I blame Mulder. Sure, I already knew about Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster through some sort of cultural osmosis but had no overwhelming urge to learn about creatures I hadn’t met before. Thirty years ago, I found out that the truth was out there and, well, my curiosity never went back in its box.

This book is divided into three sections: cryptids, folklore and mythology. The entries in each section are alphabetised and illustrated. I absolutely loved the illustrations!

If you know me at all, you know it’s not possible for me to overdose on fun facts. I may drown you in them but I’ll be good to keep going. It was so hard to decide which were my favourites. I’ve managed to narrow it down to three from each section.

Cryptids

The hoop snake bites its tail to form a hoop. It gets to its victims by rolling towards them, “reaching speeds of up to 60 mph (97 kmph).” It stabs its victims with sharp prongs at the end of its tail.

The tizzie-whizie loves ginger biscuits and warm milk.

One of the descriptions of the Lusca, a Bahamian cryptid, is half shark and half octopus, which naturally made me think of one of the many Eric Roberts movies I’ve seen too many times, Sharktopus. Come to think of it, I met a lot of these creatures in B grade movies.

Folklore

“Cat sídhes have an interesting collection of stories behind them. Many believe them to be witches who have transformed into cats. Limited to transforming only eight times between human and cat, on the ninth transformation, the witch would be unable to return to their human form and would be thus trapped as a cat. Some believe this to be the origin of the tale that cats have nine lives.”

With its name translating to “the roaring animal” or “the fetid beast”, the mapinguari isn’t a creature you want to come across. Some descriptions include a “large mouth across its stomach to devour humans who are too slow to escape.”

“According to Romani and Slavic folk legends, pumpkins and watermelons are the only two types of vegetation that may become vampiric in nature. If a pumpkin or watermelon is left out under a full moon or kept for ten days after Christmas, it will turn into a vampire. Once transformed, the pumpkin or watermelon will roll around and pester the living with snarls or by knocking into furniture.”

You know I’m going to try this one!

Mythology

“There is a popular legend of the sazae-oni: A group of wealthy pirates rescue a young maiden, the crew have sex with her (versions vary on whether it was consensual or not), and she cuts or bites off the testicles of every man before returning to the ocean. From the ocean, she taunts the men and demands that they buy back their testicles from her. The pirates trade away all their gold in order to get their testicles. In Japan, testicles are sometimes called "golden balls,” creating the punchline that they paid for gold with gold.”

Qilin are said to be so gentle that they walk on clouds because they don’t want to damage a blade of grass. However, they also “protect innocent people by incinerating those who seek to harm them with their fiery breath.” That’s the kind of cognitive dissonance I can get behind.

Rompo sing to themselves as they consume human flesh. If a mythological creature is going to eat my corpse, at least I can be content knowing they enjoyed doing so.

This is one of the most fun introductions to all things monstrous and maybe mythological that I’ve ever come across. I found out new fun facts about some of my favourites, learned of the existence of myths I’ve never encountered before and have an entire list of cute, creepy and downright diabolical creatures that I need to know more about.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

For each cryptid, creature or critter you will find an origin country, its classification type and a snapshot bio. The book is sectioned off into Cryptids, Folklore and Mythology for easy reading and enjoyment.

Let’s talk about the fantastic art. Half the fun is reading and the other is admiring the variety of talent from the artists. This was an incredibly fun and interesting book. The effort for the research into each section is apparent and even more amazing was the note to take everything with a grain of salt and to do your own research! You don’t have to believe (Bigfoot, I know you’re out there!) but I do and I love everything that was put into the book!

Thank you to the author, Rachel Quinney, NetGalley and the publisher, Andrews McMeel Publishing, for the opportunity to listen to this book. I received this advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

#CryptidsCreaturesCritters #RachelQuinney #NetGalley

Cryptids, Creatures & Critters: A Manual of Monsters & Mythos from Around the World by Rachel Quinney is currently scheduled for release on June 18 2024. While written by Rachel Quinney and mainly illustrated by her, there are twelve guest artists featured within the book, too.

