June 2011 ~ CFZ PUBLISHING GROUP

Thursday, 16 June 2011

WEIRD WATERS: The Lake and Sea Monsters of Scandinavia and the Baltic States

WEIRD WATERS: The Lake and Sea Monsters of Scandinavia and the Baltic States

by Lars Thomas

The curse of Fortean research is the language barrier. Many classic books published outside the English speaking world have never been translated. Volumes of information are lost in this way. Now CFZ Press are taking the first steps towards rectifying that with the publication of part one of a two volume work on the monsters and mystery animals of Scandinavia. Weird Waters looks at marine and freshwater cryptids from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and the Baltic States. Very little on this subject has been translated into English before, and virtually nothing of the cryptozoology of the Baltic countries is known about in the English speaking world.

Renowned cryptozoologist, author and researcher Lars Thomas of the University of Copenhagen has opened a Pandora’s Box of information hitherto held fast by the locks of culture and language. Herein lay weird and wonderful stories, accounts, legends and data made available for the first time to English readers.

CFZ Press hopes that Weird Waters will be the first of many such books.

Buy it on Amazon

FEATURED AUTHOR

This Feature will be coming soon (honest)

LATEST RELEASE

THE AMATEUR NATURALIST

For 100 years, from the mid-19th Century, natural history was the premier British hobby. Over the last 50 years it has declined in popularity for a number of reasons, most notably that killing living creatures for a hobby is quite rightly no longer seen as ethical. With the technological advances of the 21st Century, however, everything has changed. With a digital camera one can have a butterfly collection for example, and with the advent of cheap air travel, places once only accessible by the Gerald Durrells of this world, can be visited by everybody. Suddenly, the amateur naturalist can come into his, or her, own, and there has never been a better time for people to get involved. Amateur naturalists across the world are carrying out valuable research, and participating in essential breeding programmes. If you are interested, this magazine is for you.

The Amateur Naturalist (and Exotic Petkeeper) #7
The Amateur Naturalist (and Exotic Petkeeper) #8

ANIMALS & MEN

Since 1994, Animals & Men has been the world's premier cryptozoological periodical. It is published by the Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) and covers all aspects of the study of unknown animals. In recent years it has been published perfect bound as a mini-paperback.

Animals & Men #46
Animals & Men #47
Animals & Men #48

CFZ EXPEDITION REPORTS

The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] is the only professional, scientific and full-time organisation in the world dedicated to cryptozoology - the study of unknown animals. Since 1992, the CFZ has carried out an unparalleled programme of research and investigation all over the world.

CFZ Expedition Report: Gambia 2006

CFZ Expedition Report: Guyana 2007

CFZ Expedition Report: Russia

BOOKS BY NEIL ARNOLD

Neil Arnold is Kent’s only monster-hunter. He runs Kent Big Cat Research, the county’s only research into large, exotic cats roaming the wilds, he is the author of Monster! The A-Z Of Zooform Phenomena, which he describes as “National Geographic meets Marc Bolan”, which was named the 2007 Fortean Zoology Book Of The
Year by cryptozoologist Loren Coleman.

He has an obsession with misty graveyards, vamp-a-go-go women, the films of David Lynch, glam-rock
and ‘60s culture, a true dedicated follower of fashion whose surreal safaris have enabled him to appear on national television and international radio, give lectures on his expeditions and research, and encounter all manner of weird and wonderful beasts and characters, from Satanists, to rock stars, and from alleged vampiresto big cats.

He lives opposite a haunted castle in Rochester, Kent,with his girlfriend Jemma.

Since a very young age he has collated evidence of strange, and mysterious creatures roaming Kent and the surrounding areas. He believes in monsters more than he does himself.

The Mystery Animals of the British Isles: Kent

Monster! An A-Z of Zooform Phenomena

BCIB YEARBOOKS

Big cats are said to roam the British Isles and Ireland even now as you are sitting and reading this. People from all walks of life encounter these mysterious felines on a daily basis in every nook and cranny of these two countries. Most are jet-black, some are white, some are brown, in fact big cats of every description and colour are seen by some unsuspecting person while on his or her daily business. `Big Cats in Britain` are the largest and most active group in the British Isles and Ireland. These books contain a run-down of every known big cat sighting in the UK during the specific year, together with essays by various luminaries of the British big cat research community which place the phenomenon into scientific, cultural, and historical perspective.

