Monstrous Monday

Yes I know I'm a bit late, but here are stunning images by the Scandinavian artist Richard Svensson of 'The Monster of Thetis Lake' (British Columbia) and the 'Loveland (Ohio) Frogman'. They were two of several illustrations contributed by Richard to Dr Karl Shuker's article on 'Lairs of the Lizard-Men' in the August 2010 edition of Paranormal Magazine, all about reptilian humanoids some believe share our world in a Silurian-like manner.

Monstrous Monday

A drawing illustrating the theme of 'Monsters in Your Backyard' for the June 2009 edition of Paranormal Magazine. The illustration is by Lisa Magee, who was then a student at the North East Wales Institute in Wrexham under the tutelage of Dan Berry.

Monstrous Monday (belated)

There is the first of a two-part article going in Paranormal Magazine issue 55 (out at the end of the month) by Dr Karl Shuker on 'Frgotten Cryptids' - weird, as yet unidentified creatures that even most cryptozoologists seem to have forgotten about. One of the critters Karl highlights is an alleged giant, poisonous water shrew that used to live - of all places - Scotland! He writes:

'According to traditional lore in northern Scotland, certain deep pools and rivers in Caithness were once home to a small yet potentially dangerous mystery beast known as the lavellan.
Although likened in superficial form to a water shrew, it was said to be bigger than a rat and extremely venomous (interestingly, shrews are known to have a weakly venomous bite). Famous naturalist Thomas Pennant investigated reports of it in the 18th century while visiting Ausdale, and learnt that water in which the preserved skin of a lavellan had been soaked was popularly used as a cure for livestock ailments.'

As he points out, even if the tales were true the animal would certainly be extinct by now. Incidentally, Thomas Pennant lived at Whitford, near Holywell, Flintshire.

Monstrous Monday

In the hope that Blogger doesn't crash again, here at last is a blog entry. And what a corker it is. Two digital images produced for the next Paranormal Magazine by a guy called Shaun Histed-Todd who I met at the Weird Weekend in Devon. He's a lovely bloke, like a punk version of Bernard Bresslaw. He's come up with five superb illustrations for an article by his cryptozoologist friend Richard Freeman on evil creatures and the 'nameless dread'. (Incidentally, after subbing that article I then moved onto one about a nice seafood restaurant, such is the weirdness of working on InOut magazine at the same time!). The vicar vs sea serpent image is particularly stunning (of course, these are only low-res versions), and I am going to ask for it to be used full-size in the magazine.

Monstrous Monday

Four illustrations by Anthony Wallis from The Great Yokai Encyclopedia by Richard Freeman, just published by CFZ Press (you can find it on Amazon).

Yokai are traditional Japanese spooks, a blend of ghost, goblin and demon. He we have (top) a monstrous, malevolent skeleton; a weird, dumpy creature that likes to cut off women's hair; a giant sea-cucumber which grew out of a dead girl's discarded underwear and now menaces shipping; and a naked bloke with an eye in his bum, frightening off a Samurai.

Richard started work on the Encyclopedia when he realised very little had been written in the West about the rich heritage of the Yokai. He wrote an article on them for Paranormal Magazine in early 2009 but the book wasn't launched till the Weird Weekend in Devon last month. The Yokai are lots of bizarre and gruesome fun: no wonder Japanese comics and films are so monster-orientated. Pokemon characters can trace their family tree back to the Yokai.

Monstrous Monday

Look at this bizarre post card my friend Anne sent me from Brittany. I like the fact it's in sepia. Perhaps there really were extreme escargot sliming about ravaging Breton blokes' 'potager' 60 years ago - how do I know different?

Monstrous Monday x 2

And if pachimon cartes de visite aren't sufficient for you, check out these spiffing new post cards from Felt Mistress. Get your set from http://feltmistress.bigcartel.com/

Monstrous Monday x 1

My thanks to my friend Ciaran Lyons, who's from Dublin originally but now a long-time resident of Singapore, for drawing my attention to these wacky Japanese postcards of various monsters menacing world-famous locations. Apparently they are 'vintage bromide post cards showing various pachimon (imitation creatures based loosely on famous TV and movie monsters) ... published by Yokopro in the 1970s.' See more examples at http://pinktentacle.com/2010/06/pachimon-postcards/

Monstrous Monday

When I visited Tate Britain for the first time earlier this year I became somewhat Turnered out by all the Turners on view, especially since half of them were unfinished pieces. It was great to see Sunrise with Sea Monsters, though. Alas, I discovered on reading the gallery notes that a) it too is an unfinished work and that b) it's just supposed to show a couple of flounders in the foreground - not monsters at all. The title is a rather tongue-in-cheek one it earned many years after it was painted in 1845.

Above the Turner is another rare portrayal of a sea monster in art - Moonlit Night by Wassily Kandinsky, painted in 1907. Of course, to be precise, it could be a lake monster; it certainly has a distinctly Nessie look about it. It would be interesting to know what Kandinsky's inspiration was for this aquatic beast. He was Russian, from Odessa - was he aware of a Russian lake monster? Lake monsters as a whole only got 'big' in the 1930s.

Cryptozoology in art. Now there's a subject. Or a range of stamps.