Cryptids, Creatures & Critters features 90 different creatures from around the world, each with their own researched description and full-color illustrations. The book is divided into three sections: cryptids, folklore, and mythology. It features popular cryptid favorites, such as Mothman and the Flatwoods Monster, and some lesser-known cryptids, such as the Enfield Horror and the Montauk Monster. For folklore, there are kelpies, selkies, cat sidhes, and grimalkins, along with the dobarchu and the vampiric pumpkin! In mythology, you'll find Medusa, sphinx, Pegasus, and the bukavac!

Cryptids, Creatures & Critters is a book that offers readers snapshots of different creatures from a variety of origins and cultures. I thought the organization of the book was well done- and I appreciated the authors attempt to root out, and call out, the ways things like racism, colonialism, and imperialism might have changed the perceptions of the featured creatures. I also liked the efforts to cross reference the entries that heavily relate to other entries and also giving readers a warning when an entry might hold content that might be disturbing or triggering. I appreciated the awareness. Best of all, even with all of this, there is a sense of humor and fun throughout the book as well.
I found both the text and illustrations to be charming. Most of the information on the creature I knew about matched up with what I already knew, with some additional background on the legends that I never knew before. I also liked seeing some creatures covered (like the cactus cat) that I had never heard of. I thought the book was thoroughly, and conscientiously researched. It is written with respect and humor and I think a wide range of readers will enjoy it.

This was an excellent little reference guide for cryptids and creatures from around the world. The sections for this book are broken up into Cryptids, Folklore, and Mythology. I really appreciated how Rachel Quinney highlights the important cultural distinctions between each category and acknowledges the way western viewpoints have impacted the narrative of these legends in the introduction. Helpful context is provided at the start of each individual creature’s page through the location of its origin, classification category, and content warnings so readers know what to expect. The artwork by Rachel Quinney is delightful and the guest artists provide some incredible pieces to give the book variety with their unique takes on the beings featured in the pages. While much of the artwork here is very cute, the text does not shy away from some of the more unsavory aspects in the mythology of the subjects. These descriptions provide a great foundational knowledge of what makes each cryptid unique and the reference pages at the end contribute a wealth of information for those that are excited to take their exploration further. I’m so glad I picked up this book and I’m excited to check out more of Rachel’s amazing cryptid art!

Thank you Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

What a cute and gorgeous book! The information was well-researched and well-presented, starting with the way the beings were presented in separate categories (cryptids, folklore, and mythology). The illustrations were colorful, fun, adorable, and spooky (when relevant). I learned a few new things, giggled more than once, and generally just had a lovely time reading through this book!

4.25/5

This was super cute! Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for an early look at this one. I love that a group of illustrations took this book on so there isn't just one style of art, but multiple points of view, but all the art itself is fun and full of whimsy. This book from start to finish is just a lot of fun, and you can tell a lot of time and research went into each passion and each piece of art. A lot of fun and perfect for readers who are into cryptids and creatures of folklore and mythology. It's a fun way to learn something new! I enjoyed it!

I loved, loved, loved this book

I really loved how at the start they described the different meanings and explained parts of the book to make it easier to understand, they also broke down the different meanings they were using, I also liked how they mentioned how stories can change over time and some reasons for it, and how they tried to be as truthful as possible.

I also loved how they displayed each entry with the name of the creature, location and category and sometimes content warning which I find amazing, they also had an illustration of the creature at front and centre on the first page most of the time and even had different takes of the creature by different artist, which personally I had never come across before, but it was a massive win, following this the book had a description and details of the creature in question, which I believe went into perfect detail.

The different artwork within the book was a massive sell, it was captivating and intriguing, personally if the rest of the book wasn’t my thing I would have bought it just for the art.

I absolutely recommend this book if you like creatures, wanna learn more or even as a reference guide, I know I will be buying this ASAP.

