Bigfoot & The Dover Demon in Red Sox Nation

The more you are in this business, the more humbled by it you become.– Meryl Streep.

Above: Tim Binnall and Don Keating. Don has his Ohio State shirt on for the first night of the conference, and then proudly wore his Cleveland Indians outfit for the night of his presentation, while in the midst of Red Sox Nation. Bigfoot was the least of his worries over the weekend.

Tim Binnall of binnall of america (yes, it’s lower case) has published his review of this last weekend’s Mass Monster Mash.

Binnall, ever the good writer and journalist, is an excellent interviewer. His friendly style worked well with the presenters, and I’m sure he ended up with many good interviews that will be available in the future.

Tim and I did spend much important time in the Green Room, for me sometimes more so than listening to the presentations. I made a decision that getting to know all these new Bridgewater Triangle researchers and Tim Binnall – as well as reconnecting with Don Keating – was significantly more important that listening to a ghost or ufo lecture, no offense meant.

For here, with his permission, I’ve cherrypicked parts of Tim’s recap that deal more with the cryptozoology of the weekend than the other events. I am truly humbled by much of what Tim wrote about me. I learned long ago that sometimes it is a lesson in viewing one’s self to see yourself mirrored via other’s eyes. I appreciate the kind reflective words from Tim.

You can read Binnall’s entire recap here.

For Cryptomundo, here specifically are the cryptozoo selections of the binnall of america recap of John Horrigan’s Mass Monster Mash:

Since the event’s location was so close to BoA HQ, I got to the Hibernian Hall on Friday with a whopping two hours, and change, before the night’s festivities kicked off. This was a nice treat, since it really gave me a chance to see how things came together and meet the speakers as they rolled in and began to set up for the weekend. Conference organizer John Horrigan not only allowed me unfettered access to the proceedings, he is also a BoA reader, listener, and supporter, so I was actually treated like “talent” as opposed to just your average attendee or even the slightly more prestigious “reporter”. Yes, my friends, we’ve moved to the other side of the table.

Luckily, my early arrival allowed for me to hob nob with the speakers before things got hectic. I spent a good deal of time chatting up Loren Coleman, who was just amazingly cool.

* * *

Loren and I were quickly united in our mutual fandom of the Boston Red Sox. And since Friday was the first game of the ALCS, we had much to discuss and kvetch about. Luckily for us, the conference had a swank “green room” which contained drinks, snacks, and a small black and white television which had the game on it. Throughout the weekend, Loren and I could be found sneaking into the green room, peering at the little TV to check out the score of the game, followed by some lighthearted ribbing of Cleveland Indians fan Don Keating.

Having spent quite a bit of time with Loren over the course of the weekend, I can safely say that he is, hands down, one of the coolest people I’ve ever had the chance to meet from the esoteric world. He is amazingly down to earth, especially when you consider his contributions to the field of cryptozoology. You’d never know he was an esoteric superstar from just chatting with him, as he has an infectious everyman quality that disarms even an ardent fanboy like myself. Also, he’s simply a riot, causing me to laugh my ass off on more than one occasion. In a world where many big name personalities are less than pleasant when the proverbial “red light” is off, Loren Coleman is a breath of fresh air.

* * *

Saturday was a bit of a different animal, as the evening proceedings took on the cryptozoological / ghostly flavor of things in esoterica. The juxtaposition of the Monster Mash against the previous night’s UFO show allowed for some interesting observations, in that there was a totally different feel to Saturday night. From the format all the way to the programs and even spreading into the audience, which saw more than a handful of new faces that weren’t in attendance for the UFO Show, the event had all the makings of a real happening. One got the impression that this realm of esoterica is really alive in Massachusetts right now, as the energy in the room was off the charts.

* * *

As far as the formal night’s events go, Loren Coleman kicked things off with a great presentation on the Dover Demon. Having heard countless interviews with him over the years, seeing a live presentation (complete with slides and audience interaction) was awesome. It was akin to finally seeing a band live after hearing their albums for years.

The key difference in format for the Monster Mash was evident after Loren finished up his presentation. Chris Styles took the stage to share a story with Loren about some kind of anomalous creature that was reported in conjunction with the Shag Harbour story. Then Loren and Chris Balzano had a mutual discussion on the Phantom Clown phenomenon, which segued into Balzano and Chris Pittman talking about the Bridgewater Triangle. Mixed in among all that were questions from the audience as well. It all had a really loose feel to it, like some kind of free form esoteric jazz.

Following all that was rising esoteric star Jeff Belanger, who had a sweet multimedia presentation and shared some awesome stories about his travels to haunted and creepy places, including some kind of mass tomb thing that was very chilling. Don Keating presented on the white Bigfoot, including showing some really intriguing video that may have captured the enigmatic beast, plus he had some great insight into the cryptozoology community in Ohio that you can really only get from someone who is really in the thick of it in that region….

I can’t put over the work of John Horrigan enough when it comes to the creation and production of the overall conference. I have tremendous respect for his attention to detail, which was evident throughout both evenings, and the ambitious scope of the two day affair as a whole. The Mass UFO Show / Monster Mash was a revelation for the local esoteric scene and is something that has been sorely needed around here for a very long time. We have John Horrigan to thank for making it all a reality.

On that note, it was great to meet and befriend so many fine researchers from the various esoteric fields. Loren Coleman, Jeff Belanger, Don Keating, Carl Feindt, and Don Ecker were all first class individuals whom I look forward to working with in the future. Also, keep an eye on Chris Balzano.

* * *

John has already announced plans for a third installment of the Mass UFO Show / Monster Mash for October 17th & 18th, 2008. I’m sure BoA will be in the house for next year’s festivities and I suggest that those in the New England area who didn’t make it to this year’s event to circle your calendars now and do not miss this great weekend of fun and esoterica next year. – Tim Binnall

I’ll be back at Mass Monster Mash 2008, speaking about Mothman, in conjunction with a new book I’ll have out on the topic. I look forward to seeing Tim and all the great people that came over to my table to introduce themselves and shake my hand again. The memory is of a good weekend, and one that would be wonderful to revisit.

Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.

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