouke Monster fact from fiction with Lyle Blackburn.

Full Preview: We kick things off with the standard bio / background and find out how Lyle Blackburn first got interested in cryptozoology and, specifically, the Fouke Monster. We then discuss how Lyle's book features numerous first-hand or second-hand accounts of Fouke Monster sightings rather than relying on newspaper reports from the time, which can be prone to sensationalism. For newcomers to the Fouke Monster mythos, we have Lyle provide a thumbnail look at the creature, detailing what witnesses claim to have seen as well as how it seems to be different from your 'standard' Bigfoot reports.

Lyle then traces the evolution of public awareness of the creature and how it led to the film The Legend of Boggy Creek. Wrapping up one last aspect of background material, we have Lyle describe the truly treacherous terrain where the Fouke Monster is said to inhabit in the Texarkana region. Turning our attention towards the lineage of the Fouke Monster, we first discuss how there are a myriad of 1960's sightings of the creature that actually pre-date the 1970's media hype that surrounded it. This leads to Lyle talking about how small a town Fouke is and really just the home to houses and farms and not much else.

Getting into some of the stories from this wave of creature sightings, we begin with Lynne Crabtree's encounter with the monster in 1965. Lyle reflects on how sightings from this period are important because the locals were both unfamiliar with the Bigfoot legend and not looking for attention or publicity surrounding their sightings of the creature. Lyle also discusses another critical note from these sightings of the 1960's in that there were witnesses who saw the creature that were merely passing through the area and, thus, not influenced by the locals who had been discussing it.

Next we follow the narrative to May of 1971, when a truly remarkable sighting led to a newspaper report which caused the Fouke Monster to both get its name and explode into the public consciousness. Lyle recounts the story which saw a veritable attack by the Fouke Monster at a family farm. We then talk about how the subsequent media frenzy led to radio stations having bounties on the Fouke Monster and people descending on the area hoping to capture the creature for the prize money.

In light of this, we muse about how this influx of hunters suggests the classic 'man in a suit' skeptic's theory is pretty weak. Following that, we discuss the best physical evidence gleaned from the Fouke Monster wave of the 1970's: a three-toed footprint discovered followed one alleged sighting of the creature. This segues into some discussion on the controversy, in the Bigfoot community, surrounding three-toed prints. The conversation then turns to the film The Legend of Boggy Creek, which was a faux documentary that fictionalized the Fouke Monster sightings and became a surprisingly massive hit.

Lyle details how the film was very unique for its time, since it was filmed using people from the area and filmed as if it were a documentary. Staying on the topic of The Legend of Boggy Creek, we reflect on how the film actually dramatized numerous real Fouke Monster sightings, but many viewers incorrectly still believe that the stories were made up by the filmmaker. We then look at the fallout from the hit movie, in that many locals felt slighted by the director, Charles Pierce, who reaped a large windfall from the film's success.

This segues into some talk about how the citizens of Fouke feel about their status as a paranormal destination and whether there is resentment, acceptance, or apathy about the Fouke Monster in modern times. Getting back to the Fouke Monster, itself, we reflect on how the locals who saw the creature described it as a Bigfoot, but never actually called it that. This segues into some talk about how there appear to be numerous type or geographically located Bigfoot creatures throughout America and the world.

We then discuss the controversial rumour / story that there was a massive skeleton discovered that may have been the creature and Lyle shares his insights into the story as well as his experience actually seeing the skeleton. This leads to some talk about why the skeleton has been essentially hidden for 20 years and perpetuating the rumours instead of released to researchers so we can determine its true nature. Lyle reveals how he took great risks to provide, in the book, the full details of the skeleton story.

Wrapping up the Fouke Monster discussion, we talk about how the sightings of the creature have continued to this day, despite most people thinking it was an isolated series of events confined to the 60's and 70's. Lyle talks about how the film galvanized interest in the creature while also allowing for the media and skeptics to dismiss it. Given that the creature has apparently been migrating over the years, we have Lyle speculate on where the Fouke monster may be lurking today.

Lyle also talks about the connection between rainfall and monster sightings and speculates on why this connection seems to appear. Looking at another recurring theme from the Fouke monster sightings, which is tales of shooting at the creature, and we ponder if that was simply bravado on the part of the witnesses or if it tells us additional information about the beast's abilities.

This leads to a discussion on the infamous 'kill v. no kill' debate in cryptozoology with regards to Bigfoot and we find out where Lyle stands on that longstanding argument. We also talk about how the Fouke monster is a prime candidate for being hit by a car, since it appears to cross roads with tremendous frequency. In light of the location of the Fouke monster and its 'swampy' description, we also ponder if there may be a connection to Florida's Swamp Ape phenomenon. Heading towards the close, we talk about some of the theories as to what the Fouke monster is and how Lyle has managed to dismiss most of the theories as simply extreme possibilities put forward by skeptics.

We also talk about how the advent of the Internet has allowed for a great deal more information about the Fouke monster being available for researchers looking to investigate the creature. We also ask Lyle our classic cryptozoologist question, where he tells us his ideal plan of action, should money be limitless, to nab the Fouke monster. Wrapping up the interview, we reflect on how difficult it is to spot the creature, since the area is also teeming with insects during the Summer which prevents extensive exploration. Lyle also teases a potential sequel to the book as well as documentary films about the Fouke Monster.

Gigging on Boggy Creek

Whether or not you have read Lyle Blackburn's excellent book, The Beast of Boggy Creek, you won't want to miss this lecture from him, which was recorded a couple of weeks ago at the monthly meeting of the Extraordinary Phenomena Investigations Council (EPIC) group here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. A fine time was had by all!

Reviewing a Boggy Creek Gig

What I did at the weekend...

Lyle Blackburn Q&A

Over at The Examiner, you can find a very insightful and extensive interview with Lyle Blackburn, author of The Beast of Boggy Creek, which I reviewed a few days ago. If you haven't yet read Lyle's book, you're missing a real treat. For me, it's the best cryptozoological-themed book of this year: very well written, rich on detail, and highly entertaining!

Reviewing The Beast of Boggy Creek

If Cryptozoology is you thing, then you may want to check out my review of the new book from Lyle Blackburn: The Beast of Boggy Creek.

This is an absolutely excellent, full-length study of the beast made famous in the film, The Legend of Boggy Creek - which more than a few Cryptozoologists have said inspired them to get actively involved in the subject.

I reviewed Lyle 's book a few days ago over at Cryptomundo, and you can find the review right here.