Big Cats in Britain Yearbook 2006

Big Cats in Britain Yearbook 2007

Big Cats in Britain Yearbook 2008

BOOKS BY J.T.DOWNES (1925-2006)

John Downes was born in Plymouth in 1925. He married Mary in 1947, and in 1953 they moved to Northern Nigeria where he worked in a post designed to bring modern agricultural techniques to the region's farmers, before being transferred to an administrative position and posted to Hong Kong where he rose to a senior rank in HM Overseas Civil Service.

He discovered that he had been following - almost literally - in the footsteps of Lord Frederick Lugard, a soldier and Colonial Service officer who had been pivotal to the history of the region half a century before.

He retired in 1971, and moved to Woolsery, a small village in North Devon. Hewrote a number of books, was widowed in 2002 and died in 2006, leaving two sons - Jonathan (born 1959) the director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology, and Richard , (born 1963) a senior Army chaplain.

Granfer's Bible Stories

Fragrant Harbours - Distant Rivers

DARK DORSET

The county of Dorset lies along the South West Coast of England and forms part of the ancient kingdom of Wessex. Often called Thomas Hardy's Wessex, Dorset is noted for its beauty, and even more so for its variety, almost every kind of coastal scenery that England possesses can be found some where within its compass, while inland the variety is maintained with rich pastures, undulating downs, picture postcard villages, barren heaths and ancient monuments. Dorset is steeped in history, folklore and legend, much of which is mysterious and dark.

This extensively illustrated compendium has over 400 tales and references making this book by far one of the best in its field. Dark Dorset Tales of Mystery, Wonder and Terror has been thoroughly researched, and includes many new entries and up to date information never before published. The title of the book speaks for its self, and is indeed not for the faint hearted or those easily shocked. Any readers brave enough will find themselves touring a county full of sinister hauntings, decaying body parts, spellbinding witchcraft, malevolent fairies, gruesome murders, spectral black dogs, phantom armies, headless ghosts, flickering will o' wisps, strange phenomena, sea monsters, peculiar customs and superstitions, big cats, bewitching nymphets, the magical enchantment of conjurors and witches, uncanny events, death, destruction and the Devil himself, not to mention a horrific history few other counties can boast. The reader can't help but be plunged into a sense of foreboding despair!

Dark Dorset Tales of Mystery, Wonder and Terror

Dark Dorset Calendar Customs

BOOKS BY KEN GERHARD

Ken Gerhard is an accomplished cryptozoologist and field researcher for The Centre for Fortean Zoology and Gulf Coast Bigfoot Research Organization, as well as a fellow of the Pangea Institute and a consultant for various paranormal groups. He has investigated reports of monsters and mysterious beasts around the world including Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, the Chupacabras, winged creatures and even werewolves. In addition to appearing in three episodes of the television series Monster Quest (History Channel), Ken is featured in the History Channel special The Real Wolfman, as well as Legend Hunters (Travel Channel/A&E), Paranatural (National Geographic) and Ultimate Encounters (truTV). His credits include appearances on Eyewitness News, Coast to Coast AM, and Ireland’s Newstalk, as well as being featured in major books, DVDs and in articles by the Associated Press, Tampa Tribune and Brownsville Herald. Ken is author of the book Big Bird: Modern Sightings of Flying Monsters as well as the co-author of Monsters of Texas (with Nick Redfern) and has contributed to trade publications including Fate Magazine, Animals and Men, The Journal of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club and Bigfoot Times. He currently lectures and exhibits at various, conferences and events across the United States. Born on Friday the 13^th of October, Ken has traveled to twenty-six different countries and has visited forty-three of the states. An avid adventurer, he has camped along the Amazon, explored the Galapagos, hiked the Australian Outback and has visited many ancient and mysterious sites, from Machu Pichu to Stonehenge.

Big Bird!

Monsters of Texas

BOOKS BY NICK REDFERN

Nicholas "Nick" Redfern was born in 1964 in Pelsall, Walsall, West Midlands, England. He is an author, Ufologist and Cryptozoologist now living in Arlington, Texas, United States.

Redfern is an active advocate of official disclosure, and has worked to uncover thousands of pages of previously-classified Royal Air Force, Air Ministry and Ministry of Defence files on UFOs dating from the Second World War from the National Archives.

Man-Monkey

Space Girl Dead at Spaghetti Junction

Monsters of Texas

BOOKS BY RICHARD FREEMAN

Richard Freeman (born Nuneaton, England, in 1970) is a cryptozoologist, author, zoological journalist, and WebTV Presenter. He is also Zoological Director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ), and has co-edited both the journal, Animals & Men and several editions of the annual CFZ Yearbook. Richard Freeman has written, co-written, or edited a number of books, and has contributed widely to both Fortean and zoological magazines, as well as other newspapers and periodicals, including Fortean Times and Paranormal Magazine.

