Monsters: Myths, Legends, and Real Encounters

by Richard Estep

426 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 10, 2026

About the author

I'm a 48-year-old child who has no plans to ever actually grow up.

I make my living as a paramedic, clinical educator, for a busy hospital system and work as a street medic in a 911 system.

In my free time, I serve as the director of the Boulder County Paranormal Research Society, and investigate claims of haunted properties, people, and objects on both sides of the Atlantic. I love to read, particularly SF/Fantasy, history and historical fiction, the paranormal, and basically anything that piques my interest. I appear on the TV shows Haunted Hospitals, Paranormal 911, Paranormal Night Shift, Haunted Case Files, and several others.

I am an avid video gamer, table-top gamer, and love to build Lego. My wife and I are the proud humans of five adopted rescue cats and one smelly but adorable dog.

Reviews

[Ashley McCloney]

Richard’s books are always a fantastic read. I love his paranormal books and this one is a little different but just as fascinating. It focuses on monsters, cryptids, myths and real encounters. I loved this book and all the different monsters/creatures he covered in it. There’s literally something for everyone. Richard is a master story teller & his books are so easy to get lost in. Whether you’re into monsters & paranormal or you’re just looking for a fun read, pick this one up. You’re going to learn a few new things & maybe even start keeping an eye out for monsters or cryptids. Be sure to check out the rest of his book catalogue too!

[Chy]

There were a couple of chapters that I skipped (bigfoot and mothman), but overall I quite enjoyed this one!

I felt there was a lot of variety in the creatures featured from the obvious and well known like vampires and zombies to the lesser talked about like krakens and bunyip (such a cute name for a cryptid btw!)

The writing was not only engaging, but well researched and I liked how the author tried to bring in historical accuracy when it came to tracing the origins of the creatures and cryptids talked about. I also like how he doesn't try to convince you one way or the other if it's real or a hoax leaving that up to the reader to decide for themselves.