I loved this so much, learning about cryptic and mythical creatures has always been one of my favorite things so getting to be able to read about them all bound into one book with the cutest illustrations was just impeccable. I highly recommend getting this, even as an interesting coffee table book you wont be disappointed.

As someone who loves cryptids and finds the lore behind them fascinating, I was so happy when I got a copy of this ebook.

This was such a fun read! The book is broken up into three sections (cryptids, folklore, and mythology) which makes navigating the book really easy. Each creature has its own entry which consists of its location, category (monster, spirit, humanoids, shapeshifters, and aliens), lore, and amazing artwork.

Would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in cryptids or creatures from folklore and mythology.

I will definitely be buying a physical copy of this book for my collection!

Thank you so much NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. This was a fun read learning about the various mythical creatures and folktales across the world. I like each creature had a drawing to accompany the account.

**I was provided an electronic ARC through NetGalley.**

Rachel Quinney presents Cryptids, Creatures & Critters, an encyclopedic collection of the aforementioned accompanied by associated illustrations. Known as EldritchRach on social media/Etsy, Quinney had a successful Kickstarter campaign for the production of this book which features their own illustrations in addition to several guest artists.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have been a fan of EldritchRach for years and have made purchases through their Etsy. There was no potential for this book to not be a hit for me.

Quinney acknowledges the impacts of imperialism/colonialism on the shifting descriptions of creatures throughout folklore, mythology, and legend. The content of the book is split into creatures best described as Cryptids and those designated as Folklore creatures or Mythology creatures. The included creatures do tend toward Western origins, but Quinney did make deliberate effort to include content from diverse backgrounds. The content included is well researched and the art is beautiful, full-color, and of various artistic styles depending on which of the included artists did the illustration. In addition, the layout of the book is visually neat and appealing not just as an encyclopedic collection of creatures, but could easily function as a coffee table book.

Overall, I was glad to be able to read this book early and would absolutely recommend this to anyone interested in the subject matter. Quinney understood the assignment with this book and fulfilled it beautifully with their signature style.

Cryptids, Creatures & Critters features 90 different creatures from all around the world. Each creature’s page includes the sighting location, cute artwork of the creature, 1-2 pages of the lore behind the creature, and for some, content warnings. This book contains cryptids, and creatures from folklore and mythology.

This was an easy to read creature book with cute artwork and a brief description of the creature. After reading J. W. Ocker’s book, The United States of Cryptids, I was eager to see what this book would include, considering it features creatures from all over the world, and is not limited to cryptids. Each entry was easy to read and provided a basic description (usually 1-2 pages) of what that creature was and how it came about. This was great for someone just wanting to get a brief overview of what the creature is and made the book go by very quickly. If you are looking for more details around sightings and lore behind cryptids, I do recommend Ocker’s book.

I only have two real complaints about this book. First, a pronunciation guide for some of the names of these creatures would have been great, especially in the folklore section. Second, in the cryptid section I question why a creature named Globster is included because it’s not a creature at all, but a decaying ocean animal that has washed ashore.

Overall, if you are interested in cryptids and creatures of folklore and mythology, I highly recommend this book. It features great artwork and is easy to read so it's great for beginner creature researchers or as a great reference book.

I’ve always loved learning about creatures and myths from different cultures and this was a very fun and informative way to learn about a lot of cryptids I had never heard about.
The drawings were very cute and I especially appreciated that the author explained their methodology in the introduction. The sectioning means that it’s easy to read a few pages at a time or look or a specific creature.

A beautifully illustrated and detailed guide to cryptozoology.
The layout was easy to read with sections for definitions, interesting facts, history, and more.
A great book for the beginner and a beautiful gift for the expert.

My only complaint is I felt like the book covered too wide of an area. It would have been better as three books - one on cryptids, one on folklore, and one on mythology. This would have allowed for more details on each creature and pinpointed the audiences better as well.

