Manic Expression

As the premier James Bond expert on Manic Expression (suck it Les and Gurning Chimp!), I’m sure you have all been waiting in anticipation for me to give you all my thoughts on it. Hell, most of you are probably waiting for this blog before you even consider going to see it. So, let me tell you all about Skyfall. In short, it’s okay. It’s definitely not my favourite James Bond film, but it’s also certainly not the worst by quite a distance. Well, thank you all for readi...

On December 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge connecting Point Pleasant, West Virginia and Gallipolis, Ohio, collapsed during rush hour. 46 people fell to their deaths in the cold waters of the Ohio River. An examination of the bridge after the disaster showed stress in the eyebars due to carrying heavier loads than it had been designed to support, accompanied by poor maintenance over the years. There a...

The greatest challenge cryptozoologists face is finding concrete evidence of a previously unknown species. As in every scientific fields, anecdotal evidence is all but worthless; second-hand accounts of someone who claimed to see a strange creature will not hold up under close scrutiny. Photographic and video/audio evidence, while slightly more tangible, also hold little weight due to how ea...

Throughout the United Kingdom, primarily in Scotland, there are lakes where monsters are said to reside. Records going back centuries describe sightings of large reptilian creatures cresting through the surface of the waters, occasionally coming onto land to graze. Their alleged homes, including Loch Ness, Loch Morar, Windermere and Bassinthwaite Lake have beco...

French folklore contains many tales of dragons that were said to terrorize the people throughout the centuries. The gargouille, as discussed in a previous post, has the most enduring legacy thanks to the numerous sculptures said to be inspired by its hideous visage. But there are others which, while not as infamous, still hold prominence in regional legend. The tarasque, for example, caus...

Gargoyles have been a popular architectural design since medieval times. Masons would sculpt these grotesque figures with troughs and spouts that would collect excessive rainwater and diver them out the mouths, protecting the buildings they adorned from water damage like erosion. The purpose for their frightening imagery was symbolic since it was...

Nagas are spirits in Asian mythology resembling large serpents that have the ability to take on human form. They were said to inhabit great cities located underground or at the bottom of the sea with monarchic governments, possessing advanced magic like the elixir of eternal life. Hindus believed they were deities with the power to manipulate the weather, bringing about rain to keep the land f...

Shapeshifting has long been associated with the forces of darkness. Every culture that has legends of men and women capable of transforming into animals speaks of their power being granted by evil spirits. The loup-garoux of French folklore were said to gain the ability to transform into wolves by entering into pacts with Satan and ...

The Gobi Desert is one of the harshest environments on the planet. Positioned more than 3,000 feet above sea level, the terrain boasts incredibly cold temperatures throughout most of the year, with extremes of 40 degrees below zero (Fahrenheit and Celsius) in the winters. Summers by contrast can be incredibly hot, reaching as high as 120 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s a dr...

Certain species of animal have remained unchanged for thousands, even millions of years, due to living in environments where they thrive without the need for adaptation or evolutionary. They have been labeled “living fossils” since they have the same characteristics as those of their species found in fossil records. These animals are of particular interest to paleontologists and bio...

Folklorists Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson are famous in literary circles for their classification system of folk tales, myths and legends. Analyzing the plots of thousands of international tales, they developed a method of indexing them based on reoccurring themes and motifs. One classification they developed concerning supernatural themed stories is “The Dragon Slayer,” which focuses on a heroic figure tasked wi...

Throughout history, sightings of giant birds have been reported across the globe. Many of these avian titans made their way into the myths of the cultures that saw them. Some were viewed as ravenous man-eaters, like the Roc of Arabian legend or the Norse Hraesvelgr. Others were seen as having a more divine connection; Hindus believed that a giant eagle was the avatar of the deity Garuda. Almos...

Animism is a religious concept which proposes that there is no separation between the material and spiritual worlds; that every physical object possesses a spirit or soul which are all connected to one another. This applies not only to humans and animals, but also to inanimate objects such as plants, minerals, water, even locations. T...

The folklore of the United States was greatly enriched during the late 19th and early 20th century thanks to tall tales. Lumberjacks, hunters, ranchers, and other men who made their living out in the wild would frequently return home or to camp with incredible stories of fantastic animals they encountered. These “fearsome critters” as they came to be known were a great source of entertai...

There are hundreds of small towns across the United States that claim to have one or more monsters in their midst. Whether they’re scaly beasts dwelling at the bottom or deep lakes and rivers, hairy humanoids that wander into town at night, or bizarre entities that seem to come from another world entirely, strange creatures seem to dot the American landscape. While the true nature of some...

The millions of immigrants who came to the United States between the mid-1800s to early 1900s brought with them traits of their respective cultures that helped shape the nation around them. Their music, cuisine, customs, and religious beliefs became integrated into a growing, rapidly diversifying demographic, spreading across the country, changing in subtle or drastic ways in different regions. The same ...

Human reaction to spiders is generally determined by size; the larger the arachnid, the more frightening or intimidating it appears. This is why most people have a rather negative reaction to particularly large species like tarantulas or the massive camel spiders. Giant spiders are typically found in tropical, mountain, and desert regions, and they have fittingly been fea...

Magic always carries a price. Every culture on the planet has legends warning of the dangers that one faces when misusing supernatural powers. Most often these are karmic tales about corrupt, immoral sorcerers or witches that use their magic to harm others, only to have it eventually turned on them in a disastrous manner. But there are also tales of warning, that tell of t...

Devil monkeys have been the subject of cryptozoological research for more than 50 years. These malevolent oversized primates are said to wreak havoc in rural areas along the Appalachian Mountain range, damaging property, attacking people, and sometimes killing livestock or other small animals. Since there are no monkey species native to the United States or Canada, the reason for their presence is as great...

Werewolves have seen a surge in popularity over the last few years. The success of franchises like Twilight and the Teen Wolf revival have reinterpreted lycanthropes as more emotionally driven, noble, handsome men that appeal to the young female demographic. These changes have been a great annoyance for horror purists who prefer the classic werewolves. Dark, disturbing shapeshifters, cursed to ...