Book Review: Black Eyed Children and Strange Intruders by David Weatherly

David Weatherly is one of the biggest names in the paranormal field. He is especially known for his research into very mysterious and terrifying paranormal phenomena such as tulpas, skinwalkers, and the black eyed children.
I was fortunate enough to meet Mr. Weatherly at the recent Dogman Symposium. He gave an excellent talk on skinwalker lore and encounters. While at the the symposium, I got to briefly chat with Mr. Weatherly and purchased two of his books; Black Eyed Children and Strange Intruders. 

The Black Eyed Children book is an excellent examination of one of the most unusual and horrifying recent paranormal occurrences. You can read my brief explanation of the Black Eyed Children here.
Weatherly examines ever possible aspect of the children in the book. From djinn to fallen angels, teen pranksters to curses, demonic presences to the Evil Eye; he looks at it all.
Black Eyed Children is an excellent, groundbreaking book and should be on the shelf of anyone interested in the dark side of the paranormal.

Strange Intruders is a culmination of Weatherly's research on entities known as "Ultraterrestrials". The book examines shadow people, black eyed children, djinn, monkey-men, reptilians, and more. It is a perfect companion to his Black Eyed Children book and any of John Keel's work.

You can find David Weatherly at this link.

You can buy his books at this link.

Lists

As some of you may know, I love lists, charts, graphs and maps. I like the organization and flow of information. If you have ever been to a conference that I was also at, you may have noticed that I a frequently handing out packets of paper to friends and fellow researchers. These are lists I have created, among other things. As of right now, I have compiled two different lists, one about Ape-men and another about diminutive humanoids. They are essentially descriptions of regional creatures with a brief examination. I think they are incredibly handy for research so I have decided to make my lists public. I have links to each of the lists on my sidebar and you can also find them by clicking the links below:

A Directory of Dwarves

An Assembly of Ape-Men

If you read over them, use them in research, or find them useful in any way, please let me know, I would love to hear about how I have helped anyone's research. Also, please credit me if you use my information for research or a publication. 

If you have any suggestions for additions to the list, please let me know as well. I am constantly trying to expand the lists and make the most definitive collection I can. 

Books, UFOs, Werewolves, and Ghosts (What I've Been Up to Lately)

I know posts have been few and far between, unfortunately that will have to continue for another week or so. I have been incredibly busy with working on my book and some personal stuff that suddenly came up.

Regarding my book, I have about three chapters drafted so far and I plan to have another six drafted by the end of next week. I might post a brief preview of one of the chapters sometime in the future.

So what have I been doing other than writing my book?

I went to the Kecksburg Festival last week. It was a blast. I spent the entire time hanging out with my good friends Ron Murphy and Dr. Brian Parsons. I purchased Parsons' excellent E4 Method book which I would recommend to anyone who wants to learn proper interviewing and investigative methods for witnesses.

I also went to the phenomenal Dogman Symposium which was put on by my friend Ken Gerhard. It was honestly one of the best cryptid events I have been to. All of the talks were engaging and fascinating (which is rare for conferences, there is normally one or two talks that were duds). I got to meet a could legends in the field like David Weatherly, John Tenney, and the awesome Linda Godfrey! The talks were as follows:

• John Tenney: Michigan Dogman (but he also talked about elves and zombies)
• David Weatherly: Native American Skinwalkers
• Linda Godfrey: Beast of Bray Road and other Dogmen
• Ken Gerhard: Beast of Gevaudan
• Nick Redfern: Werewolves and Hellhounds of the UK
• Stan Gordon: Cryptids and UFOs of Pennsylvania

If you missed the Symposium, you missed out on one of the best cryptid events in the area! I can't wait until next year! I got a bunch of books at the event: I won a copy of the excellent In the Domain of the Lake Monsters by John Kirk, I also got Beast of Bray Road and Michigan Dogman by Linda Godfrey, Black Eyed Children and Strange Intruders by David Weatherly and an advance copy of Nick Redfern's The Monster Book. Needless to say, I have a lot of reading ahead! I will be writing reviews for each of the books as I complete them. 

I am also preparing to speak at the Blairsville Paranormal conference which is being run by Ron Murphy. Also, I'm writing the forward for Ron's upcoming book On Ghosts. 

Needless to say, I will be extremely busy. The next event I will be at is the Mothman Fest in September and the Minerva Monster Fest the week after. 

I have a lot of work to do, I better get back to it! Until next time, stay weird. 

Texas Blue Dogs from 1925

The Texas Blue Dogs are truly a cryptozoological mystery for the ages. They are described as hairless canines with large, protruding teeth, a bluish grey colored skin, and sometimes a backwards facing pouch on their stomachs. They supposedly move in a strange hopping/walking motion in many cases. For the majority of researchers, the mystery of the Blue Dogs began in the mid to late 1990s, but there is a case which could change that... from 1925.