He has also lectured across the UK at events such as the Fortean Times Unconvention, the Weird Weekend, Microcon and at museums such as the Natural History Museum, the Grant Museum of Natural History and the Last Tuesday Society.

Dragons - More Than a Myth?

The Great Yokai Encyclopaedia

CFZ Expedition Report: Gambia 2006

CFZ Expedition Report: Guyana 2007

CFZ Expedition Report: Russia 2008

BOOKS BY DR. KARL SHUKER

Karl P. N. Shuker (born 1959) is a British zoologist, cryptozoologist, and author living in the West Midlands, England. He works as a full-time freelance zoological consultant, media consultant, and noted author specializing in cryptozoology

Shuker received a BSc(Hons) in zoology from the University of Leeds and a PhD in zoology and comparative physiology from the University of Birmingham. He is a Scientific Fellow of the Zoological Society of London, a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society, a consultant for the Centre for Fortean Zoology, and a member of the Society of Authors.

Shuker is one of the leading cryptozoologists in the English speaking world.

Alien Zoo

Extraordinary Animals Revisited

Dr. Shuker's Casebook

Star Steeds and Other Dreams

Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals on Stamps

BOOKS BY JONATHAN DOWNES

Jonathan Downes (born Portsmouth, England, in 1959) is a cryptozoologist, author, film-maker, journalist, composer and singer-songwriter, with a background in radical politics and mental health care. He is Director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology.His father, the explorer and Colonial Service Officer J. T. Downes (1925–2006), authored several books on wide range of subjects, such as African history, theology and Devonshire dialect. His mother Mary Downes (née Rawlins) (1922–2002) was a broadcaster and author who published several collections of Nigerian folklore under the pen-name `Yar Kunama`.

He is currently the editor of Animals & Men; the journal of the Centre for Fortean Zoology, the managing editor of The Amateur Naturalist (formerly Exotic Pets) - a magazine published by CFZ Press, the editor of the online magazine blog Cryptozoology: Online, and from January 2003 until August 2007 was the Deputy Editor of Tropical World magazine, a tropical fish magazine published in the UK. He has also edited and contributed to many other publications over the years.

Monster Hunter

The Owlman and Others

Monster of the Mere

Smaller Mystery Carnivores of the West Country

Strength Through Koi

Only Fools and Goatsuckers

The Blackdown Mystery

Island of Paradise

CFZ PRESS - NON SERIES BOOKS

When the Centre for Fortean Zoology was started back in the spring of 1992 we always intended to have the world’s most extensive cryptozoological publishing house.

Sadly it took us longer than we had originally envisaged, but now we have an unparalleled catalogue of books on cryptozoology and allied disciplines.

Books by Michael Newton
Books by Jonathan Downes
Books by Dr Karl Shuker
Books by Richard Freeman
Books by Nick Redfern
Books by Ken Gerhard
Books by Mark North and/or Robert Newland
Books by J.T.Downes
Big Cats in Britain Yearbooks
Books by Neil Arnold
CFZ Expedition Reports
CFZ Journals: Animals & Men
CFZ Journals: The Amateur Naturalist

Michael Woodley: In the wake of Bernard Heuvelmans
Marcus Matthews: Big Cats Loose in Britain
Andy Roberts: Cat Flaps!
Nick Molloy: Predator Deathmatch
Gary Cunningham and Ronan Coghlan: The Mystery Animals of Ireland
Tony "Doc" Shiels: Monstrum! A Wizard's Tale
Barton Nunnelly: The Inhumanoids
Lars Thomas: Weird Waters - the lake and sea monsters of Scandinavia and the Baltic States
Michael Newton: When Bigfoot Attacks
Dr Darren Naish: Tetrapod Zoology

ANIMALS & MEN - Collected Editions

At the beginning of the 21st Century monsters still roam the remote, and sometimes not so remote, corners of our planet. It is our job to search for them. The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] is the only professional, scientific and full-time organisation in the world dedicated to cryptozoology - the study of unknown animals.

Since 1992 the CFZ has carried out an unparalleled programme of research and investigation all over the world. We have carried out expeditions to Sumatra (2003 and 2004), Mongolia (2005), Puerto Rico (1998 and 2004), Mexico (1998), Thailand (2000), Florida (1998), Nevada (1999 and 2003), Texas (2003 and 2004), and Illinois (2004).

