A global survey of unknown creatures reported by thousands of eyewitnesses-creatures that have either been verified, refuted, or are still being examined by scientific researchers. Hidden Animals: A Field Guide to Batsquatch, Chupacabra, and Other Elusive Creatures welcomes readers into the fascinating world of cryptozoology-the scientific pursuit of legendary creatures that sometimes reveals hoaxes and sometimes identifies real, previously unknown species. Compiled by Michael Newton, author of the acclaimed Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology, it is the first comprehensive guide covering the crossroads of zoology and folklore written for both the young and the young at heart. Organized by type of creature type, such as giant animals, missing links, and living fossils, Hidden Animals surveys various beings reported and pursued worldwide from ancient times to the present, in every corner of the globe. In the process, it relates classic myths and legends to identified flesh-and-blood animals. Readers will be captivated by both the scientific evidence supporting the existence of specific cryptids and the exposure of notorious frauds or cases of mistaken identity. Nearly 100 entries on the full range of cryptids, organized into categories of types of animals Primary sources, including eyewitness accounts of sightings of undocumented creatures Sketches of reported hidden animals and photographs of real species uncovered in the pursuit of cryptids A "Who's Who" in cryptozoology with brief biographies of major figures in the field A wide-ranging bibliography of print and online resources for further exploration A comprehensive index of animals (real and speculative), people, places, and discoveries

Arm yourself with garlic, stake and crucifix, for the vampires are back in force - at the top of the best-seller lists, on your TV, on the web and lurking in darkened cinemas. But where did they come from?Why have they come back now? And how can you tell if you are one? Beginning with the first sightings of bats and blood-sucking in the Romantic period, Bite follows the undead's progress through the ages, right up to the present. Alongside mini-essays, anecdotes, facts and figures, each section will be punctuated with lists, such as the best places around the world for vamp tourism; rock songs with vampire allusions; box-office revenue for vamp movies; the Top 10 Vampire clubs, video-games, vampire brides, as well as reliable and unreliable methods of killing a vampire ...

"If men no longer know what they are looking at, there may well be unicorns in the world yet, unknown and glad of it." Living in peace in her lilac wood, the Unicorn didn't know the world had changed, or that anything had happened to the rest of her kind. Overhearing a chance conversation, she resolves to venture out and discover the truth. The road is dangerous, and the risks are great. If she fails, then unicorns will be lost. Forever. A modern fairy tale, The Last Unicorn is a beloved classic, voted by TIME as one of the 100 greatest fantasy novels of all time. It is fantastical, poignant, wistful and wonderous, showing us the humanity of magic, and the magic of humanity. Available in the UK for the first time in decades, this edition features an introduction by Patrick Rothfuss.

Monsters are culturally meaningful across the world. Starting from this key premise, this book tackles monsters in the context of social change. Writing in a time of violent upheaval, when technological innovation brings forth new monsters while others perish as part of the widespread extinctions that signify the Anthropocene, contributors argue that putting monsters at the center of social analysis opens up new perspectives on change and social transformation. Through a series of ethnographically grounded analyses they capture monsters that herald, drive, experience, enjoy, and suffer the transformations of the worlds they beleaguer. Topics examined include the evil skulking new roads in Ancient Greece, terror in post-socialist Laos's territorial cults, a horrific flying head that augurs catastrophe in the rain forest of Borneo, benign spirits that accompany people through the mist in Iceland, flesh-eating giants marching through neo-colonial central Australia, and ghosts lingering in Pacific villages in the aftermath of environmental disasters. By taking the proposition that monsters and the humans they haunt are intricately and intimately entangled seriously, this book offers unique, cross-cultural perspectives on how people perceive the world and their place within it. It also shows how these experiences of belonging are mediated by our relationships with the other-than-human.

