This is a super cool coffee table book for people who love cryptids and weird creatures. I thought the illustrations were so delightful and interesting! I will say - this is probably best as a physical book, which highlights the best of this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Wellfleet Press for the advance reader copy of this book!

I thought this was a very well done manual on cryptids and monsters from around the world. I loved the illustrations for each one and learning about what each culture/continent around the world finds scary. I’d definitely purchase a copy of this for myself or loved one who’s into folklore and cryptids.

Thanks to the author and publisher for the e-arc I received via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

As someone who is obsessed with cryptids, creepy folklore and all things of that nature, this was the perfect read for me. This book features truly terrifying tales of some well-known creatures and some whom I've never heard of from each continent.
Each cryptid comes with a brief history, a spooky tale and my favorite part, an illustration of the otherworldly being. The book is well written, descriptive even without the illustrations and very easy to follow and read. I had a good time with this one.

Thank you to netgalley, publishers and the author for the opportunity to read and review this title.
Pub date July 16th, 2024.

Wonderfully creepy and beautifully illustrated, his is an amazing visual guide through some of the folklore we're familiar with, and also some we aren't.

New scary monsters that will haunt your dreams!

What a fun little read! This book is filled with gorgeous illustrations of our favorite cryptids, and new ones alike! This would be great to bring out on Halloween and give the kids a little scare. The short spooky campfire stories were a good addition too. I’d love to give this to my little brother as a gift!

PS: Mothman is my favorite :)

Thank you to NetGalley and Wellfleet Press for this ARC.

This was a very beautifully illustrated book with lots of fantastic information about many different beasts, I loved it.

This was such a fun book.

Folklore and mythology are some of my loves, and I think this was really well done with the illustrations, fun facts and brief stories about each monster.

This would be perfect for children wanting to learn more about the creepy creatures around the world and the myths that have given them life.

I know I would have loved to have had when I was younger, and probably scared myself silly reading about Wenidgos and La Llorona.

Thank you to NetGalley and Darkness Prevails for the ARC!

Freaky Folklore is an encyclopedia-esque collection of folklore creatures from around the world, like America’s Bigfoot, Europe’s Baba Yaga, and Asia’s Yeti. Included in each entry along with facts are a short fictional story and wonderfully rendered artwork of the creature.

I was pleasantly surprised at the variety this book has. I read a lot of books like this in my cryptozoology-obsessed youth, and they mostly stuck to the Americas and maybe a few from the UK area. This one, however, has more than a handful of entries from Asia, Africa, and even Australia and New Zealand. The lesser-talked-about mythos are the ones that intrigue me most, because I know the least about them.

That being said, I saw some other reviewers bring up points about some entries being possibly culturally insensitive/speaking over marginalized groups. I can’t speak on that front, but I believe it’s best to listen to the groups affected. I looked over the references list (which is always a good thing to include) and most are websites rather than published articles. Those sites could very well be reputable, but just don’t give me a lot of confidence as a reader.

While the little stories were entertaining, I sort of wish each entry was longer in its information rather than every one have a story with it. I agree with one reviewer over on NetGalley that the stories could have been more informative/entertaining if they were of a real-life alleged encounter with the creature.

I haven’t heard of the podcast this is from? Written by? But I would think fans of it would enjoy this book too. It’s a nice introduction to what cryptozoology can offer, and I think it gives a lot of things for anyone interested to do future research on.

While I was aware of most of the stories in here this was still a very fun read and I would highly recommend it for someone that is newer to the folklore that is included in it. The art being awesome also is definitely a pulse here as well.

As a lifelong fan of the folktales, mythology, and straight up ghost stories, I was so excited to dive into Freaky Folklore! Comprised of a collection of stories from around the world - including Latin America's La Llorona, the Strzyga of Poland and Ukraine, the Tokoloshe of South Africa, and the Philippines' Manananggal, to name a few. This book introduces the reader to many well known creatures and cryptids, as well as a few that might not be as familiar.

Entries are paired with a colorful illustration of the monster, as well as a short fictionalized encounter. I appreciated the number of creatures included in this work, but I would have loved to see more background and a longer story for each entry. Perhaps even stories of actual encounters? Though a fun addition, the fictionalized tales were often a bit too short to build up any true terror or horror, and ended up feeling flat.

Freaky Folklore is a broad, though not exhaustive, compilation of monsters and their tales from a variety of different cultures. While an interesting concept for a book, I do wish it had lived up to it's claim of "terrifying tales."

