Tag: cryptid

David G. Gordon’s Field Guide to the Sasquatch

I normally post on Sundays, but I had a busier weekend than expected, so you’re getting this on a Tuesday. Sorry!

Sasquatch Books – 1992

I’m planning a camping trip in the Pacific Northwest this summer, so I thought I’d read this Field Guide to the Sasquatch in the hopes of improving my chances of seeing a bigfoot. Unfortunately, this book contains little I haven’t encountered in greater detail before. It’s short and quite readable, but it was only when I sat down to write about it that I realised how incomplete it is. It contains the standard physical description of a sasquatch and lists a few places where they have been spotted, but the author assumes that sasquatch is a species of giant ape and gives no consideration to the idea that it might be a transdimensional entity. This text’s brevity and failure to consider the more fringe theories on the origins of sasquatch render it obsolete at this point. There’s not much point in reading this one.

This thing was written more than 30 years ago, and with every day that has passed, the likelihood of bigfoot’s existence has diminished. It’s disappointing, but I’m slowly coming to terms with the fact that I’ll probably never see one. I’m going into the woods in August though, so fingers crossed!

Lyle Blackburn’s Lizard Man: The True Story of the Bishopville Monster

Anomalist Books – 2013

Over the years I have done posts on books about some of the better known cryptids including the Jersey Devil, the Mothman and a few on Sasquatch. In truth, I never found any of these cases particularly convincing. I’ve read a few other books about the field of cryptozoology, but I hadn’t done any on specific cryptids in a long time. I recently did posts on books about the Pigman and the Goatman, and when I saw a book about the Lizardman, I decided it was only fair that I give him a chance too.

In the late 80s, some people in Bishopville, South Carolina, claimed to see a monster. Some cars in the area were damaged. The descriptions of the creature varied, but some claimed he was like a hairless sasquatch.

Like the author of Goatman, Lyle Blackburn does an excellent job documenting the Lizardman phenomena. The story is clear, and obviously well researched. Unfortunately, none of the accounts herein are remotely convincing.

Lizardman never hurt anyone. Nobody ever went missing. None of the sightings are particularly interesting. One witness later admitted he was lying. A few people claim they saw something they couldn’t explain. Their descriptions of the monster are so different that it’s hard to accept any of this. Lizardman doesn’t exist. At best he’s just a muddy sasquatch.

This is a decent book about a very silly topic.

There were a few points in the text where the author referenced the fact that he is a musician. I decided to see if he had any recordings on the internet. It turns out that he was a founding member of Solitude Aeturnus and played on their a bunch of their albums, including my personal favourite, Through the Darkest Hour from 1994. This dude played in an awesome heavy metal band and then started writing books about cryptids. Cool.