Writing Science Fiction: Where to Find Out About Cryptids

Me answering NaNoWriMo questions once again. This time is was: Cryptids!

For my story, the MCs work for the government to sort of keep the 'cryptid' type creatures under wraps. They go wherever there's a sighting, which is why there are documentaries and shows about these creatures, but no actual hardcore evidence or capture. So for my story, I need a bunch of these cryptid type animals. They don't deal with ghosts or aliens, though, so those are out. I need things like Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster, Champ, Jersey Devil, etc. Thanks for your help!

One creature not mentioned in the above list is the chupacabra.

When I'm planning for NaNo I always head to the local libraies and the state libaray and get out as many books on my plot topic as each library allows me to get out on my card, and than I spend the weeks before NaNo reading up on various info about my topic I plan to write about. Part of one of my current plot ideas was to have a Chupacabra attack only it started killing people instead of livestock, so there was now a big rush to track it down and find out what it was and put a stop to it. So, as a result of that plot idea, I right now has out: Cryptozoology A To Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature, and believe me, if you are planning to do any serious study into Cryptids, you can not research them without this book! OMG! I may go out a buy this book - there is so much info in in about every single Cryptid in history!

My favorite, which, after reading this book, resulted in some plot idea changes, was the Californian Megalobatrachus or The Californian Giant Salamander. It's like bigfoot only salamanders instead (and I've got this thing for salamanders.) Well, I had never heard of these Giant Salamanders until last week when reading this book. Now I've been looking them up, and I found info about sightings of salamanders up to 30 feet long! Most sightings are of salamanders 5 to 6 feet long or 9 to 12 feet long for a few, but always in California.

My personal favorites however are not mentioned in that book: Phookas and Kelpies and my personal #1 fave: MerFolk (this link goes to info about an actual merman sighting in recent years). In spite of hundreds of sightings in the past, because there have been almost no new sightings of these three since the 19th century, they never get mentioned in cryptozoology and are instead placed in folklore.

The best place to find information is at Loren Coleman's site Cryptomundo. He is the owner of the The International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine. If you are ever in the area, the museum is you best place to get hands on information.

Another place to find information is at Cryptozoology.com.

The Secret Commonwealth by Rev Robert Kirk, is full of first hand accounts, but this book was written in the 1600's and is extremely difficult to locate a copy of today.

Another hard to find and rather obscure book you might want to read is For Fear of Little Men, which is the autobiography of a woman who had several sighteings of a Far-Darrig, a rarely mentioned type of cryptid, similar to the Dover Demon. The book gives detailed accounts of the creature, it's habitat, and the sightenings of it, as well as an account of the violent fear filled response local religious leaders had when they claimed the creature she had seen was a demon sent by Satan.

And last but not least, my favorite book of all time: Faeries by Brian Froud is the top authority on Faerie, Goblin, and Little People sightenings.

These should give you all the information you well ever need.

What's your take on this? I'd love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

This article originally published in September 2008, under the title NaNoWriMo RE: Cryptids!is copyright to Wendy C. Allen and The Twighlight Manor Press, and is reprinted here with permission.