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

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

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)  

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

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

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

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.

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

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 

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

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.  



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

We're delighted to have Brian Sharpless (Monsters on the Couch) back with us to discuss some of the Psychology elements of vampirism, as well as some of his favorite historical cases. Be sure and grab his book if you're at all interested in the intersection of monsters and Psychology.

Show Notes:
Monsters on the Couch
Renfield Syndrome (wikipedia)
2005 Romanian Vampire case (The Guardian)
Richard Chase - Serial Killer (wikipedia)
Mercy Brown vampire case (wikipedia)
Vlad the Impaler (wikipedia)
Example of Vlad's violence on the Turks (wikipedia)
Elizabeth Bathory (wikipedia)

Hungarian Ghoulish - MT 235

Be sure and check out Karen's new book Bitch: The Journey of a Word from Cambridge University Press!

Our show uses Amazon affiliate links to help raise funds to support our research and outreach.

Title card image courtesy Brian Sharpless - walkway where alleged vampire Jure Grando was most likely buried

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

We kick off our Vampire October with the story of Arnold Paole and we're joined by Matt Baxter. This story appeared in the 1979 edition of Usborne's Haunted Houses, Ghosts, and Spectors. 

Arnold Paole
Lee Illis 1964 - Porphyria and Werewolves
1985 - David Dolphin - NYT article on Porphyria and Vampires
Penanggal 
Manananggal

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

In this episode we look at the history of the Vampire in folklore and literature with professor Nick Groom - aka "The Prof of Goth."
Links related to Professor Groom:
The Vampire: A New History by Nick Groom (affiliate link)
Nick Groom - University of Macau faculty page - [email protected] 
University of Exeter faculty page - [email protected] 
Times Literary Supplement - articles by Nick Groom
Author's page at Simon & Schuster
Interview with The One Ring about Groom's Tolkien scholarship
Articles at Literary Hub by Groom

Some Vampire Links:
The Vampyre - John Polidori (Full Text - 1819)
The Black Vampyre: A Legend of St. Domingo (Full Text - 1819)  (affiliate link) - wiki 
Varney the Vampire: Or the Feast of Blood (Full Text - 1847) (affiliate link) - wiki
Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (Full Text - 1872) (affiliate link) - wiki
Dracula by Bram Stoker (Full Text - 1897) (affiliate link) - wiki
Vampire Panics (1790s - 1890s)
The Ackermansion

This episode brought to you by Factor Meals – use our link or code MonsterTalk50 to 50% off your first order!

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