Adventures in Cryptozoology: Hunting for Yetis, Mongolian Deathworms and Other Not-So-Mythical Monsters

Adventures in Cryptozoolog #1

by Richard Freeman

“The sheer depth of material covered in its pages is amazing”….” ― Fortean Times Magazine #1 Bestseller in the Occult and Unexplained Mysteries This is a book about monsters. From an early age we are taught that monsters do not exist. The reality is that monsters walk the earth today. Explore the world through its most unlikely creatures. Cryptozoology, the study of hidden, monstrous, and legendary animals, is truly the art of discovering the unknown. Richard Freeman, Zoological Director of Centre for Fortean Zoology, has explored the corners of the five continents on the search for creatures that many people believe are non-existent. In this book, he shares the exciting stories of his investigations of the Yeti, Mongolian Deathworm, Loch Ness Monster, Orang-Pendak, Ninki-Naka, and more. The line between myth and reality may be more narrow than you think. Cryptozoologists throughout the years have studied unknown species of reptiles, lake and sea creatures, apes, and hominins. The science and history of this field of study includes examples of creatures that were once thought to be mythological, but that have since been proven to exist. Our monsters and ourselves. The history of fabulous beasts and our searches for them is a history of the cultures of the world and the secrets we keep. If you’re ready to begin your search for Sasquatch and learn to hunt monsters, Adventures in Cryptozoology is your guide. In these pages you’ll You’ve read Cryptozoology A to Z , Expedition Unknown, or Chasing American Monsters ? Then you’ll want to read Adventures in Cryptozoology

Genres: Nonfiction, Cryptozoology, Paranormal, Audiobook, Research, Cryptids, Folklore

252 pages, Paperback

Published June 18, 2019

About the author

Richard Freeman is a cryptozoologist and the Zoological Director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology, the world's only full time organization dedicated to investigating mystery animals.
He has taken expeditions in search of creatures such as the giant anaconda, the yeti, the Tasmanian wolf, the Mongolian death worm, the orang-pendek, the naga, the almasty and the ninki-nanka.
He has written books on monsters and folklore and has recently branched out into horror fiction.

Reviews

[Bethany Kok · Rating 2 out of 5]

In a word, tedious. Long recountings of third-party sightings, very little personal experiences or actual "adventures"-- in fact, the author spends the last one third promising that all the personal experiences, etc, will be in the second volume... which doesn't exist. Unless perhaps there's been a sighting of that volume by someone's cousin's best friend's brother.

Largely, I'm frustrated because, in this book published in 2019, there are no recounted sightings of any kind dated later than 2002, and no attempt to explain why that might be. Since the author says he is still a working cryptozoologist, one assumes he didn't suddenly stop collecting sightings at the turn of the millenium-- or if he did, he might mention that fact. Alternatively, any cryptozoology book that wants to be taken seriously as a work of science needs to address how/why sightings of cryptids suddenly dropped off with the advent of digital cameras.

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful look at the "monsters" and mysterious animals of myth and legend that people have witnessed and what might be the truth behind some of those creatures and explanations for how they came to be and why we still believe in them. Thought provoking.

Covers Dragons, Sea Monsters (giant squids!), Lake Monsters, Humanoid creatures like Yeti/Sasquatch, Unicorns and more.

[Ashton Noel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just had to give up on this one. I have tried and tried for months to get into this and read it and I'm finding I'm bored to tears. I wanted to love this so much and started out really engrossed in this, especially the section about dragons. I was engrossed! Then it just got so super repetitive and just constant accounts of people that just didn't have an organization or a flow that I felt worked. There were sections for specific regions of the world but even under that it just felt unorganized to me. The constant mention of so and so had evidence/hair/photo/a body but it was then lost/destroyed by so and so was just so annoying, I mean come on, it just became so unbelievable and ridiculous. I mean constantly it just made me roll my eyes. The constant mention of so and so got a picture of the beast and describing in detail the photo but not a single photo featured in the book. I mean not even the famous photos like the famous "Nessie" photo. I just got so frustrated and finally gave up at the sasquatch section. Some photos or maps or something would have added a whole new element to the book.

