Monsters in the City

Posted by: Nick Redfern on December 1st, 2012

There’s a new post from me at Mysterious Universe that delves into a number of stories I’ve collected over the years of what may be large eels roaming the waters of the UK, and specifically the Midlands area. In fact, very large eels!

The article begins likes this:

“Any mention of large, serpent-like monsters lurking in the waters of the British Isles inevitably conjures up imagery of the nation’s most famous cryptozoological creature, Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster. Or monsters. Indeed, if not some strange Fortean phantasm (which I don’t actually rule out), then there would have to be an entire colony of such things in the loch, given that sightings have been reported for many a year. But, regardless of the true nature of Nessie, sometimes it’s not necessary to travel to ancient lochs to find tales of terrible things lurking in the dark depths. Sometimes, you can find them right in the heart of the city, which is something I note in my new book, Monster Diary: On the Road in Search of Strange and Sinister Creatures.

“Back in the late 1980s, when I was working as both a fork-lift and a van driver for a company in the West Midlands, England town of Walsall, I heard a number of noteworthy stories pertaining to sightings of huge violent eels, which were said to roam the dark, winding canals of both the nearby city of Birmingham, and certain rural areas of the adjacent county of Staffordshire. Rather like some 1950s era street gang from the Bronx, they seemed to travel in packs, prepared to take on just about anything and everything that had the misfortune to cross their path.”

And here’s the complete article.

The photo above – taken by me a couple of years ago – shows one of the stretches of Birmingham canal in question where at least one of the eels was reportedly seen back in the ’80’s.

Nick Redfern About Nick Redfern
Punk music fan, Tennents Super and Carlsberg Special Brew beer fan, horror film fan, chocolate fan, like to wear black clothes, like to stay up late. Work as a writer.


2 Responses to “Monsters in the City”

  1. muircertach responds:

    Not sure if you will read this Mr. Redfern but I do have a question. I own a few of your works and have enjoyed you over the years. I feel there is a strong connection between cryptids and paranormal happenings…ghosts,UFOs ect. They all seem to be connected somehow. What are your feelings on this?

  2. wuffing responds:

    15 foot long eels in a canal in Birmingham? Has anyone told the National Anguilla Club? They have been fishing for specimen freshwater eels for 50 years and think the record is 6 feet long and 11 pounds in weight.

    Oh and why the photos of a green Moray eel from Papua New Guinea and a blurred version of the Bryde’s whale from the Sea of Cortez – shown in the Daily Mail of 4/7/2012? Are they found in Birmingham too? 🙂

Sorry. Comments have been closed.

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