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Canadian Monsters & Mythical Creatures
In this book, Andrew Hind investigates elusive beasts from across Canada, coast to coast, relating the folklore themselves, the types of evidence the monster leaves in its wake, and eyewitness towering Sasquatch of the Pacific Coast, and Yellowtop, a sub-species of Bigfoot from northern Ontario’s silverfields and which, if recent eyewitnesses are to be believed, may be migrating south into cottage country*Kempenfelt Kelly, a long-necked saurian forgotten by time that inhabits Lake Simcoe that may be related to the more famous Nessie*It’s said that a shunka warakin, the terror of the prairies, can bite off a dog’s head with a single bite, disembowel a horse with one slash of its teeth, and raze a homestead overnight, leaving over blood and bones in its wake. *The Quallupilluk, the Inuit hag that steals babies and drags them into the freezing waters, a haglike boogeyman of the Arctic*The flittering night time horror of monstrous-sized bats, reported from all over North America and into Canada. Does science support the possibility of such huge chiptera?*the elusive Eastern cougar, whose spine-chilling cries have been heard under the cover of darkness in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes despite being officially extinct here*What lurks within the cold dark depths of crescent lake in Newfoundland? The identity of Cressie remains a mystery to this day*The eyes of the Adlet burn with savage fury as this white-haired wolfman stalks the legends and wilds of northern Canada. *the Waheela, a savage terror said to be a cross between wolf and bear that ravages the hinterlands of the North-West Territories. Is the waheela a relic population of the prehistoric Amphicyonid as cryptozoologists believe?
256 pages, Paperback
Published July 1, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 15, 2024
Sure, Andrew Hind features a for the most part sufficiently decent parade of assorted Canadian cryptids in his 2017 Canadian Monsters & Mythical Creatures and also presents an interesting and adequately readable general textual treatment (but in my opinion also a trifle annoyingly and draggingly penned, as both my reading interest and even more so potential joy and pleasure sometimes do begin to most definitely rather wane due to Hind's tendency for information dropping, for overwhelming readers with facts, facts, facts being shot out of his pen like proverbial cannonballs so to speak, and that this would also make Canadian Monsters & Mythical Creatures at least in my humble opinion not sufficiently engaging particularly for younger readers, but actually rather problematic, rather frustrating for anyone easily textually distracted).
Furthermore, and indeed for me much more of an issue and bone of contention, I really and truly do wish that Andrew Hind would not in Canadian Monsters & Mythical Creatures seem to majorly believe that every monster, that every creature listed and included is supposedly one hundred percent factual and authentic (and with Hind's attitude often rather vehemently brooking no skepticism here either). For while I would tend to actually agree with Andrew Hind that some of the creatures being showcased by him in Canadian Monsters & Mythical Creatures might actually and truly exist and that they could perhaps just not have been as yet discovered and examined by modern, by today's scientists (such as for example giant beavers, huge bats and how the Eastern Cougar is probably not really extinct no matter what is being claimed), that Hind also seems to consider every sea or lake monster etc. listed and shown by him in Canadian Monsters & Mythical Creatures (both in the main text and equally so in the appendix) as being real or as at least very likely actually existing (or having existed), indeed, I personally do find this attitude more than somewhat questionable and not all that scientifically and intellectually sound (and not to mention that it also is kind of annoying and patronising how with regard to Native Canadian folklore, Andrew Hind in Canadian Monsters & Mythical Creatures generally only seems to write about and focus on non Native Canadians who have supposedly encountered diverse creatures from First Nations and Inuit myth/lore and to sadly ignore the actual people whose stories he is showing and making textual use of).
And that there are no separate bibliographical lists provided in Canadian Monsters & Mythical Creatures (with Hind obviously using secondary sources but not bothering to acknowledge them with either endnotes or footnotes) and that in my opinion the way Canadian Monsters & Mythical Creatures is organised is massively reader unfriendly (as yes, Andrew Hind should be showing his included monsters and mythical creatures by province and not in this completely and massively distracting haphazard way), while I certainly do not consider Canadian Monsters & Mythical Creatures to be horrible, dangerous or inappropriate, there is just too much I have found lacking, academically aggravating as well as unscientific and subpar regarding how Hind presents his contents and his themes that a two star rating is all Canadian Monsters & Mythical Creatures is worth for me (and just to say, I thus also cannot and will not recommend Canadian Monsters & Mythical Creatures either).
