Abominable Science! by Daniel Loxton and Donald R. Prothero is one of those rare books that quietly makes the world a better place. It’s the book I wish had been around when I first fell for monsters and mystery beasts - a smart, generous, and genuinely fun tour through some of cryptozoology’s biggest names.
This isn’t a sneering takedown. It’s a carefully researched, well-referenced examination of famous cryptids - from Nessie to Bigfoot and beyond - that combines good storytelling with proper critical thinking. Loxton and Prothero lay out the history, the claims, the evidence (or lack of it), and the cultural context, and then show you how to assess it all for yourself. One of the things I love most is that you don’t have to take their word for anything: the references are extensive, so you can follow the trail as deeply as you like.
That approach feels especially important in a landscape where skeptical inquiry is still often sidelined in paranormal media. Turn on the TV and you’ll still find shows cheerfully promoting unconventional or pseudo-scientific “methods” in the hunt for monsters, with dramatic narration taking priority over accuracy. Abominable Science! is a much-needed counterbalance: it shows that you can be fascinated by strange creatures and legends without abandoning rigour or reality.
This makes it a bit of a rarity - a book that I’d recommend equally to self-identifying skeptics, curious cryptozoologists, and monster hunters who want to understand the stories they love in more depth. It doesn’t assume you’re an expert; the explanations are accessible and engaging, so you can come to it with nothing more than a passing interest in weird creatures and still get a lot out of it.
If you’re heavily committed to the literal existence of certain cryptids, this book probably won’t convert you on its own. That’s not really its job. What it does do, brilliantly, is model how to think about extraordinary claims: how myths grow, how hoaxes happen, how eyewitness testimony can mislead us, and how folklore, psychology, and honest mistakes all play their part.
When I first went to Loch Ness as a teenager, I was utterly captivated by the idea of the monster. If Abominable Science! had existed back then, it wouldn’t have ruined the magic for me – it would have deepened it. The same way the Loch Ness Centre & Exhibition manages to both debunk and delight, this book shows that understanding the science, history and culture behind legendary monsters doesn’t make them boring. It simply replaces flimsy “evidence” with the far more enduring wonder of how stories, landscapes and human perception fit together.
In my opinion, Abominable Science! is a modern classic of skeptical writing on monsters, and a wonderful resource for future generations of ghost geeks, cryptid fans and critical thinkers alike.
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