Customer Reviews

Three Men Seeking Monsters: Six Weeks in Pursuit of Werewolves, Lake Monsters, Giant Cats, Ghostly Devil Dogs, and Ape-Men

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I have just finished reading Nick Redfern's Three Men Seeking Monsters and wanted to say that for anyone interested in subjects like lake monsters, Bigfoot, werewolves and other strange creatures this is a book you must read. I have read other books on cryptozoology that I found boring but I enjoyed this one particularly because the author wrote it in a style that made you feel that you were there with them on the adventure. I thought it was an atmospheric and exciting book and the perfect thing to read on a dark and stormy night. This would make a great television series and different to the boring straight forward approach that many shows follow. Again, what a fabulous read......you MUST buy this book!

Mr. Redfern and his merrie band of British fortean eccentrics takes us on a journey the likes of which we have not seen since the days of Dr. Johnson sojourning to the north or the askew tales of Laurence Sterne. These blokes are the kind that you'd like to know for serious drinking and tale telling round a fireplace. Yet their historical research is sound, students of local fortean folklore will note. I find the tulpa theory neither "tired" nor overworked in throwing light on incidents of the unexplained. What Mr. Redfern & company do is synthesize the "passport to magonia' ideas of Jacque Vallee with the trickster/metamind theories of John Keel along with their own experiences while on this madcap road trip. The tulpa idea has merit and is worthy of further exploration. The cast of characters encountered in this work range from the frighteningly memorable to the freakish and pathetic. On the whole this is not a scholarly exploration of the paranormal, but if you're as weary as I am of anal retentive pontification or blind belief as with most paranormal books today, this is refreshing & fun.

Imagine if Withnail had gone hunting Bigfoot. That's basically what you've got in this book. Three complete berks - an oversized Renfaire escapee, a Goth with self-control issues, and a hyperkinetic reporter - traipse up and down the UK for six weeks, powered by lager and their own imaginations.
It's not that the subject material is the problem. On the contrary, that's why I bought the book. No, the issue is that author Redfern and his friends display all the scientific rigor of a group of six year olds in an abandoned candy store. For example, early on they're invited to stay at the house of a doctor who might have seen something odd back in the 1940s. He warns them not to go down the back stairs to the basement - an entirely sensible recommendation, as opening your home to strangers should only go so far. Needless to say, our intrepid monster hunters convince themselves in the middle of the night that their host is keeping a cannabalistic devolved wildman in the cellar, then sneak down in best Scooby-Shaggy-and-Fred fashion to the cellar just in time to scare themselves witless. When, the next day, their host asks them to leave abruptly, they take it as a sign of conspiracy, rather than the fact that he just might have been annoyed at their burrowing in his basement.
And so it goes. No chasm is wide enough to keep these lunatics from leaping to the conclusion on the other side, no activity immature or foolish enough for them to turn down. When invited to explore the tunnels of an abandoned military base, they immediately start banging on closed doors with chair legs to try to summon the giant worm who supposedly dwells nearby. Losing track of time during a long conversation immediately becomes evidence of a curse. The litany of goofball behavior goes on and on.
Finally, we drag ourselves to the weary conclusion. Redfern's big surprise is that yes, these monsters do exist, and that they're psychic parasites. So far, so John Keel, but wait, there's more! Despite noting that these supposed creatures are pure evil and truly monstrous, he takes the British government to task for the heinous crime of trying to keep people from letting them "in". Mr. Redfern apparently has confused himself with a protagonist from an H.P. Lovecraft story, and I fully expect that in his next book we'll be reading about three-lobed burning eyes, Great Cthulhu and the Shoggoth on the Roof.
Mind you, the book is quite frequently funny. Redfern claims to have written the book as deliberately humorous as an antidote to the psychic critters (shades of Steven R. Donaldson, if that's the case), but much of the hilarity is unintentional. Monster hunters fall down in the woods, dress up like Batman to summon sea serpents, muddle their myths, and generally act like bit players in a supernatural Benny Hill skit, and that's where the humor is. If you buy it, expect nothing but a good laugh.

Nick Redfern has written a book that may be turned into an English television series....it is fast-paced but watch out to not get splashed by the ale the boys spill as they are laughing in the neighborhood pub, regaling locals about their latest creature hunt! It may not be your cup of tea, but it contains good insights into what actually happens on some of these UK-based excursions. Sort of a slide of life of the way of British "monster" hunters, an adventurer's tale more than a Fortean guide to what's out there....

Strictly recommended for those with a sense of humor in cryptozoology.

A childhood friend bought this book for me purely out of nostalgia and I grudgingly read it over the course of a weekend.

As a kid, I really enjoyed reading monster and UFO books. Tales of Bigfoot and Yeti fascinated me. As I got older these sorts of books fell out of style with me, mainly because by the time I entered High School I had gained a fairly good grasp on the scientific process and skepticism.

Looking back I realize that my youthful fascination with this type of literature had more to do with an over all fascination with Science Fiction and Fantasy. I consider these books to be "reality fantasy" - completely unverifiable, yet spooky stories best to be read for the fun of it and not to be taken seriously.

The book puts forth the tired Tupla theory, which is that strange creatures and UFOs are not physical but rather are thought projections. As the book tells it, there is a realm of immaterial sprits all around us who somehow feed off our emotions by visual manifesting themselves as Aliens, Werewolves and Wild Men. It's very contrived to say the least and ultimately causes the book to fail. Not once throughout the book does the author mention mental illness, hallucinogenic drugs or other more down to earth causes for some of the phenomena he recounts, although he does mention that some eye witnesses may have been influenced by works of fiction and over obsessive imaginations. Still, the author cannot escape painting himself into a corner of discredit due to a simple lack of believability.