An amazing book from such a diverse team of creatives who have a genuine passion for cryptids, mythology and other creatures, I really appreciate the content warnings and the provision of important context when discussing the origin of these creatures. You can really feel the passion and respect the team has for this. My only note is I wish the notes were presented as footnotes for an easier reading experience, as opposed to being in separate pages at the end in the appendix section.

Free eARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher for reviewing purposes!

This is a cute little reference book of cryptids/mythological and folklore-based creatures. There are super cute illustrations and the blurbs about each monster are interesting, often including the origin or first sighting of the creature along with physical traits and behaviors.
This book was fun!

I teach mythology and folklore to middle school and high school students in a homeschool co-op. I love looking for new reference materials. Some of the cryptids in this collection were ones that I was familiar with, but many were not. I like the information presented with each one, including where they are from. I also liked the illustrations that are included.

I am confused about the intended audience of this book. At first, I thought it was aimed at children. It makes sense. Cute drawing, content warnings under the labels mentioning innocent things like "alcohol" and less innocent such as "Animal Death" which gave me the initial impression of an parent reading to an child and deciding to skip the entry with the Chupacabre because it was said it caused multiple pet deaths.
But then the Goatman entry arrived with the "bestiality" tag and that gave me whiplash. I can just imagine a child looking at their parent and going "what is bestiality?". Which, maybe I'm clutching my pearls here but that isn't something I want coming out of anyones mouth. The actual entry was rather innocent saying that some tales said the goatman was "the offspring of a farmer and a goat" which.. is a lot more acceptable than seeing the word bestiality somehow.
(Other content warnings I wouldn't want a child to see include Sexual Assault and Genital Mutilation)

The cover also goes under this. It is like a book made by two people and both thinking they're making the book for different audiences. The actual text in the book feels like it is written like non-fiction, it features reported sightings, even going as far as naming people who has stated they've seen the creature. There is even some entries (like the Chupacabre) where the author points out arguments over what the creature might actually be (A dog with mange). However, the cover doesn't say "here is a nonfiction book about creatures we might be sharing the earth with", it says "here is a cute little book about imaginary beings". Even ignoring the art style (which I personally love), it features a creature that isn't very well known and is on the more whimsical side. (Why the artist decided to draw it like an alien thumbelina when the reports mention a creature several meters tall I don't understand either)

The content warning wasn't always consistent either, the Jersey Devil didn't have any but mentioned multiple sheep killing. (So should have had the Animal Death warning like the Chupacabre did, but it seems the Chupacabre got that because it mentioned sheep, farm animals and pets. Seeming to value the pet part a lot more than the being accurate part).

Featuring around a 100 different creatures, it's obviously an selective bunch. Most of these types of monster manuals are. I was pleasantly surprised to see several I wasn't aware of (which is saying a lot considering how big of a fantasy fan I am). But, if the intended audience is younger, why include the two bestiality entries? If it's aimed at an adult audience, why not choose a more serious cover?

Personally, I love cute things. So I enjoyed this book. I'd personally rate it at an 3.5

A cute look at cryptids, folklore creatures, and mythological creatures around the world! I liked how this one was organized into the very clear categories, plus there are such great illustrations. This is a fun pick and read a creature or two book to have.

As a big fan of mythological creatures I was intrigued by the premise of the book, but unfortunately it's more of an amateur project than a fully fleshed out compendium.
I guess it's okay enough as a basic introduction for people, who don't know much about the topic. It's quite the random assortment of creatures and the structure of the book itself is rather weird. I'm not sure who the intended audience is supposed to be, as it's written too dry and unappealing for younger readers, while the artwork is more on the immature side.
Generally I find the quality of most of the various art styles, as well as the information, to each creature quite inconsistent and unrefined. The information just seems pretty dumped and presented as dry blocky text, lacking appeal visually and contentwise. It's partially not well researched with rather mismatching artwork and a complete lack of graphic design elements, aside from the full page artworks of varying quality. Even Wikipedia texts are oftentimes written more engaging and better structured.