Exploring Unexplained Phenomena in High Strangeness

 High Strangeness by Daniel Noah, Christopher Condon, Zac Thompson, Christopher Cantwell, Cecil Castellucci, and Christian Ward with various artists. 

High Strangeness Deluxe Edition cover

Many thanks to Oni Press and NetGalley for sharing an advanced copy of High Strangeness Deluxe Edition. I was intrigued by the cover and title, which featured a kind of mysterious element with a little bit of sinister mixed in- and this edition does not disappoint. This unique collection features several stories bound by the mysteries of the unexplained. Furthermore, each story contains both a comic depiction and an essay that provides some background, history, and personal connections with the unexplained phenomenon. I read the comics first, but I really appreciated the essays that follow since they provide a unique insight into how the writers experienced these phenomena, as well as some history about the phenomena. The comics and essays/articles work well together, but it’s also important to note how the comics share connective threads not only through the theme of unexplained phenomena, but it was really cool to see the artists incorporate some shared visual themes and motifs throughout the comics that are eventually explained in the essays.

I really appreciated the unique approach that this collection takes in exploring the unexplained phenomena across different eras. The first one explores UFOs from 1967, and follows an investigative journalist, Jack Kean, who is based on John Keel, the journalist who wrote the Mothman Prophecies and investigated UFOs. In terms of both story and art, this was probably my favorite comic in the collection. It uses a fake UFO sighting and the disappearance of the person who faked the sighting to create questions and skepticism around what is known and what is hidden with UFOs. The story has a great twist and reminds me of X-Files, as Kean becomes haunted by the possibility of UFOs.

 

Book 2 takes place in 1975 and investigates Sasquatch/Bigfoot. I also really enjoyed this one. The story is interesting, and the artwork is also compelling, especially around sightings of Sasquatch. Furthermore, reading the essay helped me understand the artwork and various evidence that some believers cite as evidence for the existence of Sasquatch. The story takes a surprising turn and calls into question whether Sasquatch is a monster type cryptid or something else that many may not have considered. It tells the story of an inmate named Ellwood who ended up escaping from a prison transfer during a snowstorm with help from a sasquatch. He ends up in a nearby town, squatting in a cabin and building a new life for himself. However, he remains haunted by the encounter with the sasquatch, and as the birth of his first child nears, he heeds the call of the sasquatch (a wood knock, glowing eyes, and a stick structure in the woods. Elwood leaves the confines of his cabin during a storm to investigate these mysterious signs and see if the Sasquatch is lurking for him. This is also the story where some of the visual themes and repeated symbols appear (hello mantis). I really loved the essay as well that provided more background information about wild men and sasquatch myths around the world. In particular, it was exciting to learn about the author’s personal experience in the woods of Pennsylvania. I wasn’t even aware that PA had any kind of sasquatch legends. I really appreciated how both the essay and comic provide background information into these signs of sasquatch and possibly present sasquatch as a beneficial caretaker of the wild.

Book 3 takes place in 1983 and deals with synchronicity. It’s an interesting story about the chance encounters that occur in a father and daughter’s relationship and lives. The artwork for the story is great, and the author of the related essay presents some interesting and meaningful incidents of synchronicity in her own life. The comic story explores how meaningful events can occur on similar dates, and how these events can sometimes influence future events. It’s a touching story, but not as mysterious or phenomenal as the others. Reading the essay gave me a deeper appreciation of the story, but it also demonstrates something the author mentioned about meaning being inherently personal, which is harder to explain to readers. The essay does a good job noting how specific coincidences are connected and add meaning, helping to shape the author’s future decisions about love, work, and life. The comic presents some of this as well, but there are some other events occurring that make the story a little harder to follow than some of the others in this collection.

Book 4 takes place in 2001 and deals with out of body experiences (OBE). The artwork for the comic is well done and engaging, and the essay does well explaining these phenomena, using some personal experiences. The story for the comic is ok. I initially found the main character Adeline a little annoying at first. She seems to rely on coin flips to make decisions, often abandoning responsibilities because a coin told her to. Yet, the ending of the story is interesting, and it seems like she gains significant insight from her OBEs, learning how to access the astral plane and gain some additional information about events in her life. Like Book 3, I felt like the essay was more helpful I explaining the phenomenon of OBEs, but I really enjoyed the artwork in this section.

