OMNIA EXEUNT IN MYSTERIUM
Dr Justin Mullis drops into the Explorers Club to discuss the 2017 film Kong: Skull Island. Topics include:
-Japanese cryptozoology
-The depiction of apes in popular culture
-Kong as a colonial Lost World story?
-the ecology of Skull Island
-The significance of the 70s Vietnam setting
-John Goodman and the Monarch organisation
-Kong’s reinvention as a Kaiju
-Some of the best CGI in a recent creature film?
-The Skullcrawlers’ link to the original 1933 King Kong
-Cryptozoology in the Monsterverse
-The mystical gateway that often guards the Lost Worlds
Links:
-Justin's Notes for the episode (availability pending)
-Justin at Adventures In Poor Taste
-Colonialism and the Emergence of Science Fiction, John Rieder
-King Kong Cometh, Paul A. Woods
Return to Skull Island back in 1933 with Eddie Guimont to see whether there's more to the overlooked SON OF KONG than you've heard. Topics include:
-UPDATE ON PERCY FAWCETT’s LOST CITY!
-Occult beliefs in Bolsonaro’s government
-Was Kong intended to be sympathetic?
-The origins & making of Son of Kong
-The real-life colonial adventures of Kong’s creators
-The social and economic world of Kong’s 1933
-The trope of the ancient lost monument-builders
-The ethnicity of the Skull Islanders
-Willis O’Brien’s special effects
-Lovecraft and Mysterious Islands
Links:
Jason Colavito on Percy Fawcett
https://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/a-plausible-explanation-for-the-lost-city-of-manuscript-512
Kong: The History Of A Movie Icon, Ray Morton, 2005
When The Stars Are Right, Edward Guimont and Horace A Smith
From Crypto's to Kaiju, Justin Mullen (currently restricted access)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/03080188241234141
Cian chats with Michael Robinson, author of The Lost White Tribe. Topics include:
-the story of Henry Morton Stanley and his 'white' Ruwenzori tribe, a story that was famous at the time but is almost never mentioned today even in biographies of Stanley
-the birth of adventure fiction, the obsession with plots about lost cities and lost races
-connections to the life and work of HR Haggard, his place as a founder of lost world literature, his fictional lost white tribes in King Solomons Mines and She
-Richard Ogelsby Marsh's white tribe in Panama
-Ernst Schafer and the 1938 Nazi Tibet expedition
LINKS:
The Lost White Tribe book
Time To Eat The Dogs podcast
A lost race in Panama and some man-eating trees show up in this Amazing Stories tale from 1926, written by traveller and finder of Lost Worlds in fact and fiction, A. Hyatt Verrill!
A lost world comic book from the 50s drawn by the great Frank Frazetta!
Cian explains changes coming, a new show, a slight change of theme, and some behind-the-scenes info!
Cameron McCormick returns to discuss cryptozoological bestiaries that stretch the boundaries of belief with huge numbers of undiscovered critters running around.
*NOTE: I made an error in referring to The Bigfoot Filmography. The book I actually had in mind was Cryptid Cinema by Stephen Bisette. I’m away from home for a few days but I’ll fix that when I’m back!
LINKS:
WoW on BuyMeACoffee:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wideatlantic
Cameron on Mastadon:
https://mastodon.social/@LordGeekington@sauropods.win
Cameron’s blog:
https://thelordgeekington.wordpress.com/
Trey The Explainer: The Native Bigfoot:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zJhJsdoTYQ
The Screaming Skulls by Elliot O’Donnell:
https://archive.org/stream/CreepyStories/OdonnellTheScreamingSkullsAndOtherGhosts_djvu.txt
‘True Giant’ source article, the Straits Times, 196:
https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19610212-1.2.77
Commendable Commotion Podcast
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/matthew-tannam-elgie
Blake Smith’s article on the Kentucky Goblins:
In celebration of the book 'When The Stars Are Right, HP Lovecraft and Astronomy' by Edward Guimont and Horace A. Smith, Eddie returns to the cabin. We tackle the Old Gent Of Providence and his fascination with turn-of-the-century astronomy, as well as his various connections to the great and good of early planetary science fiction! Including, but not limited to:
-Teenage Lovecraft meets Percival Lowell, and worries he's been too harsh on the latter's Martian canal theories
-Lovecraft plays a skeptical Scully when the good people of Providence think they've seen a Christmas mystery airship!
