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Hunting Monsters Paperback – April 15, 2017

by Darren Naish (Author)

34 customer reviews

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The Loch Ness Monster, bigfoot and the yeti have long held a fascination for people the world over. Debates about their actual existence or what they might really be have continued for decades, if not centuries. Known also as cryptids, they have spawned a body of research known as cryptozoology. This entertaining book looks at the evidence of these mysterious monsters and others and explores what they might really be (if they exist at all), why they have been represented as they have and the development of cryptozoology and how it has collected data to discover more about these unknown creatures.--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr Darren Naish is a palaeontologist and the founder of the weblog Tetrapod Zoology in 2006. He is the author or co-author of a number of books on prehistoric animals, such as the Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life (DK, 2003 with David Lambert and Elizabeth Wyse) and The Evidence (2000, with David Martill), which was published to accompany the BBC TV series Walking with Dinosaurs. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product details

Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Arcturus Publishing Ltd (April 15, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1784285919
ISBN-13: 978-1784285913
Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 0.9 x 5.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 34 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #734,681 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1376 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Occult & Paranormal > Unexplained Mysteries

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Hunting monsters isn't about finding them

March 1, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Full disclosure, I'm a long-time reader of Darren's blog Tetrapod Zoology.

"What we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is failure to communicate." That's actually one of the major themes that comes through in this book. This isn't yet another regurgitation of famous monster stories. Rather, it's an examination of the evidence that supports these famous stories. It's the uncropped pictures (as of Nessie), the full scope of the arguments over the Patterson Bigfoot footage, and so on. It talks about the political and commercial agendas of various players, something you rarely see covered.

In other words, it's a warts-and-all investigation of the evidence, and that's why it's about hunting monsters, rather than finding them. I do agree with the other reviewer who said that the book gets repetitive, but in a way that's the point. Ultimately, it's the same problem repeatedly, of questionable (often staged) evidence, credulous and/or sloppy investigators, authors who over-generalize and ignore details (particularly on lake and sea monsters) in order to make better stories, and, ultimately, monsters whose descriptions somehow morph over the decades to mirror the latest pop science fads. In other words, it is a failure to communicate, of stories being retold, misinterpreted, respun, and ultimately solidified into cultural tropes that have little to do with the original evidence. And that original evidence often seems to have been a prank, a campfire story, or a get-rich-quick scheme.

This is the type of investigation you don't find in all those books on Nessie or Sasquatch. While the book acknowledges that there's still mysteries out there (like the Orang Pendek), in most cases cryptids seem to be the product of human creators and true believers, rather than nature. And that needs to be communicated.

20 people found this helpful

In most ways this is an excellent book, and should be read by anyone with ...

September 4, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

In most ways this is an excellent book, and should be read by anyone with an interest in Cryptozoology. It is almost sure to offend many "true believers", because the author shreds much of the pseudo-evidence for the existence of most peoples favorite monsters. The one place where the book fails is, ironically, in the area where he (correctly) criticizes many of the people who deal with Cryptozoology. As a group they tend to be far to quick to accept "eye-witness" accounts, which are notoriously unreliable, and vague, usually easily explained by mundane things such as sounds or crumpled vegetation, as "evidence" of the existence of the creatures they are interested in. This is hardly good science, or even science at all, but is often accepted without anything solid to base it on. The author makes exactly the same mistake, in many cases dismissing cases without providing any solid evidence to back his (I suspect correct) conclusions.

Cryptid-friendly, scientifically accurate

May 31, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Hunting Monsters reviews the evidence for many of the most popular cryptids including Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and various sea monsters without being either sensationalistic or condescending. He does conclude for most that there is not enough scientific evidence to support strong confidence in their existence, but holds out hope in a few cases where the body of evidence is too small for either support or denial. It's readable to a non-scientist and non-cryptid-hunter both.

If you are a "true believer", this book is not for you (and many of the negative reviews do seem to come from this demographic). However, if you are interested in the science and the history behind many famous cryptids, pick up this book. Darren is a mainstream publishing zoologist with many books and papers to his credit along with field work. He is also an avid fan of cryptozoology with his own book on speculative future evolution. As a friend of both strict science and cryptids, he gives as balanced an account as I think is possible.

Amazon Customer

September 3, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Very biased, yet researched (obviously). You can tell the author did his homework, but to knock down EVERY single encounter, piece of evidence, etc. just doesn't sit well with me as an interested yet skeptical reader. I'm sure some of what he discusses must be hoaxed but the sheer numbers of people reporting sightings across the globe for centuries, and all types of people with nothing to gain, is just quite obviously one-sided. I had hoped for a more neutral researched book than this.

2 people found this helpful

A good overview of truths (little) and fiction (lots) in cryptozoology

July 18, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. As a child, I was captivated by the thought of mystery creatures like bigfoot and chupacabra's roaming remote corners of our earth. As I grew older and started a career in science, I moved away from this fascination and adopted a more sceptic attitude. But the child in me still wants to believe that there are fantastic, undiscovered creatures out there. At times, I get the same sense from the author of this book. How wonderful it would be if we ever were to find a giant sea monster or bigfoot! However, throughout this book, the author clearly demonstrates that there is very little, if any, hard evidence for any of these creatures to exist. Yes, there are some weird and interesting accounts of mystery animals. But the overwhelming majority of accounts can be explained by existing animals, wooden logs floating in water, man-made objects, or just plain bad memory. Does this make the field of cryptozoology any less interesting? No. But if the field of cryptozoology wants to play along with the rest of the sciences, you gotta play by the rules. Hard evidence is key, and so far, the field has produced very little. A great read for anyone with an interest in (crypto)zoology (and not too hung up on pseudo-science).

2 people found this helpful

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An excellent, amusing and accessible little introduction to cryptozoology written ...

An excellent, amusing and accessible little introduction to cryptozoology written by a truly sympathetic and conscientious sceptic.Read more

Published 1 month ago

Great book if you're knew to Cryptozoology

The reading is informative and easy to follow, something that's not very common among most published books by scientific researchers.Read more

Published 2 months ago

If you love science, myth, and the search for the unknown, this book is for you.

Read this or listen to the audio version. Either way you won’t be sorry. It’s 221pgs of science meeting myth.Read more

Published 2 months ago

More about cultural history for debunkers.

Disappointing. Was mostly about the time periods when these monster stories arose. More about cultural history than science.

Published 4 months ago

If you're interested in monsters you should read this. ...

If you're interested in monsters you should read this. Unlike most other monster authors Naish actually speaks with scientific authority and rationality.Read more

Published 6 months ago

Interesting Historical Overview of the Topic

I enjoyed this book; and, if the general description sounds interesting, then you probably will enjoy it too. There are two caveats.Read more

Published 9 months ago

Matthew A. Bille

Important contribution that sets cryptozoology in science and culture (4.5 stars)

As a cryptozoological reader of some 40 years and writer of 20+, and a correspondent of Dr. Naish, I looked forward to this book, and I'm hardly disappointed.Shadows of Existence: Discoveries and Speculations in Zoology Read more

Published 1 year ago

A great read for anyone interested in cryptozoology

My favourite thing about this book is that it goes beyond simply debunking tall tales or explaining cryptid sightings.Read more

Published 1 year ago

Essential for any Monster Enthusiast

A fascinating deep dive into the forces that drive all things cryptozoological, and detailed descriptions of many of its famous creatures. Highly recommended.

Published 1 year ago

worked at expected

Published 1 year ago

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