The Beast of Boggy Creek: The True Story of the Fouke Monster (book recommendation)

If you are interested in Bigfoot or Sasquatch I highly recommend Lyle Blackburn's new book The Beast of Boggy Creek: The True Story of the Fouke Monster. It was one of the most enjoyable cryptozoology reads I have had in a long time.

The book is well written and flows very nicely without a lot of jumping back and forth in the timeline.  The book recounts the intriguing tale of the Fouke Monster who allegedly resides around Jonesville and Fouke, Arkansas.  The popular drive in movie of the early 1970's, The Legend of Boggy Creek, is based on true events that occured in the area in the late 1960s and early 70s.  The book looks at earlier sightings of the monster, discusses the incidents portrayed in the movie and the movie's impact on Fouke residents.  It then goes on to detail sightings of the monster from the mid1970s through 2010.  It also has a well researched section discussing what the monster could be (circus train escapee? misidentified animal? rumor started by moonshiners?) as well as some really great illustrations. I give it three toes up! (A little Fouke Monster humor there )

reply to post by angrywhitechick


The Fouke Monster? That´s scary. Imagine what it could do to the Snatchquatch.

Oh dear, you can´t make up stuff like this

Hi Op,

I live about 50 miles from Fouke, We all grew up hearing scary stories about Boggy Creek around here and of course, watched the movie - shivers! You abbreviated Arkansas with "AK", not "AR"... "AK" is Alaska. Hope you enjoy the "Legend of Boggy Creek" as much as we do.

Thanks,
Wicked

I live in Arkansas and saw a Bigfoot with my own eyes, Those suckers are real. I have no desire to ever see another, in fact I haven't gone back in the woods since.

reply to post by angrywhitechick

Yes, that showed scared the beegeebees out of me as a kid, I should have never snuck in the theatre to see it!
That part with the girls in the trailer was too much man!!!
I did a post regarding how it affected me
Here is where you can watch the movie streaming, but the book may be better for some.
I lived in Louisiana growing up and there was another similar movie about a swamp bigfoot around Black Lake, called The Creature From Black Lake

peace

Thank you for the heads up. Going to get the ebook version and probably have a nice read.

Originally posted by WickedStar
Hi Op,

I live about 50 miles from Fouke, We all grew up hearing scary stories about Boggy Creek around here and of course, watched the movie - shivers! You abbreviated Arkansas with "AK", not "AR"... "AK" is Alaska.

Hope you enjoy the "Legend of Boggy Creek" as much as we do.

Thanks,
Wicked

Oops, thanks for the correction!

Do you know anyone that has had an experience?

Originally posted by mrwupy
I live in Arkansas and saw a Bigfoot with my own eyes, Those suckers are real. I have no desire to ever see another, in fact I haven't gone back in the woods since.

Have you posted your experience?

I would live to read it!

Originally posted by speculativeoptimist
reply to post by angrywhitechick

 

Yes, that showed scared the beegeebees out of me as a kid, I should have never snuck in the theatre to see it!

That part with the girls in the trailer was too much man!!!
I did a post regarding how it affected me

Here is where you can watch the movie streaming, but the book may be better for some.
I lived in Louisiana growing up and there was another similar movie about a swamp bigfoot around Black Lake, called The Creature From Black Lake

peace

edit on 15-4-2012 by speculativeoptimist because: (no reason given)

thank you for link to your post! Too funny!

The book does mention The Creature From Black Lake and how the Legend Of Boggy Creek inspired a slew of big foot movies. The Creature was probably the best of them.

I remember seeing The Legend of Boggy Creek at the drive in. I must have been 9 or 10. It sparked my interest in big foot but also left me with a life time fear of outhouses.

reply to post by angrywhitechick

I still think the artist's illustration is one of the best. Just the right creepy kind of sway.

I actually visited the lake house at Black Lake where the movie was filmed. I was 16 and it still creeped me out.
Also, while hunting in Louisiana as a boy, the lore was quite popular amongst outdoor enthusiasts, with plenty of stories. Hunting shacks torn up, missing pets, strange blood curling howls, heck it is pretty easy to get scared in those woods/swamps anyways.

spec

I have a copy of the original 1970 movie, it was one of the things that sparked my interest in all things paranormal. So I guess I'll need to try and get a copy of this new book to catch up on the newer things in the area. Thanks for the recommendation.

S. I also want to see the newest remake, it's supposed to be a little more dramatized but still accurate and include stuff that has happened since the first movie came out.

Believe it or not the illustrator is Ralph Mcquarrie who recently passed. He was the illustrator and concept artist for many of the iconic images from Star Wars.

Originally posted by speculativeoptimist
reply to post by angrywhitechick

 

I still think the artist's illustration is one of the best. Just the right creepy kind of sway.

I actually visited the lake house at Black Lake where the movie was filmed. I was 16 and it still creeped me out.
Also, while hunting in Louisiana as a boy, the lore was quite popular amongst outdoor enthusiasts, with plenty of stories. Hunting shacks torn up, missing pets, strange blood curling howls, heck it is pretty easy to get scared in those woods/swamps anyways.

spec

reply to post by Darkstar12

Very cool! Learn something here everyday, thanks! I checked some of the SW art, and yea, I can see his style and similarities. He really captures the stance and intended momentum of his figures.
RIP Ralph Mcquarrie

Peace,
spec

I am from that area as well..........I have not even read the OP remarks with this posting due to the fact that "I" have stories as well.................Hopefully I can get back to the thread to share....

Strange creatures down on Mercer Bayou.........

I found the movie on VHS years ago at a yard sale. What a riot!

The songs are classic.

"Hey Travis Crabtree, wait a minute for me!"

"This is where the creature goes, safe within a world he knows..."

Someone actually tubed the 'Travis Crabtree' song!

Thanks guys!

All these years of pushing it to darkest corner of my mind forgetting about all the nightmares and cold sweats i had watching this film, is now back!! Well thanks alot!

As many other this is one of the first stories i ever heard/watched that got me into bigfoot and the unknown.

Thanks for bringing back some good and bad memories

Thats awesome. When I was a kid my dad would always talk about the boggy creek monster. He said when he watched the movie, it made him afraid to go outside. That's funny knowing my dad. I never watched it but I guess I need to. I will have to check the book out as well. In relation to his fear of the boggy creek monster, he was also afraid of the Camp Billy Gibbons Wild Man. I could find no documentation or reports of a 'wild man' near Brady, Texas. I did find evidence of some caves there which were part of his original story but that was it.
This book and the movie(if I can find it) will be interesting to view considering I didn't know it was a well documented case. Thanks for the post.
TXML
speculativeoptimist-Thanks for the link to the movie.