What I enjoyed most about this book were the exact things I enjoyed about other Fortean style literature as a child: the chilling second hand accounts of strange sightings and events. Sadly, this book is only partly about historical accounts of Wild Men and Unexplained Big Cats. The majority of the book is an amateurish attempt at recounting drunken (and possibly drug induced) misadventures of a trio of English misfits.

At times, the book is very bloated as the author meanders off subject to relate a nightmare or other experience he or someone he knew had. Overall, the book could probably be cut to half the size and made infinitely more readable. I've personally read better self published works before and I'm led to wonder if the editor was asleep at the wheel on this one, or perhaps thought the readership wouldn't be expecting too much anyway.

I give the book two stars instead of one because I think that young readers - perhaps middle school age - would enjoy it. Over all, the book isn't too poorly written, although the author's habit of starting each chapter off with a lyric from a Ramones song grew old quickly and flags him as having poor style.

Excellent compilation of anomalous events and encounters, sprinkled with humor and real life trials and tribulations of all three participants.

Somebody knows whats going on and that somebody wants us to be kept in the dark, we must shed the light ourselves..

This was my first Nick Redfern book. I was expecting a typical, conservative approach to cryptozoology. I was surprised. And a little concerned. It seems that he started off in the conservative camp, believing in literal, flesh-and-blood creatures. But in those 6 weeks he left there and ended up believing that at least some of these "creatures" are paranormal beings. I would use the phrase spiritual beings. This concept is not my concern, however. This idea actually comes close to my own beliefs (if not being exactly the same).

It seems the turning point occurred when the group of 3 met a witch, Mother Sarah Graymalkin, who informs them that all of these cryptozoological creatures are really something called Cormons, who exist is a parallel realm to our physical one. Sometimes these realms overlap in places and there can be crossovers between the two. The ancient Celts called them "thin places". According to Mother Sarah, very few today can consciously summon these beings in to our realm. These skills are part of some ancient occult rituals no longer practiced as they once were. According to her (and a book handed down for generations in her family), a group known as the Nine discovered how to bring these Cormons into the physical realm and worked closely with a group of Irish pagan occultists to call forth these beings to protect the British Isles from invaders.... OK. (This is a much shorter version than in the book).

Here comes my problems. Mr. Redferns' belief is based totally on accepting at face value what Mother Sarah had said. Without questions. There is no way to check on the historical accuracy of this story, or anything else written in that book. It is one person's account. And if you have ever listened to more than one person tell what they saw about an event you know you can get more than one answer, all different.

I am not questioning Nick Redferns' accounts for those six weeks, although some of them really push you to the edge of the reality pool. I am concerned about a fundamental lack of anything historical or archealogical to build your beliefs on.

Personally, I believe there is a spirit realm as well as an existence beyond death. I call myself a follower of Jesus (not a Christian. There is too much negative baggage on that word that I honestly cannot relate too) who had a spiritual awakening when I was 14 years old. I have had supernatural experiences my whole life. The spirit realm is a reality to me. But I also know that there are some spiritual beings who hate us with a deep hatred. Mr. Redfern and his friends displayed in the book a callous disregard for any sort of restraint in the practice of occult rituals which can be dangerous. Their only basis for what they believe is their own experiences. Which is true for all of us. But there needs to be some objectivity in understanding your experiences. I hope this personal revelation about myself is not a turn off to some reading this.

It seems there is a similarity between Nick Redferns' thinking and beliefs and John A. Keel's. Not necessarily a bad thing. Just something I noticed.

As a whole, I really did enjoy this book, despite my previous comments. It was a great read and it was honestly hard to put down. I spent the first couple of nights up till midnight or 1:00 AM. At the end, you seem to be left feeling that at least SOME of the things being seen today by people (whether UFOs, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, etc.) are paranormal (I say spiritual), not physical. I missed seeing Nick Redfern where he spoke at the Monster Mash in Massachusetts in October. I hope he will be back again. Nick Redfern, Jon Downes, and Richard Freeman all seem to be really fun guys to be with (at least in the book). Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Whether interested in the paranormal or not, I think many people would enjoy this nonfiction account of three zany, beer-guzzling bachelors prowling around the British countryside in a camper, begging for all kinds of trouble. I laughed all the way through this book, even while riveted, wide-eyed, to tale after tale of strange and dark creatures. By the last page, I felt thoroughly rewarded by the humor, adventure, and mystery. (Unfortunately, I was also suddenly discontent with my very sane and normal life.)

I have been a book reviewer for many years, but this is the first review that I have ever written of a book of my own adventures. Nicholas has done a wonderful job, although as I remember it.. I was the dashing cove who saved the day rather than him. This book is great fun and is a pretty good taster for the madness which is the day to day life at the Centre for Fortean Zoology.

Up until the day she died my dear old mother used to say "Jonathan, when are you going to get a proper job?" Revisiting our adventures of 2001 whilst reading this book reminds me why my answer was "Never".

Apart from Nicholas's lamentable taste in music, this is a wonderful book and one which I have no hesitation in recommending.

Slainte Mhor

Jon Downes
The Centre for Fortean Zoology

What I wanted was three men seeking monsters. I wanted to red about six weeks in pursuit of Werewolves, Lake Monsters, Giant Cats, Ghostly Devil Dogs, and Ape-Men. What I got was a hundred pages of "me and my mates knocking about the pubs and having a laugh" before anything really happens. I wanted more cryptozoological searches and theories, less narrative about the author and his friends just hanging out.