On a farm near Greenwich, New Jersey, a strange creature was shot as it attacked the farmer's chickens. The creature was described as a dark colored canine. Here is the farmer's description, 

"It... hopped [in a] kangaroo fashion. Its fore-quarters were higher than its rear and the latter were always in a crouched attitudeIts hind feet had four webbed toes. its eyes were still open and very yellow and its jaw is neither dog, wolf, nor coyote. Its teeth are most curious, as the crushers in the lower jaw each have four prongs into which the upper teeth fit perfectly."

The story is very interesting and could show that the Blue Dogs are older than previously thought. I could find no mention of hair, but other than that, the description fits quite well.

Has the Beast of Bodmin Moor and Exmoor Mystery Been Solved?

A new article has popped up suggesting that the infamous anomalous big cats (ABCs) of Exmoor and Bodmin Moor are pumas that were released in 1978. Here is the beginning of the article:

For years, the rumours of big cats roaming Dartmoor and savaging livestock have been dismissed as sheer fantasy, no more credible than claims of the existence of the Loch Ness monster.

But the doubters may have - dare one say it - paws for thought. 

For the claims that Big Cats are roaming free may actually be true while the mystery of how they got to Dartmoor and nearby Exmoor and Bodmin Moor solved at last.

It is now claimed that three pumas were released onto the wilds of Dartmoor by Mary Chipperfield, the famous circus owner, after her zoo in Plymouth was forced to shut down in 1978.

You can find out more information here.

I personally think it is a possible explanation for some but not all cases of ABCs in the area. If the cats were released in 1978, it doesn't explain the numerous sightings prior to that date. It is an interesting fact to keep in mind, but not the absolute answer.

Vampiric Cryptids

In 1995 the world was shocked by startling news released out of Puerto Rico... livestock was being slaughtered frequently throughout the island, and all the deaths had one thing in common: the corpses were completely drained of blood. Thus the legendary Chupacabra was born and the grotesque sucker of goats has quickly clawed its way into being a staple of cryptozoology. Stories of livestock drained of blood, supposedly by some sort of creature have spread across the globe and are frequently making the news.

Unfortunately, tracking down specifically what the term 'Chupacabra' refers to is difficult. The translation means "goat sucker" but the term has been used loosely for any strange looking animal. The media frequently uses the term as a catchall for any normal animal with mange and has been captured and researchers like to use it for any creature that appears dog-like or gargoyle-like but is extremely unusual for any other classification. For that reason, I generally prefer to avoid the use of the term.

Another problem with the Chupacabra is that many people assume that since the term and media attention came along in 1995, the phenomenon started around that time. That isn't true. Vampiric livestock attacks have a very long history in cryptozoology. The focus of this post is to share a few examples prior to 1995.

• In the months of November and December, 1905, sheep were being massacred on farms around the area of Badminton, England. The police suggested it was an escaped jackal but no such jackals were reported at the time. Huge, black dogs were also seen around the area, some on the same day as attacks.
• Bladenboro, North Carolina had a rash of dog mutilations in 1954. Dogs were frequently found ripped to shreds or cut open with their blood drained. At the same time, shrieks and strange shadowy creatures were seen in the surrounding forests. The media quickly blamed a lynx that was killed as the attacks ceased but law enforcement accused feral dogs.
• The story of the 1970-1971 Chicken Man attacks is a personal favorite of mine. In El Reno, Oklahoma, farmers began to find their chicken coops raided and their birds either missing or ripped open and drained of blood. No culprit was ever seen but huge, ape-like tracks were found at multiple scenes. 
• During the 1972 Bigfoot wave in Roachdale, Indiana, a farmer and his family found over 100 of their chickens ripped open and drained of blood. The grisly scene was discovered after they went to investigate a strange sound coming from the coop. As the farmer got closer to the coop, he saw a giant, manlike creature in the doorway and as it walked away, the farmer fired upon the strange intruder. 
• Our last case is probably the most famous of this list, but is still stuck in obscurity. An enormous farm known as Bodalog, situated in mid-Wales, was plagued with a supposed vampiric beast from the depths of a nearby river. In 1988 the unseen creature murdered at least 35 sheep with only a small incision-like bite to the sternum. Many have suggested that the creature might have been some unknown species of snake, but since the creature was never seen, the mystery to its origins will remain unsolved.

There is an abundance of cases where livestock, poultry, or pets are killed, mutilated, and sometimes drained of their blood by supposed unknown animals. I have logged close to 150 individual cases simply by looking through the books I own. Unfortunately the subject have been largely ignored or, due to its popularity, the cases have been tainted by the Chupacabra. 

Because of this, I have decided to put my previous idea for a book aside for the moment a focus on my research on this diverse subject. I have begun writing a rough draft for a book focusing on these cases and discussing various explanations as to why these things happen. 

I am now a Published Author!!

I recently wrote an article about dogmen and werewolves in Ohio and had it published in the official journal of the Centre for Fortean Zoology. I am extremely excited about being a published author.

You can find my article here. The article is titled "Ohio Dogman"

Please comment and let me know what you think.