BookReview: Cryptopedia

The Cryptopedia: A Dictionary of the Weird, Strange, and Downright Bizarre  

Jonathan Maberry and  David F. Kramer, 2007. Citadel, 320pp.

This is a fun book and a good reference for those who like the odd corners of the human experience and the things that dwell therein.  

Hundreds of terms in fields from cryptozoology to ghosts and UFOs are defined in entries ranging from a sentence to a couple of paragraphs. The authors rarely dispute or support anything, sticking mainly to objective descriptions.  Interspersed are short essays on foo fighters (that one offers a fascinating first-hand report I've never read of), to the best ghost movies, the effect of Tolkien’s writings on elf folklore, superstitions about cats, etc., etc.  This is not an in-depth encyclopedia: there are few footnotes, few endnotes, and few sources.  So if you want to write about, say, the voodoo pantheon, this is not the place to find details, but it is a handy reference to tell you what terms and names fall in that area and who Bakulu is (you may not want to know).  Some seriously creepy illustrations are included. Mr. Kramer is a horror writer among other pursuits, and Mr. Maberry is a prolific writer of horror and other fiction with a particular fondness for cryptozoology.  You’ll enjoy spending time with this tome.