Furthermore, and indeed for me much more of an issue and bone of contention, I really and truly do wish that Andrew Hind would not in Canadian Monsters & Mythical Creatures seem to majorly believe that every monster, that every creature listed and included is supposedly one hundred percent factual and authentic (and with Hind's attitude often rather vehemently brooking no skepticism here either). For while I would tend to actually agree with Andrew Hind that some of the creatures being showcased by him in Canadian Monsters & Mythical Creatures might actually and truly exist and that they could perhaps just not have been as yet discovered and examined by modern, by today's scientists (such as for example giant beavers, huge bats and how the Eastern Cougar is probably not really extinct no matter what is being claimed), that Hind also seems to consider every sea or lake monster etc. listed and shown by him in Canadian Monsters & Mythical Creatures (both in the main text and equally so in the appendix) as being real or as at least very likely actually existing (or having existed), indeed, I personally do find this attitude more than somewhat questionable and not all that scientifically and intellectually sound (and not to mention that it also is kind of annoying and patronising how with regard to Native Canadian folklore, Andrew Hind in Canadian Monsters & Mythical Creatures generally only seems to write about and focus on non Native Canadians who have supposedly encountered diverse creatures from First Nations and Inuit myth/lore and to sadly ignore the actual people whose stories he is showing and making textual use of).
And that there are no separate bibliographical lists provided in Canadian Monsters & Mythical Creatures (with Hind obviously using secondary sources but not bothering to acknowledge them with either endnotes or footnotes) and that in my opinion the way Canadian Monsters & Mythical Creatures is organised is massively reader unfriendly (as yes, Andrew Hind should be showing his included monsters and mythical creatures by province and not in this completely and massively distracting haphazard way), while I certainly do not consider Canadian Monsters & Mythical Creatures to be horrible, dangerous or inappropriate, there is just too much I have found lacking, academically aggravating as well as unscientific and subpar regarding how Hind presents his contents and his themes that a two star rating is all Canadian Monsters & Mythical Creatures is worth for me (and just to say, I thus also cannot and will not recommend Canadian Monsters & Mythical Creatures either).
June 27, 2023
A decent telling of assorted Canadian myths, just wish Andrew here didn't support every myth as fact 100% of the time, down to the creatures supposed ecology and what berries it eats. I feel like we have enough conspiracy theories without adding more to the discovery channel's tool kit.
He also could have done more in the telling of indigenous stories, instead of using them as support of what white settlers later seen. If he had put in more indigenous accounts, from the people who have been on the land for 20 thousand years, it might have made his monster sighting more interesting if not added to the credibility of the stories. But that's a criticism of the genre, not just this book. All in all his accounts are well told and the he does a good job immersing in the fear of the victims reports.
He also could have done more in the telling of indigenous stories, instead of using them as support of what white settlers later seen. If he had put in more indigenous accounts, from the people who have been on the land for 20 thousand years, it might have made his monster sighting more interesting if not added to the credibility of the stories. But that's a criticism of the genre, not just this book. All in all his accounts are well told and the he does a good job immersing in the fear of the victims reports.
September 21, 2020
A good compendium of exactly what it claims.
The list is fairly extensive and up-to-date, however it is laid out poorly, as a better grouping of the creatures could convey a better reading experience, either by grouping them in a way that conveys more information (such as cultural significance, chronology, geogpraphy, etc), or grouping them in such a way that teases out conclusions about cryptology or mythology.
Along those lines, the work is uneven in its critical focus, with the author clearly dismissive of some claims while obviously intrigued by others. The book would do well to adopt a thesis aside from "a broad-brushed overview of neat things". Even if the reader disagreed with the thesis, it would still make a more entertaining read.
The research into the creatures is adequate, however further analysis either from a scientific, mythological, sociological or historical perspective would be welcome.
A fun read!
The list is fairly extensive and up-to-date, however it is laid out poorly, as a better grouping of the creatures could convey a better reading experience, either by grouping them in a way that conveys more information (such as cultural significance, chronology, geogpraphy, etc), or grouping them in such a way that teases out conclusions about cryptology or mythology.
Along those lines, the work is uneven in its critical focus, with the author clearly dismissive of some claims while obviously intrigued by others. The book would do well to adopt a thesis aside from "a broad-brushed overview of neat things". Even if the reader disagreed with the thesis, it would still make a more entertaining read.
The research into the creatures is adequate, however further analysis either from a scientific, mythological, sociological or historical perspective would be welcome.
A fun read!
August 2, 2022
A truly remarkable and comprehensive guide to Monsters and mythical creatures of Canada. There was so many interesting and even cool monsters from my home country that I never knew existed. And they say Canada doesn’t have any interesting history/mythology ;)
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews