Nessie Books, Talks and Interviews

It is August now and one may think that the roster of Loch Ness Monster books would be near completion for 2015. That may not appear to be the case, but first a look at what has been out so far this year.

The first book is one of those small, downloadable, Kindle formats that one sees more and more these days. Written by Elgin Cook, it is a 35 page introduction to the mystery of the Loch Ness Monster. It is good for those who want the basic facts, though more seasoned researchers may find it too familiar.

The second book is of an order of magnitude better and is entitled "Loch Ness: From Out of the Depths" by Patrick Gallacher. It is a compilation of many newspaper reports concerning the Loch Ness Monster from May 1933 to December 1934. 

At 386 pages, it is certainly one of the biggest books on the Loch Ness Monster, though it has to be realised that this is an edited compilation of pre-existing material. Now, all of these old newspaper reports can be accessed on such online resources as the British Newspaper Archive, but I like the idea that they are now available in digital and paper format. I like it is digital because it is now on my Kindle reader and is readily searchable. Of course, the original online resources are searchable too, but I find this format more comfortable.

I will also order the paperback version just so I have a paper backup of these old and valuable newspaper reports. One will also find that this is not just a monotone recounting of Nessie reports. It contains contemporary opinions and debate as to the monster's identity as well as folklore, other lake monsters and sea serpent tales. All in all, a good book for the cryptozoological shelf.

AND STILL TO COME

But 2015 has still not yet seen the last of books on the Loch Ness Monster. The next book that is expected is Malcolm Robinson's "The Monsters of Loch Ness". This is due for imminent publication and I hope to review it as soon as it comes out.

Malcolm is a well known researcher and author in UFO and paranormal circles, but, as a fellow Scot, his great love is the Loch Ness Monster. As he says on his own facebook page:

Update on my upcoming book, 'The Monsters of Loch Ness' (The history and the mystery) A chap presented me with some photographs that he took of "Nessie" back in 2011 and a drawing of "Nessie's" head. This along with his testimony, will now be going into my book as an extra. My new publisher has said that he is happy to use this and we are still looking to get this book published later this year. As I stated before, this book to me, is far more important than my other three books on UFOs and ghosts, that's not to say that I am disrespecting my previous three books, far from it. What I am saying is Loch Ness to me holds such a big part of my heart and life, and my research there over the years and going down in the Loch Ness submarine back in 1994 all combined to a book being written on a subject so dear to me, "Nessie". More news when I have it.

I look forward to reading Malcolm's book. 

Also anticipated this year is Karl Shuker's "Here's Nessie!" being subtitled "A Monstrous Compendium From Loch Ness". I don't know much about this book apart from knowing that it will mainly consist of Karl's previous writings on Nessie. So, this book may be familiar to you depending on how much you follow Karl.

Lastly, we still await Paul Harrison's book on notorious monster hunter, Frank Searle. It may come out this year, it may not. Either way, I expect this to be a highly anticipated and readable book as Paul recounts the life of this Loch Ness character and the interviews Paul had with Frank at his Lancashire home many years after he left the loch.

OTHER ITEMS

I recently gave an interview on the Loch Ness Monster to the Bruce Collins radio show. You can hear that interview podcast here. It lasts about 30 minutes and covers the basics of the mystery. 

And as a final heads up, I will talking on our favourite cryptid at the 2016 Scottish UFO and Paranormal Conference in Glasgow next June. More details to follow!