The Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep

by Loren Coleman

Paperback, 2003

Status

Available

Call number

001.944

Genres

Collection

Anomaly Archives

Publication

TarcherPerigee (2003), 380 pages

Description

From the serpentine "Champie" of Lake Champlain to the venerable "Nessie" of Loch Ness, extraordinary-and un-explained-creatures of the deep have been reported in sightings throughout the twentieth century. Now, two of the world's leading cryptozoological investigators provide a globetrotting field guide to when, where, and what kind of mysterious aquatic beasts have gripped the public-and sometimes the scientific-imagination. Filled with comprehensive drawings, classifications, and maps, their book offers an invaluable and unusual resource for the intrepidly curious to investigate these sightings firsthand or to simply enjoy the fascinating accounts that others have given.

User reviews

LibraryThing member melannen

Starts with an overview of "draconology", then goes into what is, actually, more-or-less a field guide. As seems to be the case with a lot of sea/lake monster studies, it's somewhat focussed on classification, finding a way to divide the myriads of reports into a finite number of identifiable and

believable creatures. Indeed, this book takes Heuvelmans' classic classification scheme and updates it with a few new and a few combined types, to end up with a total of 14 separate cryptid types in the guide. Each section starts with a detailed overview and description of the type, and the evidence that went into making it a separate classification, and then is followed with a group of specific reports of sightings.There's also an appendix at the end going over the most likely places in the world to see the creatures, though I'm not sure I agree with its ranking ("Chessie" is ranked fifth, even though there were never many sightings, relatively, and it hasn't been seen in decades.) It's a very well-put-together presentation of the evidence, and a must-have for monster-hunters.

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