Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth

Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth Review

"Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! have nothing on Rose, at home in a thicket of menacing creatures."—Choice

We have always conjured up creatures never seen in nature, from flying horses and two-headed birds to fire-breathing dragons and enormous killer skunks, as well as fantastic distortions of our own image, from giants to nubile maidens. In these pages you will meet extraordinary beings from Hindu and Navajo religions, Scandinavian tales, Russian folklore, Lithuanian stories, Irish oral history, American tall tales, and Aztec myth. Just some of the monstrous entourage: • Baku, a benevolent Japanese monster with the body of a horse, the head of a lion, and the legs of a tiger, who helps people by devouring their nightmares. • Kurma, the giant tortoise of Hindu myth, whose upper shell forms the heavens and lower part the earth. • Missipissy, the feared fish serpent of North America's Great Lakes region. This illustrated encyclopedia not only identifies and describes individual beasts in their cultural context but also groups them together across cultures and discusses common mythological strands and conceits. 60 b/w illustrations.

Giants, Cannibals & Monsters: Bigfoot in Native Culture

Giants, Cannibals & Monsters: Bigfoot in Native Culture Review

Many stories involved fearsome creatures with supernatural powers. One of these creatures, now known as Bigfoot, passed beyond the realm of native lore and has become firmly entrenched in modern culture - for we too have seen this mysterious being.

All Monsters Attack (aka Godzilla's Revenge)

All Monsters Attack (aka Godzilla's Revenge) Review

This is the Godzilla movie I remember best from when I was a kid. Who can forget the latch-key kid, bullied by a gang of meanies, then abducted by gangsters and dreaming of Monster Island? There's no plot in sight once we're in the dream sequences, and it hardly matters. Godzilla simply takes on one opponent after another as they fight for no reason in dreamland, the point seemingly being that the little boy is learning by observation to stand up for himself and fight once in awhile. This proves valuable with both his captors and the gang of bullies later on!

English-dubbed version is marred by the Barney Fife-like voice of Godzilla's son--Warning: Mayberry and Tokyo don't mix! I would recommend watching the Japanese version in which Miniya has a normal child's voice.

Most of the monster-fights are recycled from older G-movies. What saves "All Monsters Attack" from being pure rehash is the one and only appearance of GABARA, the green Cat-Dragon who's roar is a taunting laugh!! Definitely one of the coolest and most memorable of all Godzilla's foes. I wish they'd brought him back for other movies. I haven't seen any of these flicks since I was a kid and Mothra and Gabara were the only two G-opponents I could remember until i started buying these great DVD's.

I should have bought the box set as I've spent more than it costs already just to get 4 titles individually. If you only want the very best of 60's era Godzilla however, I strongly recommend "Ghidorah" and "Mothra" as the two you should own, and maybe this one, if only for that devil Gabara!! Ichiro is a latch-key kid in the late 1960s Japan, a country drowning in urban blight and big, nasty bullies. He escapes his dreary life by dreaming of Monster Island, a fantasy world where Godzilla rules and Ichiro is befriended by Godzill'a son, Minilla, who's experiencing his own troubles with a bull monster, Gabara. When Ichiro is kidnapped by crooks, the lessons learned from his monster pals help him stand up for himself and fight back.