Bigfoot Huge, hairy, foul smelling, this legendary apelike animal continues to captivate the public's imagination. This fascination hinges on a single piece of motion-picture film shot in northern California in 1967. For thirty-five years, Bigfoot believers have been convinced that this sixty-second piece of film proves the physical reality of Bigfoot.
But now comes a book that demolishes that belief, that produces final proof that the film footage is a hoax.
"The Making of Bigfoot" tells the amazing story of Roger Patterson of Yakima, Washington. A part-time rodeo rider, chronically unemployed and dying of cancer, Patterson propelled himself into short-lived fame and fortune by exploiting his obsession with the Bigfoot subject and leveraging his expertise in manipulating and conning people to pull off one of the world's great hoaxes.
Living within two hours of Patterson's hometown, for three years paranormal investigator and author Greg Long interviewed more than forty witnesses in Yakima who knew Patterson intimately. The voices of these witnesses, combined with facts unearthed from newspaper archives, books, and court documents, tell the real story of Roger Patterson.
Both tragic and comical, a unique slice of Americana, "The Making of Bigfoot "captures the testimony of a colorful cast of characters who bring to life a man and a time in the 1960s when Bigfoot strode into the American imagination, and the world embraced a myth.

Vampires is a unique, lavishly illustrated work that explores the rich diversity of vampire belief and lore, ranging from countries as diverse as Japan, Sweden and Ireland, looking at their historical origins, and setting them in their cultural context.

Vampires are beings of myth: folkloric creatures who live off the blood of the living and have been recorded in nearly every culture around the world since the beginning of man. This work traces the evolution of the vampire, from its roots in ancient mythology to obscure folk tales and legends, leading up to when these foul beings transformed into the suave Byronic heroes that continue to influence the world's view of the vampire today. It also examines key individuals in history involved in reshaping our concept of the creature. Popular culture is explored, along with the development of the vampire into the protagonist in plays and poems and novels. Sixty-one frightening images bring the topic right to your front door. Will you invite the visitor in?

"Perfect for fans of Brent Weeks, George R. R. Martin, or David Gemmell . . . . The best traditional epic fantasy I have read in years." - Grimdark Magazine on Engines of Empire "An excellent start to a new series: fast-paced and engaging, with a properly epic setting and a cast of characters I look forward to seeing more of." - James Islington, author of The Shadow of What Was Lost on Engines of Empire From an unmissable voice in epic fantasy comes the second novel in a trilogy where guilds clash, magic fuels machines, and an empire begins a revolution. Torwyn burns as Sanctan Egelrath tightens his grip on power. The Draconate Ministry has gathered its forces, determined to eradicate the Guilds, but Rosomon Hawkspur still stands in their way. Her only hope could lay with Lancelin Jagdor, sent to gather allies in their struggle against the usurper. Can even the greatest warrior in Torwyn hope to succeed with so many adversaries determined to stop him? Tyreta returns home with newfound strength and mysterious sorcerous abilities, only to discover it is not the land she left behind. She will have to call upon her untested powers to survive when she embarks on a mission that could turn the tide of war. Conall, trapped in a dangerous land, has his own enemies to defeat before he can hope to escape and join the conflict that threatens his family. Even if he succeeds, he must overcome the demons that threaten from within or face damnation. Though Rosomon is vastly outnumbered, and her family lost, she is determined to strike back against her enemies. But saving her homeland might prove an impossible task. "Epic fantasy fans listen up: This is the good stuff. Highly recommended." -Kirkus (starred review) on Engines of Empire For more from R. S. Ford, check out: Age of Uprising: Engines of Empire Engines of Chaos

Now safely back at home, Ian and Lilli are free to return to normal life. Except there's a major problem: Ian keeps seeing the big bad boss dragon Atreus everywhere, and he can't tell whether it's real or in his imagination. So the internet is no longer an option. That's right. Ian, king of online gaming, is out on the soccer court instead. When Atreus shows up . . . everywhere, he knows he needs his sister. But he's legally obligated to never say Dra-er, the name of the game, so how is he supposed to ask for help? When Ian and Lilli finally sign back online, it's clear that Atreus has truly been released on the open web-and even worse, Ikumi has been kidnapped and imprisoned in a video game. It's back into virtual reality, but this time it's to Mech Ops, a futuristic world of zombies and evil robots-and the game's not even finished. Will Ian and Lilli have what it takes to jump through unfinished levels undetected? Or will they get booted . . . and even worse, are there do-overs in VR that isn't even built yet?