-Lovecraft writes amateur astronomical columns for various newspapers
-Lovecraft writes a (rather fantastic) short story set on what we'd now call a charmingly old-fashioned Venus
-How Lovecraft used elements of old Mars literature to plot At The Mountains Of Madness
-And HPL's thoughts on Jules Verne, the War of the Worlds, Edison's Conquest Of Mars, and LOADS MORE.
LINKS
When The Stars Are Right by Edward Guimont and Horace A Smith
We chat with Dr Francis Young about that favourite WAW topic, the theory of 'Pagan survivals!' Subtopics include:
-what we do know about pre-Christian European socities
-how did the Pagan survival theory come about in Victorian times
-the significance of yew trees
-the Green Man
-connections to alien greys
LINKS
Francis Young Twitter (that’s what I’m calling it)
https://twitter.com/DrFrancisYoung?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author
Twilight Of the Godlings (and other books by Francis Young)
https://drfrancisyoung.com/publications/
Buy Me A Coffee
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wideatlantic
Hit the road with WAW on tour through the highlands of Scotland! We visit the home of Nessie, meet Felicity the Inverness Mystery Big Cat, hear what Lovecraft had to say about the monster of the Loch, go ghost-hunting at Glamis Castle, and have a close call with the Great Grey man of Ben McDhui in a most unexpected location!
From the gilllman of Robert W Chambers' 'The Harbour Master' to the monstrous apes and aquatic dinosaurs of 'King Kong,' fiction has informed the cryptozoologists who went out into the dark corners of the earth seeking 'real' mystery creatures. Justin Mullis returns to talk us through his article 'Cryptofiction.' Get ready for a monster-load of influential stories from writers both familiar and obscure. Talk includes:
-Famous cryptozoologists who were influenced by monster fiction
-The influence of ‘The Lost World’ (of course!)
-Victorians, dinosaurs and ‘real’ dragons
-Victorian stories of surviving dinosaurs and the origin of Mokele-Mbembe
-Arthur Conan Doyle’s non-‘Lost World’ cryptids
-The 1925 Lost World film, King Kong, and novelisations of Kong (with extra dinosaurs!) and connections to Atlantis
-‘The Monster of Partridge Creek’ a fictitious monster that turned up as a ‘true’ story
-Lord Dunsany, the ‘Club Story’ and cryptozoology
-Early fiction featuring Bigfoot-like creatures, including ‘The Cairn’ by HR Wakefield and ‘Rogues In The House’ by Robert E Howard
-Robert W Chambers and ‘In Search Of The Unknown’ - a template for cryptozoology from 1904?
References:
-Cryptofiction, Justin Mullis, 2019
-Justin’s talk on Robert W Chambers for The Last Tuesday Society
-Justin’s writing at Adventures In Poor Taste:
https://aiptcomics.com/author/justinmullis/
-Justin’s academia.edu with links to his writing
https://bgsu.academia.edu/JustinMullis/CurriculumVitae
-Wide Atlantic Weird: Fairy Euhemerism with Justin Mullis
-Lake Monster Traditions, Michel Meurger, 1988
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lake-Monster-Traditions-Cross-cultural-Analysis/dp/1870021002
-Jacques Collin de Plancy, who wrote ‘Voyage To The Centre Of The Earth’
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Collin_de_Plancy
Brontosaurus, A Faded Star Rises Again, Prehisoric Pulp
https://prehistoricpulp.com/2017/08/05/brontosaurus-a-faded-star-rises-again/
Dinomania, Ulrich Merkl
-‘Creatures of Another Age’ edited by Richard Fallon (review by Justin Mullis in AIPT) which features ‘The Dragon of St Paul’s’ which prefigures the climax to The Lost World
https://aiptcomics.com/2022/06/30/creatures-of-another-age-dinosaurs-scifi/
Kong Unmade by John Lemay and others
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kong-Unmade-Films-Skull-Island/dp/179807799X
Kong: An Original Screenplay, Edgar Wallace
https://www.pspublishing.co.uk/kong-an-original-screenplay-hardcover-by-edgar-wallace-5969-p.asp
The Monster of Partridge Creek, Georges Dupoy, 1908.
https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Partridge_Creek_Monster
‘In Search Of The Unknown,’ Robert W Chambers, 1904
We're chuffed to welcome the esteemed hosts of MONSTER TALK, Dr Karen Stollznow and Blake Smith, to the cabin to talk about the 1957 movie THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN. Written by the tremendous, influential British writer Nigel Kneale, this has got to be one of the best, and most interesting, cryptic films ever made. The fact that it hails from the days of 1950s yeti-mania makes it an important marker of a cultural cryptozoological moment - but even so, Kneale finds ways to put his own stamp on the monster. Our conversation includes:
-The work of Nigel Kneale
-Orientalism in the film
-the trope of psychic relict hominoids
-pelts & paws cryptozoology vs mystical interpretation
-the character ‘Tom Friend’ representing the real-life monster hunter Tom Slick
-real-life expeditions that inspired the movie
-Yetis as understood in their own countries
-Cryptozoology and colonialism (again!)
