"Beastly Tales"

The treasures one can find among a pile of old books. A few weeks ago, Wolfie's school were giving away free books. We could do donations, but they were free. We picked up a couple of them, him and me, including this one. When I was his age, I was fascinated by cryptids. I don't believe they exist anymore, but I kept a sort of interest about the myths surrounding them. So we eagerly read this book together. And I read it another time by myself, just for fun. I told him to be very sceptical about the accounts told in Beastly Tales. Even if one doesn't believe in them, they are still entertaining. If you have any suggestion for such books about cryptozoology, please let me know in the comments.

Useful Yeti

I wanted to blog about it for a while: Wolfie has a Yeti. I am not talking about his jumper. A few months ago, before school started, my wife bought him a rubber (and by that I mean erasor) with a Yeti on its plastic cover. This Yeti (or "the Yeti", as it is labelled) looks kind of strange, he looks more like a goat than ape-like, but still, it's kind of cool that my son has such critter on his schoolbag. Moral of the story: I am easily amused.

Bigfoot Sighting in Cannock Chase

This bit of news dates back from last January. For some reason, I hadn't seen it. But anyway, here's something interesting for whoever is into cryptozoology, even if only as a skeptic (like me): a man saw a Bigfoot in Cannock Chase. Now, like I said, I am very skeptical every time someone claims to have seen a cryptid, wherever it is in the world. And I read that Cannock Chase is (in)famous for many sightning of various cryptids and paranormal activities. It sounds like an hoax or a genuine mistake. All the same, I like a place with a lot of local folklore and this story and others could make for an interesting work of fiction. So I intend to learn more about Cannock Chase in the future. Maybe even visit it.

The Monster Game

I blogged before about All About Monsters, the very popular Usborne book about, well, monsters, mythical as well as cryptids. A lot of emphasis was put on the cryptid ones, actually. When Usborne republished the book, I quickly bought it. But I discovered that one thing in the French translaiton was missing in the original English: the Monster Game. Truly a board game that was made of the last page of the book, especially created, I think, for the French edition. I'm not sure why. The objective of the game was finding evidence for the existence of a lake monster, the Monster of Ellness Lake, basically a thinly disguised Loch Ness. We never played it. The rules were shoddy at best, for one. My brothers and I used the Monster Game, however for a few make belief games set around a lake and involving a cryptid like this one. Our characters explored the lake in a bathyscape, we questioned the locals, etc. It was quite fun. Anyway, I asked my father to send me pictures of the "Great Monster Game", beacause I wanted to share this memory on the blog. And because it might come in handy.

Snake Alert!

 Here's some critter news which I wanted to share and blog about: there are snakes on the loose in England! To be more precise, the RSPCA has issued a warning about escaped pet snakes. You don't read that every day, not in this country in any case. There has been an increase in sighting of snakes, they even found bona fide pythons in Lincolnshire! Something came to my mind about the story: if some of these serpents remain in the wild and survive long enough, they might be mistaken for other creatures and we might have new cryptids. But this is my imagination talking. All the same, this country is now on a Snake Alert.

Lynx in the Scottish Highlands

I just learned that four lynx have been illegally released in the Scottish Highlands. Of them, two have been recaptured. Releasing them was of coursea terrible idea, as the article explains. That said, I hope they release legally and responsibly lynx in Scotland in the future. Because it struck me that the land and the animal go well together. And this bit of news made me think of something else: I wonder if the many tales and sighting of cryptid wildcats that abound in the UK are not caused by such illegal release, accidental or intentional, of wild animals like these lynx.

Cryptidcurrency

 I found this meme a few days ago and it made me laugh, so I am sharing it here. I don't understand or care about cryptocurrency either. But, although I don't believe in any of these cryptids, I used to believe bigfoot and Nessie were real as a kid, and I have been fascinated by these modern mythical monsters ever since. So yeah, I would love to have coins like these in my wallet. And I will learn more about the chupacabra and Mothman. I don't know all that much about them.

