Just saw this article on Discoery+'s new show Alaskan Killer Bigfoot: https://www.homernews.com/life/new-reality-tv-show-explores-nantinaq-stories/ In North American folklore, Bigfoot or Sasquatch are said to be hairy, upright-walking, ape-like creatures that dwell in the wilderness and leave footprints. Depictions often portray them as a missing link between humans and human ancestors or other great apes. They are strongly associated with the Pacific Northwest (particularly Oregon, Washington and British Columbia), and individuals claim to see the creatures across North America. Over the years, these creatures have inspired numerous commercial ventures and hoaxes. The plural nouns 'Bigfoots' and 'Bigfeet' are both in use.

Bayanov, Dmitri. Bigfoot: To Kill or To Film? The Problem of Proof. Vancouver, BC: Pyramid Publications, 2001. The list below has grown and grown. Frankly, I find there are too many good, positive books about the nuts and bolts of Bigfootery to fit on one list of ten. It was a difficult chore to narrow the field down, so even though I expanded the length of the collection, I’m sure I have left out some fine texts. Quasar, Gian J. Recasting Bigfoot: Uncovering the Truth About Sasquatch Amidst the Hype of Bigfoot, Quasar, 2010. Tchernine, Odette. The Snowman and Company UK: Hale, 1961/ In Pursuit of the Abominable Snowman. New York: Taplinger Publishing, 1971. (Like Ivan T. Sanderson’s book, these works contain some of the earliest treatments of North American Bigfoot/Sasquatch reports.) Meldrum noted that anatomical features visible on the film, such as the proportions of the face, match up with early humans such as Paranthropus boisei— a species that lived around 2.3 million years ago to 1.2 million years ago, according to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. The size of the creature in the film is estimated to be between around 6 feet to 7 feet (1.8 to 2.1 m) tall.So how does one navigate this cacophonous, shaggy, free-for-all of book offerings? A lifetime’s experience exploring this topic has led me to compile a list of some of my personal favorites.

His friend and producer Zach Cregger recommended the Sasquatch Chronicles podcast, a collection of interviews with people spinning yarns of their run-ins. “Right away, I had no interest,” Rofé laughs. “I’m not a huge monster movie person, not that into creature-features. He told me to just try one episode, and four days later, I’d listened to 11 of them.” He was moved by the intensity and vulnerability of the contributors, and realized that even if the 10ft oddity they all claimed to have glimpsed might not be real, his potency in the collective imagination definitely was. This spark of inspiration set him on a search for an angle, some event or incident that spoke to the distinct spirit of Sasquatch country. Buhs, Joshua Blu. Bigfoot: The Life and Times of a Legend. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009. But this is an unemotional survey of what I consider the ten best books on the subject matter. It is true that some of the discussed books are exceedingly rare and out-of-print but if you look hard enough and scour the four corners of the internet long and hard you are likely to be rewarded.

And with that traction has come a deluge of Bigfoot books, some with high levels of scholarship while others seem to have little to no continuity whatsoever. Keep in mind my friend and long time colleague, the late René Dahinden (1930-2001), along with Don Hunter who penned Sasquatch in 1973 did not make the cut. If I were trying to blow smoke up your tailpipe and keep affection and emotions at the forefront, Sasquatch surely would have been listed. Bigfoot doesn’t need to be real, ultimately. The not-knowing is frightening enough. “In a way I wasn’t before I embarked on this weird adventure, I am now truly afraid of the woods” he says. Bindernagel, John A. The Discovery of the Sasquatch: Reconciling Culture, History, and Science in the Discovery Process Hall, Mark A. and Loren Coleman True Giants: Is Gigantopithecus Still Alive? NY: Anomalist Books, 2010. A still image alleged to be of Bigfoot taken northeast of Eureka, California in 1967. (Image credit: Bettmann/Contributor via Getty Images)