Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizensof the Deep [Paperback]

Loren Coleman (Author), Patrick Huyghe (Author), Harry Trumbore (Illustrator) (Author), Mark Lee Rollins (Illustrator) (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 23, 2003

From the serpentine "Champie" of Lake Champlain to the venerable "Nessie" of Loch Ness, extraordinary-and un-explained-creatures of the deep have been reported in sightings throughout the twentieth century. Now, two of the world's leading cryptozoological investigators provide a globetrotting field guide to when, where, and what kind of mysterious aquatic beasts have gripped the public-and sometimes the scientific-imagination. Filled with comprehensive drawings, classifications, and maps, their book offers an invaluable and unusual resource for the intrepidly curious to investigate these sightings firsthand or to simply enjoy the fascinating accounts that others have given.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cryptozoology, as the name implies, is the scientific classification and study of creatures that may or may not exist-a discipline frequently relegated to the margins of the scientific establishment. So Coleman and Huyghe's decision to write about the Loch Ness Monster ("Nessie"), Giant Beavers and Mystery Mantas hardly seems like an ideal step in the journey towards academic legitimacy. Nonetheless, the rare victory that comes with the "official" recognition of a once-dubious aquatic creature (a giant squid, say, or a megamouth shark) has emboldened the authors to attempt the definitive guide to the elusive "mystery creatures" that might populate over two-thirds of the planet's surface. Unfortunately, the authors' focus is primarily taxonomic rather than narrative or expository, which makes for a disappointingly dull read. Plodding through a detailed animal-classification system quickly becomes a bit, er, dry, so readers looking for lively nature stories would be wise to avoid this particular volume, as the quasi-mythological nature of its subject does little to spice things up. Even such unlikely beasts as Great Sea Centipedes or Waterhorses (of which Nessie may be the most well-known example) are handled primarily in such clinical terms as size, range and likely habitat, supplemented with brief and surprisingly dreary "descriptive incidents" and eyewitness accounts. Heavy on methodology and light on the mystery and excitement of the best nature writing, this book may spark in readers the sense that the authors were more worried about the criticism of their peers than about the drowsiness of their readers. Illustrations.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

The author of the cult classic Mysterious America, Loren Coleman has been both on- and off-camera consultant to NBC's Unsolved Mysteries, A & E's Ancient Mysteries, The History Channel's In Search of History, Discovery Channel's In the Unknown, and In Search Of... to appear on the on Fox and the USA Network.

Patrick Huyghe has been contributing editor to Science Digest and Omni. He is the author of numerous books and has produced public television documentaries.

Product Details

• Paperback: 380 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher (October 23, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585422525
• ISBN-13: 978-1585422524
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #308,775 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good place to start on this topic, but not perfect, November 7, 2005

By 

Daniel L Edelen (Mt. Orab, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizensof the Deep (Paperback)

Coleman & Huyghe's "The Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep" is an attempt to develop a classification system for cryptic and relict water "monsters." Coleman, a prolific writer in the realm of cryptozoology. takes some of his previous, less focused works on mystery creatures and looks solely at the elusive deep water creatures. The success of this work is highly mixed, however, leaving readers starved for more.

PROS:

* The authors revamp previous attempts by past cryptozoologists at creating a systematic categorization of creatures. In this way, they lay out a "field guide" similar to a field guide for birds that would make distinctions between woodpeckers and owls. For their system, they opt for creatures that hew to
--Classic Sea Serpent
--Waterhorse
--Mystery Cetacean
--Giant Shark
--Mystery Manta
--Great Sea Centipede
--Mystery Saurian
--Cryptid Chelonian
--Mystery Sirenian
--Giant Beaver
--Mystery Monitor
--Dinosauria
--Mystery Salamander
--Giant Octopus

* The book covers a wide-ranging variety of creatures and does a good job in globe trotting.

* Each type within the classification system is given some preliminary info, overviews of well-known sightings, plus a few expanded narratives containing more specific information.

* The book's layout is nicely conceived, with an effort made to appear scholarly enough to lend credence to the field of cryptozoology.

* There are plenty of interesting encounters listed, enough to keep folks interested and turning pages.

* The maps listed for each encounter are nicely designed and are a good frame for each monster.

* The bibliography is extensive.

CONS:

* While the illustrations of the types within the classification system are well done and the maps are helpful, the utter lack of photographs or illustrations related to each case depicted in a book like this is a major disappointment.

* No matter how the authors spin it, the classification system they've developed is no better than similar ones given in the past.

