The Creature Catalog - A Monster Watcher's Guide (1982, Michael Berenstain)

A monster dictionary of sorts (see also All About Monsters), The Creature Catalog - A Monster Watcher's Guide (1982, Random House) is a field guide to "weird and astonishing things on earth and other places", covering all categories of monsters, from folklore to mythology, cryptozoology, literature and film, with striking illustrations by author Michael Berenstain.

If Michael's last name rings a bell, it might be because he's the son of Stan and Jan, of Berenstain Bears fame.

Here's a sampling of the 70 or so creatures covered here.

The Werewolf, we learn, may have been born out of man's fear in older times of being consumed by a hungry pack of wild wolves.

The vampire may have been made famous by Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, but it's origin can be traced to the horrific barbarity of real-life 15th century figure Vlad the Impaler.

Here's a lesser known entry from Greek mythology, the Lamia, a snake-woman with a thirst for human blood.

Brief entries on several other monsters from ancient Greece, including centaurs, harpies, and Medusa.

Another unusual inclusion: from Jewish folklore, The Golem.

Zombies are associated with the voodoo rites of Haiti...

Trolls and goblins...

From the legends of Sinbad, here's the giant vulture-like bird call The Roc...

Sea-monsters, some of legend (the Kraken), some believed to be real (the Loch-Ness Monster):

The Abominable Snowman, believed to lurk amongst the Himalayan Mountains of Tibet...

An excellent rendering of the original King Kong...

The Creature Catalog is out of print as of this writing.

Medusa (Land of the Lost, 1976)

With the remake of Clash of the Titans hitting theaters this week, I thought I'd revisit the place where I had my first encounter with one of the mythological monsters featured prominently in the film, the snake-haired gorgon whose evil gaze turns any living thing into stone. From a third-season episode of Land of the Lost, its Medusa.

I'm old enough to have watched Land of the Lost in its initial run, when it aired Saturday mornings from 1974 to 1976, and was a big fan. Its too bad the show is best remembered for its cheesy effects and Brady-Bunchesque family squabbling, instead of its often ambitious science fiction scenarios (time loops, alternate timelines, closed universes, and psychological monsters were frequent story elements.) Land of the Lost is one of the few shows that at least attempted to bring high-concept fantasy and dramatic storytelling to Saturday morning, even if it did so in a universe of bad video compositing, skimpy sets and rubber dinosaur puppets.

By the third and final season, Will, Holly, and new arrival Uncle Jack (he replaced dad Rick Marshall, who was written out of the series when actor Spencer Milligan declined to stay on for another season) found themselves encountering increasingly fantastic and whimsical characters and situations, including an Abominable Snowman, a Cro-Magnon man (played by Richard Kiel!), the haunted ship The Flying Dutchman, a Native-American medicine man, and yes, even the mythological monster Medusa.

As the episode begins, Will, Holly and Chaka are about to test their new canoe when a sudden swift current sends Holly down the river.

Holly is pulled to safety by a woman standing on the bank, who introduces herself as "Meddy".

Meddy takes Holly on a tour of her home, the so-called Garden of Eternity, which is decorated with several life-size statues, including a tiny praying mantis, a full-grown triceratops, and a Civil-War era soldier and cannon, whom Holly recognizes as a character from a Season 1 episode titled Downstream.

The garden is guarded by animated vines, which Meddy demonstrates by tossing a stick. The vines wrap around it like tentacles. They also envelope the gated entrance.

When Holly says that her family will be searching for her, Meddy sees an opportunity to add them all to her statue collection. She passes the time conversing with her vanity mirror, which seems to be reflecting her subconscious thoughts.

Jack, Will and Cha-Ka finally arrive at the Garden of Eternity, and stop to admire the statuary. Jack declares this statue to be of "museum quality."

Shortly, they are attacked by the animated vines, or, as Will calls them, "the salad that fights back."

Jack finally realizes that "Meddy" is actually Medusa, and that they are all in danger of becoming permanent additions to her collection. He uses Medusa's own vanity mirror to reflect her deadly gaze back into her own eyes, freezing her forever in the Garden of Eternity.




Land of the Lost is available on DVD in individual season sets, but just go for the complete series packaged in a cool vintage lunchbox, here.

All About Monsters (Miller, 1977)

"All About Monsters" (written by Carey Miller, published by the EMC Corp., 1977) is one of three books in a series called "The World of the Unknown" which got regular circulation at my school library (and it looks like the ex-library copy I've scanned here saw plenty of action as well).

It really does try to live up to its title by covering all categories of "monsters", from Greek and Roman mythology (Cyclops, Sirens), to Old English literature (dragons and Beowulf's Grendel), cryptozoological legends (Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster), and real-world prehistoric dinosaurs. There's even a section on famous monsters of film and creature make-up effects, and finally a monster dictionary.

Above, a depiction of Grendel, the man-eating monster from Beowulf.

This is a pretty thin book (only 32 pages!) to endeavor to cover so much information, so no subject is covered in depth. Instead we get well illustrated spreads that briefly introduce each topic, but leave you to pursue deeper studies elsewhere.

The "Man-Made Monsters" (aka movie monsters) section features an eclectic assortment: King Kong, Mecha-Kong, Frankenstein, Jaws, HAL 9000(!), Godzilla, the squid from "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", and the Mummy.

This modest (only 2 pages) monster dictionary was my favorite section.

These cover images from the other two books in the series are found on the rear cover of "All About Monsters".



UPDATE: Subsequent post on "All About Ghosts" can be found here.