North American Monsters

A Contemporary Legend Casebook

David J. Puglia, David J. Puglia

• Éditeur: Utah State University Press
• Année: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781646421602
• Sous-sujet: Sociologie

Mining a mountain of folklore publications, North American Monsters unearths decades of notable monster research. Nineteen folkloristic case studies from the last half-century examine legendary monsters in their native habitats, focusing on ostensibly living creatures bound to specific geographic locales.A diverse cast of scholars contemplate these alluring creatures, feared and beloved by the communities that host them—the Jersey Devil gliding over the Pine Barrens, Lieby wriggling through Lake Lieberman, Char-Man stalking the Ojai Valley, and many, many more. Embracing local stories, beliefs, and traditions while neither promoting nor debunking, North American Monsters aspires to revive scholarly interest in local legendary monsters and creatures and to encourage folkloristic monster legend sleuthing.

Table des matières

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Are There Monsters?
• Introduction: Legendary North American Monsters
• 1. The Boondock Monster of Camp Wapehani
• 2. The Cropsey Maniac
• 3. Alligators-in-the-Sewers: A Journalistic Origin
• 4. Sasquatch-Like Creatures in Newfoundland: A Study in the Problems of Belief, Perception, and Reportage
• 5. The “Char-Man”: A Local Legend of the Ojai Valley
• 6. The Jersey Devil
• 7. American Vampires: Legend, the Media, and Tubal Transmission
• 8. The Ways and Nature of the Zombi
• 9. Ecotypes, Etiology, and Contemporary Legend: The “Webber” Cycle in Western Newfoundland
• 10. The Lake Lieberman Monster
• 11. A Nessie in Mormon Country: The Bear Lake Monster
• 12. Getting Maryland’s Goat: Diffusion and Canonization of Prince George’s County’s Goatman Legend
• 13. Tall, Dark, and Loathsome: The Slender Man and the Emergence of a Legend Cycle in the Digital Age
• 14. Evoking the Shadow Beast: Disability and Chicano Advocacy in San Antonio’s Donkey Lady Legend
• 15. Going Van Helsing in Puerto Rico: Hunting the Chupacabra Legend
• 16. Daniel Boone, Yahoos, and Yeahohs: Mirroring Monsters of the Appalachians
• 17. The Mothman of West Virginia: A Case Study in Legendary Storytelling
• 18. The Windigo as Monster: Indigenous Belief, Cultural Appropriation, and Popular Horror
• 19. Monsters, Legends, and Festivals: Sharlie, Winter Carnival, and Other Isomorphic Relationships
• Discussion Questions and Projects
• Glossary of Key Terms
• Recommended Reading List
• Permissions
• Index
• About the Editor
• About the Authors