Since 1994 we have been publishing the world's only dedicated cryptozoology magazine Animals & Men. These collected editions include five fascimile issues of the magazine together with an introductory essay by Jonathan Downes, notes putting each issue into a historical perspective, and a history of the CFZ.

IN THE BEGINNING: Issues 1-5 (Volume One)
THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST: Issue 6-10 (Volume Two)
CALL OF THE WILD: Issues 11-15 (Volume Three)
NEW HORIZONS: Issues 16-20 (Volume Four)

CFZ YEARBOOKS

The Centre for Fortean Zoology Yearbook is an annual collection of papers and essays too long and detailed for publication in the CFZ Journal, Animals & Men. With contributions from both well-known researchers, and relative newcomers to the field, the Yearbook provides a forum where new theories can be expounded, and work on little-known cryptids discussed.

CFZ Yearbook 1996

CFZ Yearbook 1997

CFZ Yearbook 1998

CFZ Yearbook 1999

CFZ Yearbook 2000/01

CFZ Yearbook 2002

CFZ Yearbook 2003

CFZ Yearbook 2004

CFZ Yearbook 2007

CFZ Yearbook 2008

CFZ Yearbook 2009

CFZ Yearbook 2010

CFZ Yearbook 2011

HAUNTED SKIES

A ground-breaking new series compiled by former Police Officer John Hanson and his partner Dawn Holloway, together with David Sankey, a veteran UFO researcher and artist. The multi-part series covers British UFO sightings from 1940 to the present day.

Haunted Skies is the most ambitious series of books ever attempted in the history of ufology, and will - no doubt - provide a new benchmark in the quality of such publications".

Haunted Skies Volume One - 1940-1959
Haunted Skies Volume Two - 1960-1965

FORTEAN ANTHOLOGIES

Everyone has to start somewhere. Even the most celebrated of today’s Fortean writers worked their way up through obscure and often now defunct magazines. Much of the early writings of such people are long forgotten and thought lost which is why CFZ Press is proud to present its new line of collected writings from some of the finest writers in the field.

Most of these writings have never see the light of day, being unpublished or lost works whilst other have been lost to the mists of time. Now, for the first time they have been brought together.

Early essay and articles by such luminaries as Andy Roberts, Nick Redfern and Paul Screeton are already available, and coming collections include the writings of Lars Thomas, Ronan Coghlan and Richard Freeman.

The collected writings series is a must for the serious student of Forteana and an intriguing look at the beginning of the writers’ careers. Turn back the clocks and enjoy the vintage weirdness.

Andy Roberts:    Strangely Strange but Oddly Normal
Nick Redfern:    Space Girl Dead on Spaghetti Junction
Paul Screeton:    I Fort the Lore

Wednesday, 15 June 2011

BOOKS BY MICHAEL NEWTON

Giant Snakes Unravelling the Coils of Mystery

CFZ CLASSICS

Coming soon is a new range of reprints of books about cryptozoology and allied disciplines and also classic natural history.

As you probably know, all the CFZ companies are staffed by volunteers, and despite our many and multi-various differences there are certain things we all have in common, and probably the most important of these is that we are all confirmed and totally irredeemable bibliophiles.

It has always irritated us that some of the most important books in the subjects which interest us are so ruddy expensive. Jon, being somewhat of an old anarchist, has wanted to do something about it for a long time, and now we are.

It is too early to tell you what, and even when, our new titles will be and when they will appear, but we can promise you one thing – they will be affordable.

Watch this space….

CFZ COMMUNICATIONS

No matter how single-minded we pretend to be, we have a wide and diverse range of interests. Long before he started the Centre for Fortean Zoology in 1992, my husband Jonathan published books and magazines about the more esoteric, and often political aspects of the music industry.

CFZ Communications is where we put books which have nothing to do with forteana. And we are proud to be able to announce that we are launching this imprint later in the year with the first in a series of updated editions of books by the legendary film director and music journalist, Tony Palmer. The first book, The Trials of Oz, will be out to mark the 40th anniversary of the end of the trial which set the British establishment against the most notorious publication in British hippydom.

Watch this space.

FORTEAN FICTION

A new imprint which “does exactly what it says on the tin”. With our CFZ imprint we have already established ourselves as the world’s leading publishers on books about cryptozoology and allied disciplines, and we are doing the same rather fast with our Fortean Words imprint. However, especially with a subject as rich and arcane as forteana, we felt that it was important to try to delineate between our non-fiction and fictional publications. This is a particularly difficult task when the truth is often far stranger than fiction.