* Coleman lifts big chunks of his previous books for this one. It seems like many passages from his 1999 book "Cryptozoology A to Z" are reproduced in their entirety (or with minimal modification.)

* Some of the narratives of encounters are mentioned in the intro material for each monster type, but are then reiterated in individual examples that follow, too often adding little to what was given in summary before.

* Not enough credence is given to debunking some of the sightings listed here.


The book concludes with a basic summary, info on where to see cryptids like these, a summary of worldwide sightings based on continent, some background on famous carcasses and "globsters," helps for the ridicule factor that monster sighters incur, plus creature characteristics monster sighters should look for if they should happen to spy something unusual.

If you are new to the study of cryptid creatures, this is an excellent survey to start with. However, despite being an intriguing book, its lacks prevent it from being the last word on the topic.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sea Serpents, Lake Monsters and Other Beasts from the Deep, May 22, 2006

By 

Zekeriyah (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizensof the Deep (Paperback)

From the authors of "The Field Guide to Bigfoot, Yeti and Other Mystery Primates Worldwide", this book tackles the various sea serpents, lake monsters and other aquatic cryptids in the same manner. It's not exactly an in-depth scientific survey, but it is a pretty good introduction to the phenomena, and it does try to cover a vast array of hypothetical species. We begin with a history of the sea serpent, going through important historical sightings, early studies of sea serpents, the discovery of the giant squid, and Heuvelmans attempted categorization. In these sections the book reads pretty much as a general history of Cryptozoology, so most readers will probably be familar with the material.

The real meat of the book comes in from the "species profiles", in which Coleman and Huyghes showcase the different cryptids they came up with in their system. Some come from Heuvelmans' studies (with a new look at the "supper otter") while others are entirely new. Each write-up includes an illustration, maps, an overview of the creature and it's habitats, range and behavior, and a few brief sightings. All in all, over a dozen species are covered. We are presented with the familar "classic sea serpent", the "water horse" (maned, long necked seals according to the authors), Heuvelman's "sea centipede" (a multi-finned whale), marine crocodiles and giant sharks, sea turtles and octopi. More exotic sea creatures mentioned included the Trinty Alps giant salamander, Mokole-Mbembe (a surviving dinosaur said to dwell in the Congo), the Buru (a possibly extinct monitor lizard from the Himalayas), surviving populations of Steller's sea cows, a giant beaver seen in Utah's Salt Lake and unidentified species of manta rays and whales.

Obviously some cryptids are more believable than others, but all are given a good amount of space, along with the authors attempts at finding a scientific explanation for them. In the back of the book, we are given some interesting material such as an essay about the latitudes in which lake monsters are found, some accounts about "globsters" and other unidentified carcasses that have washed ashore, and a list of locations around the world in which sea, lake and river monsters can be sighted. On small comment is that several of the creatures mentioned in this list aren't mentioned at all in the text, but thats a small gripe.

Ultimately, this is a fun little book, especially for the lay reader who wants to know whether or not there is any possibility of discovering sea monsters in this day and age. Obviously some of the claims need to be taken with a grain of salt, but this book still provides a fun and interesting read. However, for the reader with a serious interest in cryptozoology, this book isn't going to replace Heuvelmans' monumental "In the Wake of Sea Serpents". Its still worth including in your personal library, but it's not the be-all, end-all word on marine cryptids.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What we have been waiting for is here!, November 1, 2003

By 

Steve Goodrich (Upstate N.Y.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizensof the Deep (Paperback)

"Lake Monsters and Sea Serpents" is without question the paragon of books ever written on the subject of large unexplained sea and lake phenomena. Serious researchers owe everything to Bernard Heuvelman's "In the Wake of Sea Serpents" naturally, but this book goes several steps beyond Heuvelman's masterpiece.

This book, as with all of Mr. Coleman's books, doesn't try to document every single sighting ever made. It instead documents a few examples to enhance the overall purpose of the book. In doing so, we are presented with an all inclusive outline of every single lake and sea monster that ever reared it's head above water.

Mr. Coleman takes the liberty of revamping the categories of water monsters in a more up to date and pragmatic manner. This modernized enhancement to the classic types of water monsters is at once comfortable and surprising.

The book is filled with illustrations of the different types of creatures as well as maps logging their sightings. And as we have come to expect with Mr. Coleman's books, the appendix and bibliography at the end of the book make it alone worth the cover price.

It is beyond imagination how anyone from the arm chair curious, to the hard core researchers can do without this book. Mr. Coleman has done all the work for us, we have only to pick up the torch and carry on the investigations.