Florida Monsters

A guide to visiting the odd and less known tourist attractions in the state of Florida.

This fascinating collection of myths, legends and folktales celebrates the diversity of characters and cultures across the Sunshine State. Florida boasts mysterious tales that stretch back more than twelve thousand years. In Florida Lore, storyteller Caren Schnur Neile shares a treasure trove of colorful, curious tales that capture her home state’s history, mystery, and unique personality. Delve into the lives of the proud Wakulla Pocahontas and the Ghost of Bellamy Bridge. Meet local lawbreakers like John Ashley, as well as transplants like Ma Barker and Al Capone. Stalk stumpy gators or Hogzilla as they prowl Florida's swamps and suburbs. Discover the quintessential Cracker cowboy and the Barefoot Mailman, plus the origin of names like Boca Raton and Orlando.

Chronicles of the Strange and Uncanny in Florida explores the unknown for those who wish to look beyond the confines of everyday life to discover the truly unusual. It explores Florida's darker avenues for evidence of the extraordinary and the fantastic. Investigate sightings of flying saucers, extraterrestrials, and strange aerial phenomena. Meet skunk apes, chupacabras, and other creatures of the night. And in Florida's lakes and seas, meet aquatic abnormalities like sea monsters, the Everglades water serpent, and the three-toed beast of Clearwater Beach.

• Stories of the best known of the Garden State's cryptid population • From the bustling cities and Down the Shore to the creepy Pine Barrens • Research from the world's leading cryptozoologist • Extensive section on the state's most infamous creature, the Jersey Devil • Also includes Big Red Eye of the Great Swamp in Somerset County, Hoboken Monkey-Man, Lake Hopatcong Monster, Cape May Sea Serpent, the Wooo-wooo, and the Lizardman of Great Meadows

Do you know Florida? The Sunshine State is such a great place to live that even little monsters have taken up residence there. Have fun spotting all the cleverly concealed little monsters as you explore some of Florida's most iconic landmarks and sights!

From pre-Columbian legends to modern-day eyewitness accounts, this comprehensive guide covers the history, sightings and lore surrounding the most mysterious monsters in America—including Bigfoot, the Jersey Devil, and more. Bigfoot, the chupacabra, and thunderbirds aren’t just figments of our overactive imaginations—according to thousands of eyewitnesses, they exist, in every corner of the United States. Throughout America’s history, shocked onlookers have seen unbelievable creatures of every stripe—from sea serpents to apelike beings, giant bats to monkeymen—in every region. Author, investigator, and creature expert Linda S. Godfrey brings the same fearless reporting she lent to Real Wolfmen to this essential guide, using historical record, present-day news reports, and eyewitness interviews to examine this hidden menagerie of America’s homegrown beasts.

A deep dive into the undersea netherworld of sea serpents, lake monsters, surviving dinosaurs, genetically altered mutants, and legendary aquatic creatures. Water takes up 70 percent of Earth’s surface, with countless lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, seas and oceans covering much of the land, but what lurks beneath the water? For centuries, sightings have been made of huge, marauding monsters swimming the world’s oceans and lakes. They include Scotland’s legendary Loch Ness Monster; the United States’ equivalent, Champ, of Lake Champlain; and Canada’s long-necked denizen of the deep known as Ogopogo. These, and many more, famous monsters of the world below us also include giant squid, massive octopi, and even the fabled Kraken and the fabled mermaids of millennia long-gone. Possibly, too, there survive populations of marine reptiles that were assumed to have gone extinct millions of years ago, in the Jurassic period, such as the plesiosaur. Whether scaly or slithery, massive prehistoric dinosaurs or mutant serpents, Monsters of the Deep catalogs nearly 100 accounts of eels, alligators, reptiles, giant squids, snakes, worms, deadly fish, and cold-blooded creatures of all manner and ilk. It reveals the astonishing extent to which lake monsters and sea serpents have surfaced throughout history to terrify, perplex, and amaze those who have crossed paths with these monsters of the unknown. Master storyteller, established author, and respected expert on the unexplained and paranormal Nick Redfern sifts through the historical record, first-person accounts, and unearthed government files on lake monsters and sea serpents to tell of encounters with a variety of beasts, including ... Cheever Felch’s 19th-century account of the massive Gloucester, New England, Sea Serpent The brontosaurus-like Mokele-Mbembe of the Congo The supernatural Bunyip, a monster that lurks within the creeks, lagoons, and swamps of Australia that has been known to the Aboriginal people for centuries The disputed claims of Teddy May, former Commissioner of Sewers in New York, of alligators roaming the sewers of the city The monster-sized fish in the River Nene, in the Fens, Cambridgeshire, England Modern mutants genetically altered by pollution And many more! This richly researched reference overflows with fascinating information to make you think about—and reconsider—dipping your toes into water. With more than 120 photos and graphics, this tome is nicely illustrated. Monsters of the Deep also includes a helpful bibliography and an extensive index, adding to its usefulness.

Bizarre beasts of the Tar Heel State featured in this volume include Skunk Ape, Mystery Primates, Santers and Vampire Beasts, Monstrous Snakes, Giant Insects, Mermaids and Mermen, and Sea Serpents.