I am a cryptid enthusiast I guess you could say and find the idea of other creatures not yet discovered fascinating which is why I jumped on a kindle daily deal of this book. I really do appreciate the authors effort and research put into the book but unfortunately it just wasn't for me. I'm really bummed I couldn't finish it. I got about 65% in, took me 3 months and I just had to throw in the towel.

[Beau Raines · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining read, but I felt it was lacking. The book starts with explanations of why certain animals could be the mythical cryptids, but then it becomes a recounting of sightings.

This is the first volume...

[Simon Nørgaard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like I usually stated in primary school; "I would have loved more pictures in the book".
If you can ignore the uncritical use of 'venomous' and 'poisonous', then it's a great listing of exciting observations

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun listen. I got this one on a 2 for 1 sale and I'll grab the next one if it comes up the same way.

[L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just love these kind of books. Author Richard Freeman presents a variety of eye-witness reports about unknown creatures in the air, on the ground, and below the water. But no pictures! This book would have benefited with pictures.

(The true story about poor Pony the orangutan makes me want to pour bleach on my brain. Of all the 'monsters' in this book, man is truly the scariest.)

[Tara L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly Exciting and endlessly informative

I have read hundreds of books on cryptozoology and the hunt for unknown animals. My love is for water beasts of lakes and seas. The author was the first to describe cases I had never heard before. This book is very well-rounded and wraps up with mythology with realistic explanations. His style is reminiscent of Dr. Karl Shuker’s minus the humor. That may sound like a rude, back-handed compliment, but it wasn’t meant that way. Both authors possess their own styles.
After seeing the author’s picture, I believe he is the man who took an amazing picture of something in Loch Ness. I’m hoping volume 2 will delve in to his adventures on Loch Ness and around the world searching for creatures unknown to science. I am definitely a fan for life who can’t wait for the next book in this series!

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in cryptozoology. There are many complicated, historical names and places throughout the book. Anyone who reads it should possess strong reading skills, or skip the names and reread it again once you do. It’s definitely a book worthy of gracing the shelves of anyone who loves cryptozoology.

[Christine]

If you are looking of ran exploration of the possible validity of Cryptids existing then this is a great book. Actually, it is a good book over all. I am inherently a skeptic, however, Freeman has several good pieces of information that throw enough doubt into the certainty that these creatures do not exist. By citing individuals that have scientific backgrounds that have had experiences with these creatures, as well as citing the beliefs of times past that certain common creatures were fables. Freeman mentions that creatures like pandas were believed to be myths. If you are determined to be skeptical then this will not change your mind, too much. If you are interested in the topic and would like enough supporting, scientific, evidence that helps you reinforce your beliefs and gives you a few more directions to take your search from, then this is a great book. For the holiday season coming up this was a great read, though I don't think I'll read the second nonfiction book he wrote and cited a few times in this book. All in all a good read, I really enjoyed it as a thought exercise and used it as a talking point at work yesterday.

[Andy Coleman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A SIMPLE MAN'S REVIEW:

I love some good cryptozoology and was excited to read this "encyclopedia" about many of the creatures I hope to be real. But, here's the thing:

First, each chapter is a different category of cryptid (lake monster, sea monster, hominid, etc.). But there are WAY too many examples of stories within each chapter. They all sound very similar and it makes the chapters drag on.

Second, I'm not going to take any account from the 1700's with any credibility. Sure, these creatures may have been seen, but the stories passed down over the years are nothing close to dependable. I'd rather only hear about "modern" sightings to keep the evidence within our reach.

Finally, where are the pictures? I get that copyright issues may have prevented some of the images, but what about at least a few in each chapter? I found myself jumping on my phone to look up the photos being described, and that just doesn't make a great reading experience.

But if you have an interest in cryptozoology, this is definitely a book you'll want in your collection.

Read it!