Book 5 is titled “Infinity” and takes place in the future. It’s a wild ride that provides some essential information about how these phenomena are connected. The artwork for this section is also incredible, and varies from many of the other comics in this collection. It’s a surreal exploration of meaning and myth to better understand how these unexplained phenomena can impact our lives. I also appreciated the last essay from Daniel Noah that explains how he moved from skeptic to believer based on his experiences in the Stanley Hotel. The essay also explores the connective tissue among the various phenomena and how the visual themes and symbols are related in the various stories. It’s a clever and creative way to synthesize these stories and note how much wonder is in the world when we leave open these doors of explanation, even if it’s just a crack.

Overall this was an interesting collection that was fun to read. I love these books that explore mysterious and unexplained phenomena, so this was fun to read. I typically lean more towards the scary, monster type stories like the first two, but I also found the last two stories that explore synchronicity and out of body experiences to be also interesting and somewhat emotional in a heartfelt way. The artwork for this collection is phenomenal, and the essays that conclude this deluxe edition provide further exploration and background information about these mysterious events and phenomena. Although I read the comics first and the essays last, I wondered how reading the essays first might impact my understanding of the comics and these phenomena. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way to approach this- just two different paths that lead to potentially similar outcomes. Nevertheless, this is a fun and very different read than what I was expecting. Highly recommended, especially if you like learning about unexplained phenomena.

 

Mysterious Creatures: The Truth Behind the Legends by Alderton and Heart

 Mysterious Creatures: The Truth Behind the Legends by David Alderton and Akara Heart

Mysterious Creatures book cover

Author David Alderton

Author Akara Heart

Big thanks to Bloomsbury Academic and NetGalley for sharing an advanced copy of David Alderton and Akara Heart’s Mysterious Creatures: The Truth Behind the Legends, a great new compendium that investigates mysterious and legendary creatures like Bigfoot, vampires, werewolves, unicorns, and dragons. I love books like these that provide an overview of legends, myths, and other mysteries of the unknown, and have been reading these kinds of collections since I was younger. There’s been some recent great books that focus more on cryptids and urban legends (The United States of Cryptids by Ocker, Fairylore by Wallman and Cleto, and Tales of the Dark Feminine by V. Castro), and I love that so many of these books go beyond mere definitional entries in a kind of brief encyclopedia. While my younger self would have enjoyed Mysterious Creatures, it is a book that engages the wonders and mystery of these legendary creatures, but also presents some evenhanded investigations and science into working to find a rational explanation for these creatures and legends. It’s not quite a book I could recommend for children, but it remains a fascinating and entreating read that I could not put down.

Alderton and Heart have done considerable research to not only investigate the origins and incidents involving many of these legendary creatures, but also to provide some plausible explanations and ideas as to why or how these legends have entered our belief systems and why they have persisted for so long. Many of the legends appear throughout history and cut across different cultures. For example, the unicorn may have first appeared in ancient Babylonian times as a seal for official documents, yet over time the idea of the unicorn has transformed from a fierce, yet elusive beast with magical powers, to something more delicate and unique. Alderton and Heart trace the ways in which this legendary creature has changed to mean different things to various cultures and time periods, as well as how many people in the middle ages profited off of the supposed powers of unicorn horns by selling ground up powders to unwitting customers. Similarly, we learn how mermaids have been a part of legends and myths since people began sailing, yet the idea of a siren has changed over time. Nevertheless, scammers took advantage of the willingness to believe and the lack of skepticism (or education or information at the time) to make some money with well-crafted hoaxes, most notably the Feejee (or Fiji) mermaid. I was shocked to learn how much someone paid for what was ostensibly a monkey carcass sewed to a fish tail. Nevertheless, I loved learning about the mythical origins of these creatures, and how they have appeared in stories, legends and literature, eventually making their way to books and films, and becoming somewhat iconic and meaningful symbols of for different cultures and generations. These chapters explore the history, but tend to focus in on some of the more iconic or important stories that helped to propel these myths to the mainstream and explain how they eventually have shaped our current beliefs and ideas about these creatures. My favorite chapters were about vampires and werewolves and dogmen. I loved learning more about the history of these creatures and finding out about some strange cases and the possible medical or mental health reasons behind these phenomena. The last two chapters on Sasquatch and Thunderbirds (or giant birds) were interesting; however, I wish there was more about the indigenous beliefs about these creatures. The authors mention some ideas, but don’t get too in depth about the cultural myths and stories related to them. Nevertheless, they provide some interesting modern instances of Bigfoot and giant bird sightings in the US, and provide some compelling and rational suggestions about what these creatures could possibly be. The other chapters on dragons and phoenixes were also interesting, especially since both chapters explored cross cultural beliefs and examined the cultural significance and differences of both creatures in European and Asian (China, Korea, Japan).

