Lair of the Beasts

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The Creature of the Woods

England's Flying Monster

By Nick Redfern December 06, 2008

Monster! The A-Z of Zoo-Form Phenomena by Neil Arnold
© cfz

Neil Arnold is a full-time writer, researcher, and investigator of mysterious animals, whose book - Monster! The A-Z of Zoo-Form Phenomena - is making big waves.

Published by Britain’s Center for Fortean Zoology the book is an excellent study of a particular aspect of monster-hunting that many researchers prefer to stay away from, as a result of its controversial nature: namely that of the so-called Zoo-form.

The Zoo-forms are those weird beasts that at first glance appear to be flesh-and-blood animals; but that on closer examination seem to be far stranger indeed, and perhaps even of paranormal origins.

And, to his credit, and in the pages of Monster! Neil has chosen to dig deep into the mystery of the Zoo-forms, as he now explains to me.

NR: Neil, tell us about the basic theme of the book.

NA: The book covers forms – not necessarily creatures though – but things like apparitions that seem to take on an animal form, or a semi-animal-form, and that have existed in folklore down the centuries, and all across the world. But, they have never really been categorized in one complete book before; and they don’t fit into cryptozoology as simple, undiscovered creatures either.

NR: What are some of the strangest things you've investigated that you personally believe specifically fall into the Zoo-form category?

NA: Definitely the British Bigfoot reports that I've uncovered: I have ten or eleven amazing reports from here in [the British county of] Kent alone, which I couldn't believe. One was from a woman I used to work with who had seen one in the woods about one hundred yards from my house - which was very, very strange - and the woman hadn't told anybody about it for thirty years.

NA: In these British Bigfoot reports, the witnesses are all seeing things with red, glowing eyes, and these reports are hard to categorize. Although people are seeing big hulking things that are covered in hair, I don’t actually think they are the same things that people are seeing in America; because I personally think that the American Bigfoot is actually flesh-and-blood. But the things in the UK, I don’t think are flesh and blood: these are more like classic Zoo-forms.

NR: How did you get interested in cryptozoology and monster-hunting?

NA: It began when I was eight or nine years old; and for two reasons. My grandfather gave me a book on mysterious monsters at that time – and I have dedicated the book to him – and he and my father would talk about folklore and creepy local stories.

NA: Then I watched the film The Legend of Boggy Creek, which I think a lot of researchers tend to cite as the creepiest experience they had when they were a kid. Then, when I was eleven or twelve, I started hearing local reports of big-cat sightings. I've had a few experiences here of seeing big-cats in Britain myself, as I do spend a lot of time in the field. But I like to keep the zoo-form things separate to the big-cat reports.

NR: What was the defining moment for you that led you to conclude that at least some of these creatures weren't physical, flesh-and-blood animals in the sense that we understand the term, at least?

NA: It was really just the sheer volume of reports where people were reporting things that couldn't be easily categorized; and where a lot of them were ghost-like, even though they looked like animals. So, I felt it was important to catalog this side of cryptozoology for people – even if something had only ever been seen once, so that there would be as much information for the reader as possible. And that’s what I’ve done with the book: written an A-to-Z guide of these strange creatures and apparitions.

NR: And what plans do you have for the future?

NA: I’m working on a book on the mystery animals of the county of Kent, where I live, and which will be published in the near future; and there could be a follow up to Monster! It’s really just a matter of finding the time to do it all.

NR: And what do you hope that the publication of the book will achieve?

NA: I’m hoping it gets a good worldwide reception, as it covers Russia, India, America, England, Puerto Rico; lots of countries. So, I’m hoping people will realize there are things out there that don't seem to fit into conventional cryptozoology, and they’re everywhere.

NR: Thanks, Neil.

Neil Arnold’s book Monster! The A-Z of Zooform Phenomena is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all major book-selling outlets.

Nick Redfern is a full-time monster-hunter and the author of four books on the subject: Three Men Seeking Monsters; Memoirs of a Monster Hunter; Man-Monkey; and his latest book: There’s something in the Woods.