Derived from the ancient Greek to mean the “study of hidden animals”, this psuedoscience, led by researchers known as cryptozoologists, investigates the unfathomable fauna (and flora) that lurk in lore, and strives to find proof of the existence of these enigmatic creatures known as cryptids. Delve deep into the superstition and the science to find out if these bizarre beasts are fact or fiction. Investigate the legend of the Mothman, uncover the origins of the Jersey Devil, learn the difference between Bigfoot and Sasquatch, discover how many mythical monsters have been revealed to be real and join the ongoing search for the truth…
WELCOME
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE MONSTER HUNTERS • If a creature’s existence is unsubstantiated or in dispute, the cryptozoologist is at hand to uncover the truth and reveal the hidden beast
CRYPTID CLASSIFICATIONS • Use this handy table to find out what your favourite elusive animals are classified as
THE INTERNATIONAL CRYPTOZOOLOGY MUSEUM • Where else could you rub shoulders with Bigfoot, Yowie and a Feejee Mermaid?
MONSTER MUSEUMS AROUND THE GLOBE • Why not try one of these monstrous museums?
BEASTS BEYOND BELIEF • Could our ancestors have really encountered the legendary creatures of mythology, or are they just fantastical fabrications?
THE HUNT FOR STRANGE BEASTS • New genetic testing techniques are disproving many claims about mythical beasts. But they are also providing some intriguing discoveries…
5 MOST WANTED CRYPTIDS • Cryptozoologists advocate the existence of an extraordinary number of mystery beasts. The majority are known from a handful of anecdotes and there is no good reason to think that their discovery is likely. However, a lesser number are taken seriously by an especially large number of people, some qualified zoologists among them. These, then, can be regarded as the ‘most wanted’ of cryptids.
MONSTER MYTHS BUSTED • Folklore tells us that terrifying creatures such as Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster lurk on the outskirts of civilisation. But can science explain the harrowing historic encounters humans have had with them?
No Such Thing As MONSTERS? • They may have started out as cryptids, but many creatures are now acknowledged by the zoological world. Who says there’s no such thing as monsters?
THE WORLD OF HOAXES • For every convincing cryptid, there are countless convincing fakes, taking the world one mummified mermaid at a time.
THE CARDIFF GIANT • This stone giant gained infamy as ‘America’s Greatest Hoax’
THE MINNESOTA ICEMAN • The ‘missing link’ between humans and Neanderthals?
HODAG
BIGFOOT HOAXES
THETIS LAKE MONSTER • This Canadian cryptid terrified teenagers in the 1970s
JAKE THE ALLIGATOR MAN • This half-alligator swamp discovery is a mermaid with a difference
HOTHEADED NAKED ICE BORER • An April Fool’s joke to make you shudder
HYDRARCHOS • This makeshift sea-serpent was a popular tourist draw
SKVADER • This Swedish hare hybrid could run faster than most!
THE PILTDOWN MAN • A bone jigsaw or a real missing link?
THE FIJI MERMAID
HUMANOIDS • These creatures cross often into uncanny territory, standing upright and assuming anthropomorphic aspects. While some promise to solve the evolutionary missing link between us and the apes, others are far more terrifying – appearing to be monstrous hybrids of man and beast or some abomination of genetic engineering
HAIRY APEMEN • From Bigfoot to the Yeti, humanoid cryptids continue to captivate our curiosity
ORANG PENDEK
HUNT FOR THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN • For centuries, tales of a wild man of the Himalayas have fascinated humans, but is the Yeti fact or fiction?
THE LEGEND...