The Owlman

 For the people following me for a while, you may know that among all my interests, I have some fascination for cryptids, although very skeptical about the existence of any of them. I don't think any exist, in fact, but love the (ancient or modern) folklore associated to it. I also think they make for great source of inspiration for horror stories. Some time ago, I found out about the Owlman, who was spotted in the seventies in a church of the village of Mawnan, in Cornwall. I know the legent of the Owlman has already been adapted into one horror movie, and the cryptid made his way into other stories, but I think there is more to tell about him. It's just something ghostly and eerie about owls in general, so a mansize, hominid version of the bird is just... Well, really creepy. Especially if he dwells in a village church. I hope he becomes better known and a new character for Halloween. When I go to Cornwall, I hope to visit Mawnan.

Wolf-like Cryptid

 Something caught my attention in the local news recently: a dead "wold-like" creature was discovered in Henley. Now, as usual, I am very skeptical about this news. For all I know, there may not even be a corpse available to prove it. The article remains very shady about it in any case. In fact, a lot of it is just a reminiscence of sighting of other creatures, some of which I blogged about back in August 2023. It seems that the local press enjoys its cryptids. I might sound sarcastic, but I found the news entertaining all the same. I actually love a bit of cryptozoology, if only as a sort of speculative fiction mixed with legends. And I love wolves, so the more wolf-like critters, real or imagined, the better.

Monstrum on the Sasquatch

Let's talk about cryptids for a moment. Monstrum has recently done a video on the Sasquatch, aka Bigfoot, which I found utterly fascinating (as always). And as usual with Monstrum, the art and animation are as interesting as the educational content.

Hunting the Loch Ness Monster

 Some longtime readers may remember that when I was a child I used to be fascinated by the Loch Ness Monster. As an adult, I don' believe anymore in its existence, nevertheless I still have an interest in him, if only because of its place in the Acottish folklore. Well, Nessie may not exist, but its legend is certainly not dead: a new hunt, the biggest in the last 50 years, has recently been organised. Nearly 300 volunteers will monitor the lake and its activities. I don't think they will find anything, sadly, certainly not a long believed to be extinct dinosaur (when I was a child my money was on the plesiosaur), nevertheless it is kind of nice to know that people still chase monsters, mythical or not.

Cryptid Cats

You may remember this post from March 2023, about a mysterious picture of what appears to be a panther in the wild. Taken in England. Well, I recently read an article in the Bucks Free Press mentioning 10 places in Buckinghamshire where you can find big cats. You gotta love old local newspapers, sometimes they get into paranormal or cryptozoology, and it fires up my imagination. No, I don't believe there are big cats the size of panthers or pumas dwelling in the UK. But one can dream, even a skeptical mind like me. Oh and the article mentions a "self-proclaimed expert" (their word), who has a website called Big Cats of the Chilterns. But all skepticism aside, I love the idea of the huge but elusive felines roaming the countryside.

Mysterious "Panther"

I will start this post by a disclaimer: I love a bit of cryptozoology, however I know it is a pseudoscience. I will therefore relay this piece of news with caution: I remain very skeptical regarding the conclusions people have drawn from it. But anyway, a "panther" was caught on camera in a field in Gloucestershire. Or at least what looks like a black panther, or a rather large cat. The animal, maybe a feline, appears to be as large as a Labrador dog, but twice as long, or so says the article. Now I have seen the video, it is quite short and the image does not show all that much, so I don't think it is quite clear at all. I suspect an optical illusion and a mundane explanation. All the same, large cats sighting has been a staple of this country's folklore, so the news set my imagination on fire.

"Le mystère des hommes des neiges"

 Mon frère PJ a acheté il y a quelques jours Le mystère des hommes des neiges. J'ai déjà bogué sur le sujet il y a dix ans. C'est bien entendu un livre sur les cryptides comme le yéti, le sasquatch et autres anthropoïdes. Nous l'avions emprunté à la bibliothèque de l'école lorsque nous étions enfants. Il y avait d'autres bouquins dans cette collection, les trois nous fascinaient. C'était beaucoup de pseudoscience, mais quand même, ça a beaucoup nourri notre imagination. Et les illustrations étaient superbes. J'ai très hâte de l'emprunter lors de notre prochaine réunions familiale.