-when to show the monster?
-Cryptid movie recommendations
LINKS
Monster Talk: Yeti Stories You've Never Heard Before (a listening must!)
Bigfoot: Life and Times of a Legend, Joshua Blu Buhs, 2009
Howard Bury’s Footprints: a WAW episode about the origins of the term Abominable Snowman
Lauren the Gothic Bookworm opens the tomb of maybe-classic The Mummy from 1999 as we discuss action movie tropes, Orientalism in Hollywood, the golden age of Egyptology in the popular imagination, and Arnold Vosloo. Digressions include:
-The horror-centric directions the film almost went in
-The lure of the ‘golden age of Egyptology’ in Western storytelling
-Creative use of dodgy CGI
-The mummy as an Indiana Jones clone, and Orientalism in lost race fiction
-Inconsistent geography in the movie
LINKS
-the gothic bookworm on Twitter
Professor Christine Ferguson visits the cabin to discuss the later adventures of Professor Challenger! In 1925, Arthur Conan Doyle's serialisation of 'The Land Of Mist' began in the Strand magazine. This novel was the author's great attempt to make his decades-long interest in spiritualism palatable to the widest audience possible. Did he succeed? Did he portray the world of 1920s London accurately? And why did he choose Professor Challenger, the maverick of the scientific world, to play the stodgy establishment character? All this and more, in The Mists Clear Away!
Includes:
-All about the Edinburgh Edition of The Land Of Mist
-Arthur Conan Doyle’s own spiritualism
-Why did ACD turn to Professor Challenger for his great spiritualist novel?
-Spiritualism as a specifically feminine or masculine movement?
-Challenger as the Establishment, rather than the Maverick
-ACD’s use of real-life Belfast researcher William Jackson Crawford
-ACD’s actual apocalyptic spiritualist messages
-Lord John Roxton goes ghost-hunting! What was ACD’s inspiration for this episode?
Links:
Beyond Belief: Literature, Esotericism Studies, and the Challenges of Biographical Reading in Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Land of Mist. Professor Christine Ferguson, Brill, 2021.
https://brill.com/view/journals/arie/22/2/article-p205_2.xml
Dinosaurs, Disintegration Machines and Talking to the Dead: The Wild World of Professor Challenger. Dr Stephen Carver, Wordsworth Editions.
https://wordsworth-editions.com/professor-challenger/
The Lost Worlds of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Professor Challenger Series, Conor Reid, Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, 2017.
Edinburgh University Press New Critical Editions
How many Lost World connections can we make in this episode about turn-of-the-century ghost writers searching for extinct animals in South America? Dr Edward Guimont is at hand to tell the tale, bringing essential palaeontological and colonial context for South America in 1900. Hesketh Hesketh Pritchard, creator of Flaxman Low, was sent on this expedition for news mogul C Arthur Pearson. Featuring:
-a potted history of the Occult Detective genre
-Hesketh Pritchard himself as a product of Empire
-Hesketh Pritchar visits Haiti, cringe ensues
-Playing cricket with Arthur Conan Doyle and other literary links
-The theory of ‘American Degeneracy’
-A seemingly fresh Mylodon skin sample is brought to London, scientists astounded!
-A link to the Piltdown Man hoax
-Various expeditions to search for evidence of the Mylodon
-Politicians trafficking in paranormal ideas - some things don’t change!
-And euhemerism returns! (see last episode)
LINKS
On The Track Of Unknown Animals, Bernard Heuvelmans, 1955
The Terrible Occult Detectives, Grady Hendrix
The Chronological Bibliography of Early Occult Detectives, Brom Bones Books, Tim Prasil
Casting The Prunes: Flaxman Low Triumphant, Grey Dog Tales
Through The Heart of Patagonia, Hesketh Hesketh Pritchard, 1902
Flaxman Low, The Story of Baelbrow, Hesketh Hesketh Pritchard
What if 'fairies' are a memory of a squat race of mysterious pre-humans who lived in Europe before modern humans arrived?