This was truly a fun read!
I love folklore and mythology and this is a perfect guide for some of the creatures you might hear about in different cultures.

The drawings of each creature was very well done, and I thought it was a fun idea to have “fun facts” before getting in on stories about the monsters.

I appreciated that there were folklore from every part of the world, and I was glad to read about folklore I hadn’t heard about.

I’d love to have this book as a kid, to lay in bed under the covers and creep myself out whilst reading about Myling and Bunyip.

A big thanks to NetGalley and Darkness Prevails for the opportunity to read this lovely book about monsters and other creatures!

Folklore is such a fascinating topic, and the second I saw the eerily illustrated cover, I knew Freaky Folklore was a must-read for me!

The format of Freaky Folklore works very well. Each creature gets an introductory section with some fast ‘Freaky Facts.’ They included things like where the creature was first sighted, how the creature is classified (shapeshifter, etc.), and what the creature's personality is said to be. I loved this because it gave me a rapid rundown of what I was about to get into! After that, we’re presented with the legend of the creature itself and then, finally, a fictionalized story featuring the monster. Unfortunately, some of the stories worked better than others. What did work incredibly well were the illustrations! They were equal parts fantastic and horrifying.

I listen to many podcasts that discuss various creatures, cryptids, monsters, etc., so I was familiar with many of the monsters in this book; however, there were also a lot I hadn’t heard of before. This was also an incredibly fast read. I had finished it within just a couple hours of downloading it. If you don’t know much about monster and creature stories worldwide, I think it’s a great introduction to their legends.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read the ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased opinion.

This was a fun read if you're generally interested in this topic. I will say though, other than the interesting illustrations, there isn't much that sets this apart from others that are about the same thing.

It gets one star as I couldn’t give zero

Really hate books that talk about how native tribes had a long history of certain cryptids and beasts but base the first sighting date on when a white invader saw it

Terrible

"Freaky Folklore" does mention different types of folklorish creatures and cryptids, but doesn't go into as much of their histories and backgrounds as much as I would like if I were searching for something for my classroom. It's important to understand the "why?" behind a lot of these entities, and the author, Darkness Prevails does a great job of telling stories on their podcast but less so of giving good explanations in this book. The illustrations however are pretty spooky without being too terrifying, which is a plus. It may be a fun read for a middle-schooler who is developing an interest in this topic, but it's mediocre to have as a non-fiction resource for a classroom. It needs more historical and cultural background to be a good non-fiction book.

I didn't realize that this book was mostly a vehicle for tiny, mediocre horror stories about the cryptids and folklore instead of, you know, information about the folklore. The vignettes are not very good and they outweigh the history and actual folklore. I am rather disappointed.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and author for the copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a perfect addition for cryptid lovers collections! The illustrations are gorgeous!

Thank you netgalley.

Freaky folklore is the perfect book for those who love cryptids. Throughout this book you’ll find a wide array of legends and creatures sure to haunt your nightmares with stunning artwork throughout the book. Which really was the selling point for me. I love cryptids, and seeing how other people depict them.
One thing that took me by surprise was that the artwork was done in full color on a beautiful background reminiscent of old parchment paper, which goes perfectly with the theme.

My favorite section was the one about African cryptids, because I wasn’t familiar with them at all. Which brings me to my next point, this book has a wide variety, and doesn’t only focus on more common legends like Bigfoot and moth man. (Mentioned but not a focus) the book is broken up into regions, and is well organized. Towards the back is an index so you can find and reference each creature quickly if you want a quick refresh.

though this book isn’t without its faults. While it has a wide array from around the world, the compromise is there isn’t much allotted time to give in depth discussions. Each cryptid gets maybe two pages, sometimes three. So it’s more like a dictionary in that’s respect. Which was a personal let down for me when I wasn’t well aquatinted with the subject. That being said, I think it’s great for beginners, or writers who need a quick guide, and overall I think it’s a beautiful book to have on the shelf.

I’ve listened to a few episodes of the podcast, and it is terrifying. While scary, it’s very well written and performed, so I was interested in picking up this book. I thought it was a great compendium of cryptids from around the world. There were so many I had never heard of! I felt like I got a mini history lesson from each cryptid. Even if you aren’t a fan of monsters, this is a great look at cultural lore. Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun, if not terrifying read. The monsters and cryptically were well described, art was gorgeous, and I really enjoyed reading this book!