Bigfoot, the board game

When I was a child, I was fascinated by cryptids of all sorts. Among them, of course, the Bigfoot. I was also fascinated by anything related to them. So back in the days before the internet, I got quite curious about a board game called... The Bigfoot Game, which I saw in catalogues. I have always loved board games, but sadly we never had that one. Apparently it is very hard to find, I found this image online. I don't know much about the concept of the game, except that one must prove the existence of the Bigfoot by getting on top of a hill, while said Bigfoot throws boulders at you. Kind of Donkey Kong, but as a board game, and with a cooler, more mysterious concept. I doubt I would risk buying on second-hand online, but I would love to see it reedited. And I know there are other Bigfoot board games,so I might get my hands on another one.

Calmar de sable

 Je reblogue une nouvelle vieille photo prise en Bretagne en août 2008, rien que parce que. Si vous lisez ce blogue souvent, vous connaissez ma fascination pour les créatures marines monstrueuses, vraies ou fausses. Je ne rappelle pas où cette photo a été prise, mais ce calmar géant de sable est vraiment bien fait. Il m'a beaucoup impressionné en tout cas.

"Des monstres dans nos lacs"

Photo prise dans Les dires de Piloé, le livre de quatrième année de français qui m'avait fait une si forte impression quand j'étais jeune. Je ne suis pas certain cela dit si tous les chapitres avaient vraiment une grande valeur éducative. Le module 8 sur les monstres marins était assez peu sceptique, en tout cas. Notez sur la page le titre affirmatif: "Des monstres dans nos lacs". Mais à défaut de développermon esprit critique envers la cryptozoologie, ça a développé mon imagination. Si je ne crois plus qu'il y a des monstres dans nos lacs, j'aimerais encore parfois que ce soit le cas.

Bigfoot Rescue Kit

A few days ago, it was the birthday of Blonde Tickler, who turned 15. Sadly she is getting older, sadly we could not celebrate with her. But this reminded me of one present I bough her once, I can't remember if it was for her birthday or just for fun. I bought it in Montreal, in Farfelu if my memory is correct. When I saw it, I knew I had to buy it for her. It is the Bigfoot Rescue Kit, and basically includes a plush toy (her, I mean a bigfoot) and a booklet that is a caregiver guide with adoption certificate. I don't remember what name she gave her bigfoot, but I know she was very happy wiht er present. I did a bit of research and I see that they are availablehere in the UK. I might buy one for Wolfie one day. Because cryptids are cute and bigfoots are so darn cute.

Le mystère des Pieuvres géantes

Il y a des moments où je veux revisiter des vieux livres que j'avais beauoup aimés durant mon enfance. Il fut un temps où je me passionnais de cryptozoologie. Mes frères et moi étions fascinés par trois livres que l'on avait trouvés dans la bibliothèque de notre école primaire: l'un sur le monstre du Loch Ness, un autre sur les abominables hommes des neiges (j'en ai parlé ici) et leurs variantes et un sur les pieuvres géantes. Celui sur les peiuvres géantes s'appelait... Le mystère des Pieuvres géantes. C'était peut-être le moins pseudo-scientifique des trois, enfin selon mes souvenirs. On sait après tout que ça existe pour vrai, des pieuvres géantes. Je ne crois pas que c'était très bon, mais parce que je me rappelle des illustrations parfois très dramatiques et rien que par plaisir nostalgique, j'aimerais bien remettre la main dessus.

Les monstres marins

Photo prise dans Les dires de Piloé, le livre de français de quatrième année que j'ai tant aimé et que mon frère PJ m'a gentiment acheté. J'ai hâte de revoir le Module 8, sur les monstres marins. Enfant, j'étais grand amateur de cryptozoologie, même si maintenant je ne crois plus aux monstres marins. Je ne me rappelle pasdu chapitre, seulement son illustration. Je me demande s'il a encouragé ma crédulité. Cela dit, jolie image.