Richard Freeman

The world of forteana (strange phenomena) is by its nature, odd. Encounters with sea serpents, ghosts and UFOs for example are far from everyday. Yet there are reports in the annals of forteana that go far beyond the simply weird. In this book we look at high strangeness cases that make even the most seasoned of researchers balk.

This is a remarkable book told from a unique perspective. Damon Corrie is a hereditary chief of the Eagle Clan, of the Arawak Tribe based mostly in Guyana.

In Edo Period Japan, the game of Hyakumonogatari – or one hundred stories – was a popular pastime. A hundred candles in blue lanterns were lit and placed on a table before a mirror. Each person would tell a story of a ghost, monster or strange occurrence, then blow out one of the candles. When the last candle was blown out it was said that a horned blue spirit, Aoandon, would manifest in the mirror.

This book represents my own kicking back at the poor excuse for horror we have had to endure for so long. But my second reason for writing it was to showcase some odd and overlooked pieces of British folklore.

For every bigfoot there is a littlefoot. Stories of little hairy men are widespread – but none are as famous as Sumatra’s orang-pendek.

Everyone has heard of vampires and werewolves, but how many have heard of the rokuro-kubi, the tsuchinoki or the sagari? Japan has a wealth of ghosts and monsters, collectively called yokai, which are totally unknown in the West. The bizarre and wonderful folklore of Japan […]