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Bigfoot to Mothman
A Global Encyclopaedia of Legendary Beasts and Monsters
Margo DeMello
Bloomsbury Academic 2024
Hb, 320pp, £75, 9781440877254
Margo DeMello is a cultural anthr-opologist, assistant professor of anthrozoology and the author of a number of books. This encyclopædia of cryptids is a scholarly work in which she looks at cryptozoology through the lens of cultural anthropology. It is divided into two sections: the first is an A-Z list of cryptids; the second covers extinct, invented or mythical creatures similar to cryptids. Each of these listings has a mini-bio and date of last sighting as well as suggestions for further reading.
In this work, DeMello states that “the presence of monsters – unknown, unchecked, inscrutable – may be the only thing we have left that reminds us of what once was but can never be again”. Cryptids perhaps embody what is unknown and dangerous in a modern world; where science has an explanation for most things and any natural dangers have been overshadowed by those made by man.
She believes that cryptids have a central role to play in the myths and cultures of peoples worldwide. Linked to this, she argues that the relentless search for scientific proof of such creatures ignores the blurring of boundaries between science and nature and ignores the liminal spaces in our world that can trigger a primeval sense of the uncanny in all of us. Hence, her introduction examines the world of cryptozoology and highlights its position on the periphery of accepted scientific thought, and she remarks that those making a study of such creatures are often marginalised and ridiculed.
Throughout the book she makes a number of important and salient points. Firstly, that there is often a wealth of cultural and anecdotal evidence for cryptids which is ignored or dismissed by “science” as there is no physical specimen.
