The Most Monsters?

You have got to admire the boldness and brashness of the publicity department over at the University Press of New England*. How many other academic presses around the United States would make the claim that they have?

In the new promotional material for a book coming out in September 2009, they have written this:

“Though not widely acknowledged, the Green Mountain state is home to more winged wonders, wet weirdoes, and crypto creatures than any other state in the country. You probably know about Champ, the elusive monster of Lake Champlain. But what about Northfield’s Pigman? And Richford’s The Awful? Wherever you are in Vermont—in town or country, river or lake, land or sky—you’re never far from the unknown. Or the unexpected.”

“Joseph A. Citro, respected monster hunter, brings to light over sixty Vermonsters, many captured in exquisite, ghoulish detail by the pen, brush, and ink of artist Stephen R. Bissette.”

The illustrator Stephen R. Bissette (above, with hat) is best known for his award-winning collaboration with writer Alan Moore (Watchmen) and inker John Totleben on DC Comics’ Saga of the Swamp Thing (1983-87).

Artist Richard Corben, in 2004, drew “me,” as the comic book character “Coleman Wadsworth,” chasing an Abominable Snowman and then in turn being chased by the title creature in the Swamp Thing comics (#7 and #8). That installment of the story is by Will Pfeifer.

WARNING: The authors and publisher are not responsible for any unfortunate encounters that may result from the reading of this book.

Designed as both a cautionary tale and handy field manual for those who dare, The Vermont Monster Guide will be of interest to natives and tourists, to young and old…though it may not be suitable for readers with fragile constitutions.

University Press of New England
2009 • 120 pp. 65 illus. 7 x 10
New England / Vermont / Folklore
$18.95 Paper, 978-1-58465-782-8

Postscript
I have not read this book yet, as I have not received a review copy. But I have my doubts about Vermont having the “most monsters,” of course, even if Joseph Citro’s a friend. It will be recalled that Joe is the guy who once visited Maine, and took this rather well-known photograph of some guy captured hatless with Bigfoot, in August 2005:

*University Press of New England is an award-winning university press supported by a consortium of schools: Brandeis University, Dartmouth College, the University of New Hampshire, Northeastern University, Tufts University and University of Vermont.

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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