However, we have done it and Fortean Fiction is being launched later this year with two books:

Snap by Steven Bredice - a spine chilling story about a lake with an unpleasant inhabitant

Green Unpleasant Land - an anthology of short stories set in modern(ish) Britain and written by our very own Richard Freeman

Over the years we have published a couple of novels under the CFZ Press banner, and over the next few months they will be reissued under the new imprint.

FORTEAN WORDS

After five or six years of publishing books under the CFZ Press umbrella, it became obvious that we needed to start another imprint. Charles Fort was an American writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena. He gave his name to a broad portmanteau discipline including research into a wide range of arcane subjects.

Fortean Words is a home for authors who discuss and investigate things for which there is no rational explanation. Our authors include such Fortean luminaries as Nick Redfern, Andy Roberts, and Paul Screeton.

As well as stand-alone titles we publish the following series:

The Fortean Anthology series
Haunted Skies

Also from Fortean Words:

Andy Roberts: UFO DOWN! The Berwyn Mountains UFO Crash

The Mystery Animals of the British Isles

Mystery animals? Great Britain? Surely not. These are not phrases which would normally be thought of in the same sentence. But it is true. The zoogeography of the British Isles is not as hard and fast as one would have imagined; there are mystery big cats, sea monsters, strangely coloured variants of well known species, animals only known from a handful of specimens or even less, and a body of evidence to suggest that entire new species await discovery. The Fortean zoology of these islands is even more impressive, with dragons, monsters, ghostly animals and weird animal folklore.

For the first time, all these subjects are being gathered together under one, somewhat eccentric, roof. The Mystery Animals of the British Isles is a major new series from CFZ Press, the publishing arm of the world's largest mystery animals research organisation. It will cover Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland, on a county by county basis, describing the mystery animals of the entire island group.

The Mystery Animals of the British Isles: Northumberland and Tyneside by Michael Hallowell
Mystery Animals of the British Isles: Kent by Neil Arnold
The Mystery Animals of the British Isles: The Western Isles by Glen Vaudrey

CFZ PRESS

Tuesday, 7 June 2011

dsvsefvese

John

I have a few volumes of the following in my collection;

1800-1999

The Zoologist

Hardwicke’s Science Gossip

Buckland’s Land & Water

1927-28

Natural History Society of Bombay

If anybody is researching among these journals, they can contact me tibetanbluebear@yahoo.co.uk & I will do my best to find the articles.

Graham produced a fine entry on Hardwicke’s journal in the CFZ yearbook, I wonder if we can’t do something similar for The Zoologist, which is really a mine of cryptozoological material

I need to renew my CFZ subs, can I still do this via paypal.

Regards

Paul

From: Jonathan Downes [mailto:jon@eclipse.co.uk]
Sent: 06 June 2011 20:44
To: Mead, P. (Paul)
Subject: Re: Bell Rock Lighthouse mythical sea serpent

Thanks for that Paul. I am posting it on the blog tomorrow to see what happens...

----- Original Message -----

From: Mead, P. (Paul)

To: jon@eclipse.co.uk

Sent: Monday, June 06, 2011 1:35 PM

Subject: Bell Rock Lighthouse mythical sea serpent

John

An interested article from the Bell Rock Lighthouse website,

There is one exhibit above all others in the Signal Tower Museum in Arbroath (one-time home of the lightkeepers) which I have always pondered over - what's more even greatly admired -and that is an old cast-iron hand grip, . . . a relic from the early days of the Bell Rock. It was one of number which once adorned the outside of the old-style pre-1902 lantern. They were there to steady keepers when cleaning the outside glass or effecting any repairs required on the lantern. Although much painted over decades of use, the shape is unmistakeably that of a mythical sea serpent!

In Newfoundland, over 2000 miles away, work had begun in the early 1830s on their own lighthouse building programme.

When visiting Bonavista in 2007 and being shown round the tower by Don Johnson the curator, there much to my surprise was the same serpent-shaped hand-grip adorning the lantern astragals . . this one even more heavy painted than its Arbroath counterpart! In fact there were 16 of them (one on each vertical astragal) - a full complement no less. I don't think I ever heard tale of a lantern also going out with the light mechanism from Scotland. We do know that the Bell still had theirs in 1902 when it was replaced by the standard diagonal variety. So where did the one at Bonavista originate? There are a few possibility - but in all probability it must have come from Scotland - most likely from Stevenson's engineering works in Edinburgh. It obviously requires more research, so any comments would be appreciated.

http://200.bellrock..org.uk/serpents.htm

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CFZ PUBLISHING GROUP