Ever since the publication of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, vampires have been a part of the popular consciousness. Now, with the release of the phenomenally popular Twilight novel and the subsequent films, it seems that we can't get enough of these blood-sucking creatres of the night. But we might not sleep quite so soundly if we knew that vampires aren't confirmed to the page and the screen. There is a thriving UK vampire scene that has its roots deep in our history. Their shadowy secrets - which include drinking actual blood - have remained hidden from public gaze...until now.

With 250 entries, this updated filmography and resource is the encyclopedic guide to all things lycanthropic and a fascinating compendium of comparative mythology and folklore. Delving into the 15th century to uncover the origins of the werewolf legend, it is an eye-opening, blood-pounding tour through the ages, landing on the doorstep of creatures like hirsute mass-murderer Albert Fish, Michael Lupo (Lupo is "wolf" in Italian), and Fritz Haarman who slaughtered and ate his victims-selling the leftovers as steaks and roasts in his butcher shop. The photos and drawings provide hair-raising evidence of strange and obsessional behavior through the centuries, and a helpful chronology of lycanthropic activities dates back 140,000 years to the first mixing of human and lupine blood. Werewolf hunters of all ages will appreciate the detailed section on slaying the beast, while potential victims will find the information on detecting and warding away the occasional wayward wolfman more to their immediate liking--if not need.

How did it happen that whole regions of Latin America-Amazonia, Patagonia, the Caribbean-are named for monstrous races of women warriors, big-footed giants and cannibals? Through history, monsters inhabit human imaginings of discovery and creation, and also degeneration, chaos, and death. Latin America's most dynamic monsters can be traced to archetypes that are found in virtually all of the world's sacred traditions, but only in Latin America did Amazons, cannibals, zombies, and other monsters become enduring symbols of regional history, character, and identity. From Amazons to Zombies presents a comprehensive account of the qualities of monstrosity, the ways in which monsters function within and among cultures, and theories and genres of the monstrous. It describes the genesis and evolution of monsters in the construction and representation of Latin America from the Ancient world and early modern Iberia to the present.

Since 1968's "Night of the Living Dead," zombie culture has steadily limped and clawed its way into the center of popular culture. Today, zombies and vampires have taken over TV shows, comic books, cartoons, video games, and movies. "Zombies, Vampires, and Philosophy" drags the theories of famous philosophers like Socrates and Descartes into the territory of the undead, exploring questions like: Why do vampires and vegetarians share a similar worldview? Why is understanding zombies the key to health care reform? And what does "healthy in mind and body" mean for vampires and zombies? Answers to these questions and more await readers brave enough to make this fun, philosophical foray into the undead.

This is an intelligent and insightful journey into the shadowy world of the 'man-beast' and whether they truly exist...If legend, and eyewitness accounts are to be believed, since ancient times we have shared our planet with various 'man-beasts'. From the Abominable Snowman to Zombies, these creatures have managed to both terrify and enthrall us in equal measure. Does the enduring fascination in movies and literature with vampires and werewolves have any basis in reality? Does Bigfoot really exist as an endangered species? Are aliens really abducting people? Are they real creatures or only expressions of our very human hopes and fears? In "Tracking the Man-Beasts", veteran paranormal investigator Joe Nickell explores the historical, geographical, and cultural reaches of various 'manimals' and other humanoid entities, bringing folkloric and iconographic evidence to bear on a category of mystery as old as humanity.

Featuring 30 chilling stories of real-life zombie encounters, this comprehensive and unsettling study draws upon traditions found throughout the world to dispel common depictions of zombies as lurching, flesh-eating automatons made popular by countless movies and books. This fascinating collection includes the stories of the Devil Baby of Bourbon Street, a monstrous creature complete with horns and tail that still lurks in the shadows of the Big Easy; Black Mama Courteaux and the great zombie war, involving hundreds of zombie soldiers battling for the supremacy of their queen; and the swamp child of Mama Cree, who still roams the bayous of Louisiana. In addition to the stories, a variety of zombie-related facts are explored, including ceremonies and initiations, zombies throughout history, sacred zombie and voodoo-related sites, and zombies and monsters of the Bible.

