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| Creature Encyclopedias? http://horrorworld.org/msgboards/viewtopic.php?f=97&t=2644 |
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| Author: | Matt Cowan [ Mon Apr 02, 2007 10:35 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Creature Encyclopedias? |
Raven, I have another question for you? When you are researching the creatures and legends for your stories, do you recomend any particular book or type of book? I have a few encyclopedias that focus on such things, but they usually don't include much detail on any certain one. I like to find the more obscure legendary beasts, and that can prove to be a challenge because of the fact that they are obscure. 
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| Author: | Raven Bower [ Tue Apr 03, 2007 12:24 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
hehe I love that emote:
I do actually. Let me rumage through my shelves *lots of noise and thunks later...* Here we go. These are ones that I own and use a lot: Monsters by John Michael Greer (I suggest all of his books - he's very detailed and takes time to go into the differences in the critters/magic) Seafaring Lore & Legend by Peter D. Jeans He has a few chapters on sea monsters and what he calls Sea Fancies - sirens etc. A Field Guide to Demons by Carol & Dinah Mack This isn't as detailed of a book as I'd like...but...it does give some brief descriptions of obscure demons/spirits/entities. Cryptozoology A to Z by Coleman & Clark This one is a little less legendary and more based on sightings and various proofs of odd beings. Interesting though. The Field Guide to North American Monsters by W. Haden Blackman This guide is pretty amusing and fun to read. He covers a lot of beasties from as well known as Big Foot to the obscure. There's also this site - http://webhome.idirect.com/~donlong/mon ... nsters.htm though he doesn't seem to be updating it. Other stuff I use that I don't have on my shelves to give reference to are: old magic tomes, druidry books often have references to ooooold critters/monsters, books on legends and lore, mythology etc. But if you're trying for obscure - go for the magical tomes. There's a lot of neat beings that we've forgotten as the world has aged. Hope that helps! |
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| Author: | Matt Cowan [ Tue Apr 03, 2007 12:54 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
Thanks, sounds like some good places to uncover more hidden stories. 
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| Author: | Raven Bower [ Thu Apr 05, 2007 8:53 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
I was at the library last night and took a gander at their folklore section to see if there was anything neat there for you. Most of the books I found on monsters/mythical beings re-hashed the same ones. But... Some of the folk lore books had very interesting stories in them and although they didn't go into much detail about the critters...the critters were still in there. I found the neatest stories in ones that compiled stories from Ireland, Scotland, Italy etc. |
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| Author: | Varulf [ Thu Apr 05, 2007 9:26 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
Poking my nose into other people's convos again... 
I personally find my critters in various ancient mythology textbooks. My old copies of textbooks on Finnish, Scandinavian and Germanic mythologies have been great in that aspect. They're just filled with various interesting critters and creatures. |
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| Author: | Raven Bower [ Thu Apr 05, 2007 9:29 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
Like that water...water...gah the name is slipping my mind. The one that lures people in by appearing to them under the water - making them look really close and then nabbing them! That one was neat. |
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| Author: | Varulf [ Thu Apr 05, 2007 9:33 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
Hmm... I think you mean Näkki; I futzed around the concept a bit and came up with the water wenches. Now they'd be fun to put in a story, no? |
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| Author: | Raven Bower [ Thu Apr 05, 2007 9:39 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
Heck yeah! |
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| Author: | Matt Cowan [ Thu Apr 05, 2007 12:12 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
Thanks for the help. I had posted several of the books I use as a reference but accidentally deleted the whole thing. I'll have to repost it later. Lunch break is nearly up. 
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| Author: | Matt Cowan [ Sat Apr 07, 2007 11:07 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
Okay, I'm going to try again (and hopefully not delet it this time). The books on my shelf that I use most often are: 6- The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits by Rosemary Ellen Guiley- I don't use this one as often as I thought I would when I bought it. I'm not sure why, but it hasn't had the things I was looking for at the times I tried it. 5- Harper's Encyclopedia of Mystical and Paranormal Experience- Also by Rosemary Ellen Guiley- A few things are here that aren't covered in my other books. 4-Readers Digest Mysteries of the Unexplained- Haven't used this one a great deal but, it did help with the story that have I submitted at the moment. 3-Unexplained by Jerome Clark- This is a fun book to read. It covers all sorts of strange events. I really enjoyed the stories of the Mad Gasser of Mattoon, Tazelworm and Ummo. 2- Larousse Dictionary of World Folklore- This has been very usefull to me. It doesn't give a lot of detail on any one subject but, still has a lot of good information on all sorts of strange things. 1- Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were by Michael Page Ingpen- This lists (with pictures) numberous creatures and places from a diverse group of legends, fairytales and mythologies from all over the world. There are several here that I had never heard of before. This is a great book. There are others of course but these are the first ones I consult when trying to find something to write about, or looking for something to reference in a story. |
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| Author: | Raven Bower [ Sat Apr 07, 2007 2:39 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
Thanks! There's a few books on that list that I've been pondering getting but didn't know how good they actually were. |
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