Coming this summer, to a theater near you...

A camping trip (of course!) is the set-up, but then again, all good horror tales revolve around universal fears

Amazing arachnids in Vietnam...

Peter Byrne has been engaged in what he describes as the “Big Searches” for almost his entire life; his Bigfoot search alone has spanned 50 years. Today, Byrne continues his quest to find Bigfoot.

While looking for elk in Big Sky, Montana, these guys got the shock of their lives when they caught something walking in their headlights. Watch the video here at Cryptomundo!

"...Half man and half beast, the wild man stands in for the complicated relationship that human communities, especially rural ones, have with nature..."

Jeremy Wade goes after the Loch Ness Monster and maybe even Champ this season.

Who would be more likely to search for Bigfoot? Darth Vader or Yoda? According to Yakama Elders, Bigfoot research is akin to the dark side of the force.--or as they call it bad medicine.

Warren was a Bigfooter long before me, and he knew all the old Bigfoot researchers from the 60's and 70's. He used to tell me how things had changed over the years.

A wee Mothman in our city park. Okay, so this isn’t really Mothman, or anything to do with Mothman at all, though it does have a “mothy vibe” as Mothman researcher Andy Colvin would say.  This is an image of a winged gnome found in one of Eugene’s beautiful city parks. A mysterious person or [...]

The dark and mysterious forests of the Ozarks have always been a source of folklore and unexplainable tales. Locals recount their encounters with The Fouke Monster, The Pope Lick Monster, and the Spooklight.

"...the pair was shocked and scared witless by the surreal sight of a shambling, hairy man-beast that loomed out of the darkened fringes of the roadside, 'threw its arms around in the air,' and proceeded to 'shout at us, like a big roar...'"

In the comments to a recent post a sceptic tried, in the usual way, to convince us to abandon our delusions. He cited various references, including a fMRI study published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience in 2008, which claims to have...

www.paranormalia.com

Check out this cool video interview with me on the Bigfoot Report youtube channel. Conducted "via satellite" from my monster house in Texas, we talk about my book, cryptozoology, monster movies, scream queens, Ghoultown, and lots more.

Derek Randles offered the following clarifications on his facebook page regarding his appearance on Destination America's Monsters and Mysteries in America episode "Pacific Northwest" that premiered last Sunday night.

Crowdfunding is a big deal these days, to judge from the number of start-ups using it to fund innovative new devices. It seems to work and I've been wondering if and when psi research would start using it. Now someone has. The Windbridge Institute...

www.paranormalia.com

Today I received this email from Julie Beischel of the Windbridge Institute. As you will see, the Institute - which conducts scientific studies of mediumship - is engaged in crowdfunding a new research project, which will address the effects of mediumship on bereavement.

As Julie puts it,

For those of you who have already experienced the healing effects of a mediumship reading, putting effort into studying this may seem like a waste of time. I assure you that it is not. In our culture, science serves as an authority and only by using the tools of science can we truly affect change and potentially make this a treatment option available to everyone suffering from a loss.

If sitting with a qualified medium were to be widely viewed as a legitimate therapeutic tool, it would constitute a major shift in attitudes. It would erase the lingering stigma that still clings to mediumship (and to psi generally) and would go a long way toward integrating spiritual experiences into mainstream life.

Plus, this is the kind of research that actually could change the minds of at least some people in positions of authority, since the focus is not on establishing the validity of mediumship as such, but simply on showing that, from the perspective of emotional healing, it "works."

Please read Julie's letter and, if you're interested in learning more or in making a contribution, follow the relevant links.

===============

Hello,

This may be the most important email I have ever sent you.

Regardless of what you think about mediumship, the reality is that each day grieving people seek out mediums in order to receive messages from their loved ones who have passed. Anecdotal data suggests that these messages can have profound healing effects on the grieving, but before we can say that for sure, we need more data.

Using my training in drug trial methodology (my PhD is in pharmacology and toxicology), I designed a randomized clinical trial to test the effects of a personal mediumship reading on grief. We are calling it the Bereavement and Mediumship (or BAM) Study, because that's how it can feel when you lose a loved one:

        BAM... your life will never be the same.

Although the BAM Study protocol has received endorsements from researchers, clinical psychologists, and grief therapists, we have been unable to secure the needed funds from traditional funding organizations in order to perform the study.

So, we are going to try something new - crowdfunding.  http://www.gofundme.com/ bamstudy That is, instead of relying on a single large agency to fund the study, we are taking it to the people, hoping that many smaller contributions from passionate and interested individuals can equal the funds needed to make this study happen.

Our goal is raise $35,000 by May 1, 2013. It's an ambitious goal, but we need to try.

We are using the crowd funding platform GoFundMe.com to manage the campaign.  http://www.gofundme.com/bamstudy

Funds will be used to support the efforts of three researchers to: develop consenting and training materials; consent, screen, and train participants; develop an on-line database; administer the grief instrument; collect and analyze data; write a journal article describing the results of the study; shepherd the article through the peer-review and publication process; and produce additional educational materials for clinicians, mediums, and the general public.

If we make the May 1st goal, we will be able to start the study in early June and complete it by late 2014. If we don't make the May 1st goal, we will use the collected funds to complete as many study tasks as we can, and continue to raise funds in order to conduct the full study.

For those of you who have already experienced the healing effects of a mediumship reading, putting effort into studying this may seem like a waste of time. I assure you that it is not. In our culture, science serves as an authority and only by using the tools of science can we truly affect change and potentially make this a treatment option available to everyone suffering from a loss.

The BAM Study is at the very core of why I started this work and why I co-founded the Windbridge Institute. I want to conduct research that truly helps people.

Every week, I receive emails from people asking how they can become involved and support our work. Well, this is it. We can't complete this study without you. If you can contribute some funds, that's great; if you can't, just help us spread the word: forward this message; post information about the BAM Study on your social media sites; if you blog, blog about it; send emails to your friends; mention it over lunch; etc. Anything and everything helps.

Go to http://www.gofundme.com/bamstudy to contribute to the BAM Study now.

If you need more information about the study, including expert testimonials, a short video of me, and a list of unique incentives for contributors, please visit www.AfterlifeScience.com.

Together we can make this happen.

Thank you.
Julie

Mystery photos and video here on Cryptomundo. What do the Cryptomundians think this is?

"A thrilling tale of supernatural adventure, set on the snowy peaks of Mount Everest from the author of the New York Times bestsellers Olympos and The Terror."

"In early 2009, I spent several days delving deeply into the old archives of a variety of Texas-based newspapers, and uncovered a number of significant reports from years-past of big and exotic cats on the loose in Texas."