An interview with writer, researcher and podcaster Aaron Gulyas - host of the UFO themed history podcast The Saucer Life.

Gulyas is also the author of many books (affiliate link) including some likely to be of particular interest to MT listeners:
Extraterrestrials and the American Zeitgeist: Alien Contact Tales Since the 1950s
Conspiracy Theories: The Roots, Themes and Propagation of Paranoid Political and Cultural Narratives
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If you like the 1970s In Search Of... why not check out our sister show In reSearch Of...

Blake (and his wife Kathleen) will be participating in the 2025 "Skeptoid Bermuda Triangle Adventure" - details here if you want to come along and explore Robert the Doll, the Bimini Wall, or to look for the missing planes of Flight 19...

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We welcome back Chris Woodyard to discuss the very odd story of the Wollaton Gnomes - a 1979 reported sighting of little men in little cars by a group of children in a British park. 

Chris & Simon's podcast Boggarts & Banshees (Apple Podcasts)
Transcript of the gnome witness children's Interview (courtesy Simon Young)
Wollaton Hall (wiki)
Blog by Frank Earp, who claims to have investigated the gnomes  contemporary to the events. 
Laughing Gnome (1967) David Bowie song
The Original Fairy Investigation Society (wiki)
The reborn Fairy Investigation Society (facebook)
Fairy Census One
Fairy Census Two
George Harrison's Friar Park (and gnomes)
Gnomes (wiki)
Garden Gnomes (wiki)
Kabouter (wiki)
Klabautermann (wiki)
Paracelsus book about various spirits (wiki)
Tom Clark Gnomes (retail site)
Books (Affiliate Links):
Gnomes by Wil Huygen
The Wollaton Gnomes: A Nottingham Fairy Mystery by Dr. Simon Young (and others)
A is for Arsenic - by Chris Woodyard
Other books by Chris Woodyard
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We're delighted to celebrate Thanksgiving with the return of Dr. Brian Regal. He's here to talk about a favorite monster film, and announce the release of his autobiography, The Monster from Newark.

Links:   

• Brian's autobiography - The Monster From Newark (affiliate link)
• Karen's anthology of skeptics having weird experiences:Would You Believe It? (affiliate link)
• Lucky Dragon No 5 (wiki)
• Castle Bravo test & "maru" ship (wiki)
• List of Giant Ant Movies List of Giant Monster Movies
• The Pet (1921)
• The Lost World (1925)
• Reptilicus MST3K

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Thanks to your generous support I was able to make it to CryptidCon 2024 and this is a chat with Karen and me, reporting on day one.

I'll be heading out later today for the five and a half hour drive back home but this has been delightful and you're sure to hear more from the connections I made and the ideas I heard while immersing myself in the cryptid community once more.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support.

I'm sorry to come to you with hat in hand, but our family vehicle's water pump just went out a day before I was to head up to Kentucky to go to CryptidCon.  If just 10% of our listeners would donate $1 it would absolutely cover this repair and restore my confidence in heading out of town.

I hate to ask but I don't know any other way to come up with the money on such short notice.  So if you enjoy the show and want to hear more cryptid content in particular, please check the show notes and consider giving a buck or two to help me get our family vehicle repaired.

Thanks so much for ANY consideration you give this request.

https://gofund.me/95e85c4a

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Blake and Karen are joined by Matt Baxter to discuss the 2023 film Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose, based on the story of Gef, the talking mongoose at the heart of the story.

Visit our original coverage of Gef in episode #67

Watch the film (Amazon affiliate link)

 A list of the clever things a mongoose might say...

The Haunting of Alma Fielding - a recent book about Nandor Fodor's investigation of an alleged psychic (Affiliate Link)  

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We're joined by author and professor Anne McClannan to discuss her new book Griffinology.  These monsters are visually easily recognized - but how much do you know about their history?

Links:
Griffinology is available directly from University of Chicago Press.
Coupon code UCPNEW is good through Dec 2024 for 30% off - which brings the price down to $28 off its regular cover price of $40!

 Griffins (wikipedia)
Here is a link to some Griffins in ancient artwork. The artwork in Griffinology is a stunning and impressive selection of such examples.
PopSci article on plausibility of Griffin/Fossil Connection

Additional:
The Leucrotta (per Reddit)
The same beast per D&D

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We managed to catch up with Joe Laycock for ONE MORE VAMPIRE EPISODE! This time we're having a look at the world of people who believe they are really vampires. Some drink blood, some drink energy, most embrace vampire gaming.

Joe wrote Vampires Today: The Truth About Modern Vampirism 

In fact, Joe has written a lot of books that will be of interest to you guys!
And I'm so excited about Joe's current research - which you'll hear about at the end.

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Blake and Karen are joined again by Matt Baxter to talk about vampires in books, film, tv, and comics! This episode is EXPLICIT and contains adult language. 

We talk about a ton of topics in this one and too many shows and movies to list - but I'll try and post a list when I get time to all the things referenced over at this episode's page on MonsterTalk.org - Thanks for your patience!

You can watch this video on YouTube here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vBNyYz6y0M 

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We’re joined by researcher Katarzyna “Kasia” Ancuta to learn more about the Chinese creature known as the Jiangshi – but more famous in the West as “Hopping Vampires.” It turns out that their history is being complicated by their appearances in pop-culture!
Jiangshi Movies: (affiliate links)
Encounters of the Spooky Kind
Mr. Vampire
Rigor Mortis
The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires
Additional Reading:
The Hun and Po soul
Scared Stiff: Jiangshi and Chinese Vampires – from the Palgrave Handbook of Vampires
Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling (wiki)
The Shibian (The Animated Corpse) by Pu Songling (project gutenberg)
Penanggal (pen-nan-gal)
Manananggal  (Mana nan gal)
Pop (Thai Ghost) – wiki
Krasue (Thai version of Manananggal)  “pop krasue” in episode audio – sounds like “pi-krasue”
Previous Episodes Related:
Chinese Ghosts
Mr. Vampire is available on DVD and Blu-Ray now, but you might have to track down an import.  Or you can watch it streaming on The Criterion Channel.  



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