On Coast to Coast Tonight: Monsters in America

Scott Poole is the guest on tonight's Coast to Coast, host was not named:Monsters in America | Our Historical Obsession with the Hideous and the Haunting

New Trickster's Realm column at Binnall of America: "The Absurd Bits"

My new Trickster's Realm column is now available at Tim Binnall's BoA: "Absurd Bits" in Fortean Phenomena.

Reading one of my favorite esoteric Fortean authors Colin Bennett right now: Flying Saucers Over the White House; The Inside Story of Captain Edward J. Ruppelt and His Official U.S. Airforce Investigation of UFOs. I'm only just into it, but, as usual when I read Bennett, there is so much rich, juicy and insightful right on stuff it's exhilarating. It's almost too much, one quick brilliant statement after another. One of the numerous gems is the "psychosocial filter" as Bennett calls it concerning UFO (and, I'll add, paranormal events in general) witness experiences: It is an amusing feature of the Western mind that those people who have had a UFO experience of any kind are judged to be people least worthy of analyzing that experience.[Bennett] The witness is often treated as an afterthought, or even an embarrassment. And all is lost if the witness has things that clogs up that "psychosocial filter": The courts of "proper" debate rule out any odd, highly individualized, comic, or ludicrous or absurd elements. Here we see the most tragic-comic emblem of mankind's philosophy: get rid of the nutcases and there will be revealed the shining truth. [Bennett: 39]

NICK'S FORTEAN PIC(S) OF THE DAY: The Creature of the Caves

A very excellent idea from Nick Redfern, who's started yet another blog: NICK'S FORTEAN PIC(S) OF THE DAY The blog features photos, images, book covers, etc. of Fortean delights. Fun, delightful and a nice contribution to Fortean history. Hail Fort and thanks Nick!

Game of Thrones: Will the Beasts Rescue the Good?

I'm hooked on the HBO series Game of Thrones. Funnily enough, I didn't want to get into watching the series when it was being advertised for two reasons: one, I feel I watch too much television as it is (though probably don't) and didn't want to get into another series, and two, the genre didn't really grab me. My husband really wanted to see it though so I gave it a try. I was hooked from the first few moments.

For those watching the TV series, you know that last Sunday's episode was one hell of a shocker! I don't think there have been more than half a dozen television series with such outright, in your face shockers. And for those who've read the book series by George R. R. Martin, you'll know what follows, but for myself, I haven't read the books (not yet, now I plan to) so I can only speculate on future episodes.

Things look bad for just about everyone; war has already started in battles here and there and it looks like one end all war is coming. Not to mention the low humming sub-theme of "Winter is Coming..." which can only be bad. Evil spirits, assumed to be long extinct if not outright non-existent to begin with, have been waking up. Yes, things are grim indeed. Very grim.

Within the mix of imps (who is one of the sexist characters on television, okay, that might be weird, but  many women agree with me), kings, queens, heroes, villains, intrigue, betrayal, sex (good old fashioned lust filled something for everyone sex), there are the creatures. The beasts. The animals.

There are the Dire Wolves, beautiful and magical animals, one in particular. The Dire Wolves are fiercely loyal, warrior-like in the protection of their "masters," bound in an almost spiritual manner to their owners, and possess preternatural abilities, including a psychic connection.Then there are the Dragon eggs; like the Dire Wolves, no longer extant. Thought to be outright fantasy, or at least, no longer existing, three eggs lay in a chest as a novelty. They are beautiful and a curiosity, and yet... there is the hint that they may awaken.

Will it be the beasts in this story that help rescue humans in Game of Thrones? Dragons and Dire Wolves; will we see more of them in future episodes? I hope so, and I think we will.

Related posts:
Game of Thrones Second Episode: Dire Wolves
Game of Thrones: Dragon Eggs

Stan Gordon’s UFO Anomalies Zone (SGUAZ)

Just ordered Stan Gordon's new book: Silent Invasion: The Pennsylvania UFO-Bigfoot Casebook. I'm looking forward to reading this one, as the Bigfoot-UFO phenomena is one of my favorite cryptid/Fortean high strangeness mysteries to explore.


Gordon will be one of the speakers at the annual McMinnville, Oregon UFO Fest this May. I'll be there!

Stan Gordon’s UFO Anomalies Zone (SGUAZ)

Neil Gaiman Quote

Lesley Gunter at The Debris Field posted this quote from Neil Gaiman. I love it; it's  supportive and insightful.

We who make stories know that we tell lies for a living.  But they're good lies that say true things, and we owe it to our readers to build them as best we can.  Because somewhere out there is someone who needs that story.  Someone who will grow up with a different landscape, who without that story will be a different person.  And who with that story may have hope, or wisdom, or kindness, or comfort. ~ Neil Gaiman