Enter the world of "The Boogeyman" who abides in closets everywhere. Learn myths from around the world. Discover sleep disorders that cause dreams to blend into reality, portals, vortexes, and doorways to the boogeyman's realm. Study paranormal cases that hold families in fear. Meet famous serial murderers, known as boogeymen, who took the lives of children and paid a high price for their crimes. Shiver as you read legends about entities that travel from time and space to kidnap us while we sleep in our beds. Follow fictional boogeymen through terrifying rampages of murder and mayhem in the movies. Maybe you should keep your closet door closed as you read this ...

Meet California's legendary monsters in this guided tour, from the sea, where life began, to the Golden State's scenic lakes, majestic mountains, brooding forests, and rumored "alien tunnels" beneath the streets of Los Angeles. Cower beneath a giant vulture with a wingspan of 25 feet in San Bernadino County. See a 30-foot-long flying/slithering serpent/bird in Riverside County that matched the speed of a train. Tour the lost underground city connecting L.A. to Santa Monica Bay, where lizard people were dropped off by a prehistoric meteor shower. Unknown creatures may appear at any time, to startle, frighten, and in some cases devour unwary humans. While Bigfoot is known to many, California's other strange creatures giant birds and reptiles, lizard men, winged apes, man-sized fish, and salamanderswill surprise and fascinate you.

***A Best Book of the Year in HARPER'S BAZAAR, BBC, THE NEW YORKER, GLAMOUR, GAL-DEM and HUFFPOST*** 'Witty and thought-provoking' Stylist 'Blistering' Glamour 'Unusual, original and strikingly contemporary' Guardian 'Absolutely brilliant' Ruth Ozeki 'A gripping contemporary fable about embracing difference' The Times 'A wholly 21st century take on bloodsucking' Observer Lydia is hungry. She's always wanted to try sashimi and ramen, onigiri and udon - the food her Japanese father liked to eat - but the only thing she can digest is blood. Yet Lydia can't bring herself to prey on humans, and sourcing fresh pigs' blood in London - where she is living away from her Malaysian-British mother for the first time and trying to build a career as an artist - is much more difficult than she'd anticipated. If Lydia is to find a way to exist in the world, she must reconcile the conflicts within her - between her demon and human sides, her mixed ethnic heritage and her relationship with food, and, in turn, humans. Before any of this, however, she must eat. 'It's Kohda's exploration of Lydia's inner world, the pain and longing she feels as an outsider, that makes Woman, Eating such a delicious novel' New York Times Book Review 'A profound meditation on alienation and appetite, and what it means to be a young woman who experiences life at an acute level of intensity and awareness' LISA HARDING 'What Stoker did for the vampire at the end of the nineteenth century, Claire Kohda does for for it in our own era' TLS

From the earliest days of oral history to the present, the vampire myth persists among mankind's deeply-rooted fears. This encyclopedia, with entries ranging from "Abchanchu" to "Zmeus," includes nearly 600 different species of historical and mythological vampires, fully described and detailed.

Taking Mary Shelley’s novel as its point of departure, this collection of essays considers how her creation has not only survived but thrived over 200 years of media history, in music, film, literature, visual art and other cultural forms. In studying monstrous figures torn from the deepest and darkest imaginings of the human psyche, the essays in this book deploy the latest analytical approaches, drawn from such fields as musicology, critical race studies, feminist studies, queer theory and psychoanalysis. The book interweaves the manifold sounds, sights and stories of monstrosity into a conversation that sheds light on important social issues, aesthetic trends and cultural concerns that are as alive today as they were when Shelley’s landmark novel was published 200 years ago.

Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse is a skirmish-scale miniatures game of survival horror. It pits players against each other in a nightmarish near-future where the dead have returned to life and are feasting on the living.

Players build their own factions, representing desperate civilians, military personnel, or hardened survivors, and must explore, scavenge, and fight in order to survive another day. Rival gangs are only one of the dangers they face - mindless zombies wander the streets, driven by insatiable hunger and drawn by the sound of combat!

A gang's ability to scavenge is as vital as their combat ability, and players must ensure that they have the resources to survive in this hostile world. Scenarios and campaigns allow you to develop your gang, gain experience and recruit new henchmen to build up your strength or replace the inevitable casualties of the zombie apocalypse.