[H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Freeman strikes well the balance between enthusiastic Dungeon Master and serious pipe-smoking explorer of bygone eras. However, in leaning toward the latter he has an annoying (and mortifying in its consistency throughout the book) habit of blatantly overvaluing the accounts of "western" and "educated men" with "respectable" occupations over those of "natives." The writing is charming and thoughtful enough to survive this and remain entertaining. A lot of these collections of every old newspaper clipping and backwoods hearsay on local legends can succumb to dust and dullness. I don't think the average person would find this book worthwhile, but it's a fine read for anyone particularly interested in water monsters or hominid cryptids, true believer (as Freeman) or no (as I).

[Liz Logan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Super weird although kind of interesting. This is usually the kind of thing I go for because I find it fun to imagine that there are things out there that we haven’t found and humans are still discovering things to this day, and what if?

A lot crypto books are also travelogue books or are books about people and their lives. This book was mostly lists of encounters that were very short tidbits that barely gave a chance to get into anything. There was no chance to get into the setting, the person, or the sense of story. One was just hoping from encounter to encounter.

The author is very passionate though.

[Leone · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun and interesting read. I have heard of some of the cryptids before, bit I have never read about cryptids in general. The author's explanations of how some of these creatures may exist and his example a of creatures that were thought not to exist and then were found inspires curiosity in me that I want to find out more about some of these creatures. The chapter on dragons, IMO, is my favourite simply because I am not a lizard person and the stories cause me some unease.

I am now excitedly waiting for his second volume.

[Elisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I had to describe this book in one word would be "tedious." It's always the same, there is some information about the creatures, and then an unending amount of testimonials from people, stating names and cities of origin. Eventually, they all sound the same and they get boring. Full disclosure, I don't believe in most of the creatures discussed. An undiscovered amphibian in the Amazon? Yep. Dragons? Well...

[martha s. williams]

Cryptozoologic (al?) Adventures

A most enjoyable topic, well researched and presented with only a few editing errors. It would have been nice to have photos, but that might have made it more expensive and out of my range. This had me googling things constantly to find out more, which is what a really good book does, whet ones interest!

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fine historical highlight tour of cryptozoology, focusing on a few stars: dragons, lake and sea monsters, and bigfoots and yetis. Freeman gives a collection of sightings and reports related to these creatures, a few people involved in early cryptozoology, and some thoughts as to what some of these creatures may be. He is a cryptozoologist, so his ideas definitely skew that way.

[Keely Jorgensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can say I was honestly pleasantly surprised by this book. I went into it expecting it to be a compilation of different eye witness accounts (there were some), but instead it was a historical account of how scientists and researchers have tried to prove a creatures existence. The book is organized by types of creatures, many I had never heard of and what the common theories are.

[Wendy Schindler · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 out of five stars
In Depth And Intriguing!!
I found this book to be very well written, extensively researched, and quite
enlightening! It shed a light on what has been lurking in the dark for centuries!
Very well done!

[Harley · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is no narrative to this book, it's literally just a list of sightings that quickly becomes boring and extremely repetitive. You'd do better to just Google sighting stories, at least they would come with pictures.

[Marcielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with most of Mr. Freeman's works this was an exhaustive yet unique experience, given that everything is told from a first person POV. Again a great addition to the collection for anyone interested in the subject .

[A. L. Knight · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly entertaining, occasionally problematic. -2 stars for the suggestion that Bigfoot was responsible for the SA/death of Evelyn Consoela Rosemann in Yosemite in 1968 and the continuous omission/dismissal of indigenous accounts of cryptids.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really interesting! It compiles a huge amount of historical sightings of unknown creatures, and gives possible scientific explanations for a number of them.

[Jonah Barrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like if you’re a cryptozoologist you gotta be at least a little bit humble lol

[Nate Woodard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super fun read

[Tim P · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much of the book was lists of stories about this or that Cryptic, and while they were interesting there was much less narrative than i was hoping for. 2.5 star that rounded up for me.

[Andrew Camble · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's mostly a collection of anecdotes and eye witness accounts. An enjoyable read, but was hoping for more discussion about the evidence.

[Richard Luck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific fun. Like its sequel, an essential cryptozoology text.

[jj Grilliette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun fun