If I wish to read a blog which is *only*
about the narrow, limited topics of my own interests, I'll write it myself. If
I wish to read a well written, extremely well researched blog on a wide variety
of suspected, imagined, claimed, portrayed creatures from the mundane to the
monstrous, from the Byzantine and the bizarre to the modern and the miraculous
- I'll read ShukerNature.
Richard S. White, retired museum professional and vertebrate palaeontologist
– Facebook, 12 August 2017
It's been a long time coming – over eight years, in
fact, since I first mooted the idea of preserving my ShukerNature blog posts in
permanent, hard-copy book format – but it's finally here. In what is planned to
be a regular series, today, 8 April 2019, sees the official publication of ShukerNature Book 1: Antlered Elephants, Locust Dragons, and Other Cryptic Blog Beasts.
Although I first
became yoked to the internet via an email account back in 1997, followed by my
own official website a year later (created by the late, much-mourned American
cryptozoologist Scott T. Norman), I steadfastly remained immune to the world of
online blogging until as relatively recently as 2009 – 20 January 2009, to be
precise, when I finally gave in to temptation.
For after the
Centre of Fortean Zoology (CFZ) kindly established it for me in tandem with
their own 'umbrella' of CFZ-affiliated blogs called the CFZ Bloggo, that was
the fateful date upon which a short item entitled 'Wolves of the Weird' (click here to read it) became the first of what
currently stands at over 600 illustrated articles of varying lengths and
exceedingly varied subjects that have been researched, written, and uploaded by
me onto my very own, unique blog. As its many loyal readers will confirm, ShukerNature
is devoted to cryptozoology, zoomythology, anomalous animals, animal anomalies,
and unnatural history of every kind, as well as some investigations and reviews
of certain ostensibly zooform entities that may be of paranormal, supernatural
identity rather than corporeal creatures of zoology. It has also enabled me to
preview various in-progress and forthcoming books of mine from 2009 onwards,
and, via its Comments section at the end of each of my articles, allows readers
to post their own thoughts, opinions, and information, thereby becoming a
valuable source of original ideas, news, and data.
Knowing that my
blog's contents would cover such a vast diversity of subjects, and that they
would all be written in my own particular style (unencumbered by the
necessities to conform to any one specific style convention as is so often the
case when writing for specific publishers or publications), posed an especial
problem for me with regard to what my blog's name would be. How could I
possibly come up with a title that would encompass all of those subjects in a
succinct yet definitive manner, and also emphasise that these were my writings,
penned in my style? In fact, as it turned out, I didn't come up with such a
title – someone else did.
That person was
fellow cryptozoologist and CFZ colleague Oll Lewis. After hearing that I was
having trouble coining a suitable title for my blog, he achieved what to me
seemed the impossible – suggesting a title that fulfilled every requirement,
covered every subject, incorporated a direct reference to me in it, and much
more besides, yet, incredibly, did all of this by way of just a single word!
And that word, which did indeed become my blog's title? ShukerNature. Oll has never
disclosed his inspirations for what was indeed a truly inspired suggestion; but
because he and I are of similar generations, I think it likely that a certain
book and also quite possibly a certain song that both achieved considerable
fame during our youth may have played their part, consciously or otherwise.
The book was the
bestseller Supernature, written by the late anthropologist/ethologist Dr
Lyall Watson, and first published in 1973. Its self-explanatory subtitle A
Natural History of the Supernatural also set the scene for many of his
equally-acclaimed future books; as did its very memorable front-cover
illustration by renowned American artist Jerry Pinkney, depicting a flowering
plant growing out of an egg. Indeed, this eyecatching artwork became something
of an icon in its own right (and may be a homage to 'Geopoliticus Child
Watching the Birth of the New Man' - a famous painting from 1943 by the
celebrated Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali, which contains a
reminiscent image). And speaking of homages:
A ShukerNature
homage to Dr Lyall Watson's inspirational book Supernature and to Jerry
Pinkney's iconic front-cover illustration for it (© Mark North / © Jerry Pinkney - reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)
The song,
entitled 'SuperNature' and released in 1977, was a disco classic by
Cerrone (aka the Italio-French disco drummer/composer/record producer Marc
Cerrone). In its original format, more than 10 minutes long, this song was the
title (and opening) track of Cerrone's third album; but in a shorter format,
just under 4 minutes long, it hit the singles charts all around the world in
1978. Its verses' lyrics (written by an uncredited Lene Lovich) took as their unusual
theme for a dance song the dangers of tampering with the environment, turning
ordinary creatures into dangerous monsters, with its infuriatingly-catchy
chorus simply the repeatedly-sung word 'SuperNature'.
Thus was my
blog, ShukerNature, born. (Amusingly, some time afterwards, a reader wrote to
me saying how he had always been puzzled by my blog's title, wondering how and
where it had originated – until one day, that is, when, while he had been
thinking about this mystery yet again, Cerrone's song had suddenly begun to
play inside his head, and the proverbial penny duly dropped with a loud clang!)