I really enjoyed this book, and it’s one that I would definitely recommend, not only because it’s so informative, but I also loved the way that the authors present some plausible suggestions to explain how and why the belief in these creatures has persisted for centuries, and how they have often become culturally significant for different groups of people over the course of history. While not a book for younger kids, I think this book offers a great introduction to exploring skepticism and formulating counter-arguments to provide reasonable explanations. While I always want to believe in these mythical and mysterious creatures, I think it’s important to learn these kinds of skeptical skills and to examine more scientific explanations, especially as we find more and more technology being deployed to advance more complex hoaxes and ideas. While we have access to more and more information and education than previous generations, it still doesn’t prevent people from trying to exploit our willingness to be amazed and our desire to believe in the unexplained. Alderton and Heart’s book allows us to explore and question, but also offers us important lessons in looking for more reasonable and logical explanations. My only wish is that they included more images throughout the book—whether they are illustrations or other examples of these creatures throughout history and different cultures. Nevertheless, this is a book I highly recommend!

The United States of Cryptids by J.W. Ocker

 The United States of Cryptids: A Tour of American Myths and Monsters by J.W. Ocker

The United States of Cryptids book cover

Author J.W. Ocker

Ocker’s The United States of Cryptids isn’t quite an encyclopedia, but it is a great reference book and a fun travelogue of Ocker’s quest to document Cyptids in each state/region in the US. I read this along with my son, thinking that he might want to read more about myths and monsters. After riding on the Jersey Devil roller coaster, both of my kids became interested in learning more about the Jersey Devil, and Ocker documents a good amount about the history and cultural legacy of NJ’s most famous cryptid. Each chapter for the book was relatively brief, and I really enjoyed reading about Ocker’s ideas to honor and promote each state’s cryptid. He frequently mentions statues or plaques that would identify sightings, legacy, or other important information about these cryptids. Beyond these recommendations, Ocker’s book can also serve as a great road trip guide for adventurous families and cryptid hunters. He shares where he found more information about these cryptids, as well as some of the annual traditions that might involve honoring the legacies of these mythological creatures. I loved learning about some of the towns and their festivals, parades, or even ceremonies to honor cryptids. One town in Minnesota had an annual gnome festival that made gnomes from the likenesses of townspeople they wanted to fete for the year. It was a really nice way to recognize the contributions of a town. I was surprised to learn that a fair amount of the cryptids stories are created to drum up tourism or promote visiting these towns, and this practice even goes back to the 1800s, when a sea serpent was manufactured to attract visitors to the town’s hotel. Although many of the stories are unbelievable and some are blatantly false or rumors, it is still fun to read about these creates and wonder what some of the more unexplained phenomena might be. Despite these concise chapters, Ocker manages to convey enough information about the origins and history of these, and frequently makes connections to other cryptids in other states or regions. My e-book also had links back to the other cryptids. I’m looking forward to reading some of Ocker’s other books—I have the cursed objects book and read that he has a book about cults coming out, which I really can’t wait to read. Overall, this was a fun and easy read that gave me plenty of ideas about possible road trips or places to visit.