Monday 1 February 2016

Book Review: Monsters, Giants and Little Men from Mars

Monsters, Giants and Little Men from Mars: An Unnatural History of the AmericasMonsters, Giants and Little Men from Mars: An Unnatural History of the Americas by Daniel Cohen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A fun little book on cryptozoology, the study of animals that aren't supposed to exist. You get all the usual ones here like the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot, as well as stranger ones like the Bunnyman of Washington DC and my personal favorite, the globster. Cohen also goes beyond traditional cryptozoology to cover obviously folkloric creatures that no one ever thought existed, known fakes such as the Cardiff Giant, and UFOs. You also get the original Men in Black, not the movie.
It's all done in a breezy, fun style that doesn't take itself too seriously. The book is a bit short, so "serious" students of cryptozoology will want to consult works by more encyclopedic researchers such as Loren Coleman and Jerome Clark. This would be good for a young adult reader, though, and is wonderful grist for a writer's mill.

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2 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

If you're talking about Bigfoot, you can't take yourself seriously.

Sean McLachlan said...

Actually he was talking about several different types of Bigfoot, so that would be Bigfeet.

Looking for more from Sean McLachlan? He also hangs out on the Civil War Horror blog, where he focuses on Civil War and Wild West history.

You can also find him on his Twitter feed and Facebook page.