Justin Mullis brings a LOT to the cabin in this episode. We cover: the origins of euhemerism and 'explanations' for Norse gods. Bernard Heuvelmans and euhemerism, our first (but not last!) connection to cryptozoology. Early famous supporters of a mystery race include Sir Walter Scott! Euhemerism used to explain troll legends in Sweden. Disenchantment and the changing attitudes towards folklore in the 19th century. David MacRitchie and the idea of the mystery fairy race. Encounters with African pygmies giving confirmation to this idea later in the 19th century. Connections to fantastic Victorian literature. Our boy Sabine Baring-Gould claiming the fairy race still exists. H. G. Wells' use of the trope. Madison Grant and the Passing Of The Great Race. E. F. Benson and (my favourite) The Horror Horn. And finally a deep-dive into the use of this trope by the heavy-hitters Arthur Machen, Lovecraft and Robert E Howard. The Hobbit, Homo floresiensis, and more connections to modern cryptozoology. You won't want to miss this one!
LINKS & REFERENCES
-Justin Mullis on Academia, including Cryptofiction and other writings
-Kaiju Transmissions (Podcast)
-Arthur Machen: Critical Essays, Antonio Sanna
-Conan And The Little People, On An Underwood No 5, Bobby Derie
-Deep Cuts In A Lovecraftian Vein, Bobby Derie
-The Paranormal And Popular Culture, edited by Caterine & Morehead
-Strange and Secret Peoples, Carole Silver
-Goblinlike, Fantastic: Little People and Deep Time at the Fin de Siecle, Emily Fergus
The 1961 Hill abduction is usually considered the 'ground zero' of the entire 'genre' of UFO abductions. It's been pored over by UFO believers and skeptics for decades; been the stuff of TV movies and comic strips. In short, it's been done to death. So I didn't want to return to the subject without a fresh take or some new research. Dr Edward Guimont, having been hard at work at the Betty & Barney Hill archives at the University of New Hampshire, returns to the pod to furnish fascinating new details and connections that make this famous case exciting all over again. Amongst other things, we cover:
-Betty and Barney’s civil rights work
-Betty’s interactions with other famous UFO personalities
-Betty’s reactions to traumatising 80s abduction lore
-the possible influence of the Villas Boas encounter
-Betty’s paranormal family happenings & interest in psychic powers
-Parallells to ‘yellow panic’ tropes and Native kidnap stories
-Finding the original drawings associated with the encounter
-Lovecraft as a UFO debunker, reading Donald Kehoe science fiction, and phantom airships
-Betty’s interest in pseudoarchaeology
-Evolution, the Dinosauroid and the origins of the Greys
Links
Contingent Magazine Article -Edward Guimont's 'From Outer Space'
Twitter thread about the Hills
David Halparin, Intimate Alien
Ancient Stone Relics in New England, David Goudsward
Lisa drops into the cabin with a Halloween tale ... the story of Pearl Curran, a woman who channelled a spirit calling herself 'Patience Worth.' As Patience, Pearl wrote books that gave her a new life among the literati, and eventually adopted a child who she raised as Patience herself.
Sources:
The Case Of Patience Worth, L. Gilman, 1916
The Patience of Pearl: Spiritualism and Authorship in the Writings of Pearl Curran, Daniel B. Shea, 2012
Ghostwriter and Ghost by Ed Simon, Public Domain Review
Patience Worth, A Psychic Mystery, Caspar S. Yost, 1916
The Case Of Patience Worth: A Critical Study Of Certain Unusual Phenomena, Walter Franklin Prince, 1927
Bob Fischer, creator of 'Haunted Generation,' joins us for a wide-ranging chat about Hauntology, and how ‘Haunted Generation’ feelings of an uncanny childhood differ around the world. We cover Arthur C Clarke’s Mysterious World and the how the paranormal was presented in the 70s. We cover memories of a pre-digital age, Alan Garner and the Owl Service, Nicholas Fisk and ‘Grinny’ and a few of our favourite 'Paranormal Ambient' albums. There are warm Fighting Fantasy memories, Bob talks about meeting Ian Livingstone, and we reminisce about visiting Fighting Fantasy Fest, and even cover Cian's childhood 'House Of Hell' imitation!
Links
Mombi Yuleman – Beneath Bridgewater