Within just a
couple of years from my blog's creation, I was already receiving enquiries from
readers as to whether I would be producing a ShukerNature companion book, or
books, at some stage, containing selections of its most popular and intriguing
blog articles. And when I enquired both on the blog itself and also via my
various cryptozoology-linked Facebook pages and groups (including one devoted
specifically to ShukerNature) whether there was indeed an interest out there
for such a project, I swiftly received a very emphatic affirmative.
An additional
reason for doing so was that by converting selections of my ShukerNature
articles into a hard-copy published format, they would be rendered permanently
accessible in a manner that online data, so often ephemeral in status, can
rarely emulate. For whereas a book, once in print, has a guaranteed existence,
a website can exist online one moment and vanish the next, thereby expunging a
fund of unique, irreplaceable information.
And so I began
planning what at that stage I was referring to as ShukerNature: The Book,
alongside various additional writings. However, as sometimes happens, life –
and death – had other plans for the direction in which my future would take.
Or, as my wise little Mom used to remind me gently if I railed against my
dreams and ambitions faltering or falling into disarray: "Man proposes,
but God disposes" (which is a translation of the Latin phrase
'Homo proponit, sed Deus disponit', from Book I, chapter 19, of The
Imitation of Christ by the German cleric Thomas à Kempis).
Thus it came to
pass that my blog book was set to one side, and other projects that for one
reason or another needed to take precedence were duly completed and published
in its stead. Notable among these were my second, long-planned, and extremely
comprehensive dragons book – Dragons in Zoology, Cryptozoology, and Culture; a wide-ranging compilation of my
most notable Loch Ness monster writings – Here's Nessie!; and of course my fully-updated, massively-enlarged, biggest-ever
cryptozoology volume – Still In Search Of Prehistoric Survivors.
My
three above-mentioned books (© Dr Karl Shuker)
These are all
now published, and in the meantime the very many additional blog articles that
I have continued to research, write, and post each year have provided me with
an immensely expanded list of possible examples to include in my eventual ShukerNature
compendium.
Formulating how
such a book could be prepared, however, was not an easy task, and took a long
time to accomplish to my own satisfaction. Indeed, the eventual volume that resulted
proved to be so sizeable that the decision was finally taken to divide it into
two separate ones, of equal length, to be published sequentially. Consequently,
and after much deliberation in the choosing of its specific subjects, I now have
great pleasure in publicising herewith on its official date of publication, 8 April 2019, the first of those two volumes, in what I
hope will be an ongoing series of ShukerNature books.
Its contents –
now saved forever from the vicissitudes of the internet, available for you to
read and re-read whenever and wherever you choose to do, updated and expanded
when new information has come my way since the original articles were uploaded
online, and unequivocally unlike any other collection of writings, whether in
print or out of it - document some of the most remarkable, spellbinding entities
from my blog's furthest frontiers and most shadowy hinterlands.
After
all, where
else, within the covers of a single 418-page book (and sumptuously
illustrated throughout via spectacular full-colour and rare vintage b/w
pictures), are you likely to find such exotic
zoological esoterica as locust dragons, antlered elephants, North
America's alligator
men and Egypt's crocodile children, reptilian seals and seal dragons,
king
hares and giant rabbits, fan-tailed mermen and scaly bishops, flying
cats and even
flying elephants, green tigers and blue lions, giant oil-drinking
spiders and bemusing
sea-monkeys, demonic dragonflies and fury worms, marginalia snail-cats
and
elephant rats, pukwudgies and Pigasus, ape-man Oliver, lightbulb
lizards, mini-mummies,
my very own mystery animal, and how ShukerNature famously hit the
cryptozoological headlines globally with a series of astonishing
world-exclusives exposing the long-awaited truth about Trunko?
To find out more
about all of these, and numerous other no less fascinating, equally eclectic
fauna too, loiter no longer – it's time to pay a visit to the weirdly wonderful
(and wonderfully weird!) world of ShukerNature. So, please come in, I've been
expecting you...
And if you're
wondering how can I possibly follow all of that, the answer is simple – ShukerNature Book 2: Living Gorgons, Bottled Homunculi, and
Other Monstrous Blog Beasts – due out later this year. And don't
forget - you read about it here first!
You
lookin' at me?? (© Dr Karl Shuker)
Last – but
certainly not least – of all: I wish to offer a massive, sincere vote of thanks
to all of you for reading and supporting my ShukerNature blog since its launch
in 2009 – without your enthusiasm and interest, it could not have survived –
and I look forward to sharing with you many more exotic, entertaining, esoteric,
educational, and always thoroughly extraordinary wildlife secrets, controversies,
mysteries, surprises, and curiosities, as well celebrating many more ShukerNature
anniversaries, both online and in book form, through the years to come!
Copies of ShukerNature Book 1 can be ordered through all good bookstores, and can be purchased online at such outlets as Amazon UK (click here), Amazon USA (click here), and Barnes & Noble (click here). For further details concerning it and also my three previous books published by Coachwhip Publications, please click here.
Full cover wrap, including back-cover blurb (click picture to expand for reading purposes), from ShukerNatureBook 1 (© Dr Karl Shuker/Coachwhip Publications)
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