Joe Nickell - Tracking the man-beasts. Sasquatch, vampires, zombies, and more

Nickell, Joe

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VAMPIRES

AND MORE

gey 7

arc

Digitized by the Internet Archivein 2018 with funding fromKahle/Austin Foundation

https://archive.org/details/trackingmanbeastOOOOnick

Acknowledgments 11

Introduction 13

Part i: Monster Men

Chapter 4: Wild MenOr Not 43

Feral Children 43

Wild Men of the Woods 44

Sideshow Savages 45

Neanderthal Relicts 47

The Hobbits ' 50

Part z: Hairy MamBeasts

Chapter 5: YetiThe Abominable Snowman 55

Sightings and Encounters 55

The Tracks 58

Hillary Expedition 59

The Indian Yeti 60

The Chinese Yeti 61

Chapter 6: Sasquatch/Bigfoot 63

The Pacific Northwest 63

Sasquatch 66

Enter Bigfoot 68

Realistic Footprints 73

Chapter 7: Tracking Bigsuit! 77

At Large 77

Bigfooters 79

The Search 80

Chapter 8: MamBeasts Range Far 85

Venezuela: Loyss Ape 85

Siberia: Frozen Sasquatch 87

Australia: The Yowie 90

Indias Monkey Man 94

Others 96

Part 3: The Supernaturals

Chapter 9: WerewolvesOr Werent? 101

Origins 101

Witch Mania 103

Investigating in Austria 104

Chapter 10: On the Trail of the Loup-Garou 109

The French Werewolf 109

Beast of Gevaudan 111

Eastern Canada 112

Vincennes 114

Louisiana 115

Haiti 117

Chapter 11: Of Vampirology 121

The Undead 121

Dracula et al. 122

Real Vampires 123

Vampire Study 125

Vampire Kits 125

Chapter 12: Searching for Vampire Graves 131

New England 131

The Demon Vampire 132

On Woodstock Green 134

The Killing Vine 136

In New Orleans 138

Chapter 13: Chupacabras! 141

From Puerto Rico to Mexico 141

To the United States 142

Investigating in Argentina 145

Chapter 14: Other Supernaturals 147

Devil Men 147

Zanzibar Demon 150

Zombies 151

8 CONTENTS

Part 4: Extraterrestrials

Chapter 15: Alien Monster at Flatwoods 159

The Incident 159

Investigating at Flatwoods 161

The Flatwoods Monster * 162

Chapter 16: Attack of the Little Green Men 167

Background 168

Aliens? 171

Solution 171

Chapter 17: Mothman Metamorphosis 175

Background 175

In the Field 178

Iconography 180

Chapter 18: The Humanoids 183

Humanoid Giants 183

Alien Likeness 184

Alien Autopsy Film 187

Roswell Saga 189

Chapter 19: Unidentified Flying Humanoids 193

Sightings 193

Analysis 194

Experimentation 195

Part 5: Manimals

Chapter 20: Hybrids 199

Animal-headed Humans 199

Human-headed Animals 201

Exhibited Hybrids 204

Contents 9

Chapter 21: Merpeople 207

Merfolk 207

Seal Maidens 208

Fejee Mermaids 209

Taxidermed Fakes 210

Chapter 22: Lure of Swamp Creatures 213

Honey Island Swamp Monster 213

Investigating on Site 214

Domain of the Monsters 217

Making Tracks 219

Other Hoaxes 219

Afterword 223

Appendix: The North American Bigfoot

Image and Myth 225

Habitat 225

Developing Iconography 226

Evolution into Myth 227

Index 231

Acknowledgments

A book such as this could not be done without the help of many individuals.

I am especially grateful to Paul Kurtz, chairman and founder ofPrometheus Books, for believing in this project; John and Mary Frantz forfinancial support for my investigations; the editors and artists atPrometheus, who shepherded this project through the editorial process,especially Steven L. Mitchell, Ian Birnbaum, Jade Zora Ballard, BrianMcMahon, Cate Roberts-Abel, and Grace M. Conti-Zilsberger; TimothyBinga, director of the Center for Inquiry Libraries, for research assistance;Paul E. Loynes for typesetting; and indeed the entire Center for Inquiry(CFI) and Skeptical Inquirer staff for help at all levelsespecially RonaldA. Lindsay, president and CEO of CFI; Barry Karr, executive director ofCFIs Committee for Skeptical Inquiry; and Kendrick Frazier, editor of theSkeptical Inquirer (CFFs science magazine). My wife, Diana GawenFlarris, also helped in ways too numerous to mention.

In addition to those mentioned in the text, I am further indebted tomany folklorists, historians, popular writers, librarians, television producers, town clerks, and other generous folk who assisted me in my workover the many years of this investigative pursuit.

T

I f much evidence is to be believed, the creatures of our natural worldJLcoexist with many extranatural ones, not only ghosts and angels butalso monstrous beings that lurk at the very fringes of science. Are theyrealdenizens of unexplored regions or even supernatural realms? Or arethey only creatures of our prolific imagination?