Five Years of Cryptomundo

This week is the fifth anniversary of Craig Woolheater’s and Eric Reed’s creation of Cryptomundo, the world’s most successful, most widely read, and most prolific blog on cryptozoology.

In the beginning, the bloggers were Craig, John Kirk, Rick Noll, and me, Loren Coleman. Initial design components from Duncan Hopkins were greatly appreciated too.

A few writers have come and gone since then, but mostly Craig and I have remained the core bloggers.

Guest blogger Brent Swancer has contributed the longest continuing series, one on Japanese cryptids. Others have shared interesting insights on a variety of topics. Everyone’s writings have been most welcome.

The first post on Cryptomundo appeared on September 29, 2005, and was authored by Craig. My first posting, after I joined the team, was on October 13, 2005.

Needless to say, I have utilized Cryptomundo to communicate to the world the news of cryptozoology for five years, extensively, and the majority of the blog entries have been mine. This has caused some in the media to incorrectly report that this is “my blog,” when I have been clear it has been Craig’s creation, from the beginning. Today, Craig is the sole owner of Cryptomundo. It has, however, been the platform for my writings, of which I have appreciated.

Many features on Cryptomundo have been picked up by others in the cryptozoological and online world, copied, repeated, and shared. Additionally, obituaries, discoveries, speculations, skeptical answers, and new sightings have been spread through mainstream journalism from Cryptomundo. Our annual “best of” lists have been duplicated, cited, copied and quoted by our online peers and commercial media.

Cryptomundo has been unique in that it has been open-minded, skeptical, humorous, contemporary, historical, scientific, newsworthy, and topical.

The pages of Cryptomundo have carried breaking news, popular cultural tidbits, and our radical cutting edge views in mainstream cryptozoology that few others have published.

Communicating the news of cryptozoology through the pages of Cryptomundo has been a wonderful venture, except in the area of a fiscal supportive base of operations. An early myth developed that every time anyone read an entry on Cryptomundo, the owners of Cryptomundo made money. The reality is that nothing like that happens, although it would be great if such a fantasy money-producing software existed for the support of the multiple servers and space that has to be purchased to keep Cryptomundo going. The small revenue from the few ads, and minimal donations to CM are hardly enough to keep the blog going. Indeed, as you saw over the summer, CM almost closed down. Craig constantly takes money from his other business to keep CM afloat.

As of today, there are more than 17,200 registered members, which only reflects those who have signed up to leave comments. Registration is free, and reading Cryptomundo remains free.

The average number of page views per month is over 3,000,000. The per day number of visitors varies, of course.

But the highest number ever recorded was during the week that Cryptomundo was exposing (and first published) the photo of the costume used by the Georgia hoaxers in August 2008. This turned into 1.9 million hits on Cryptomundo in one three-day period, an all-time high.

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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