People are Seeing Something: A Survey of Lake Monsters in the United States and Canada Paperback – January 14, 2016

Virginia author Denver Michaels presents his first book of three books dealing with his passion for cryptozoology (a pseudoscience that aims to prove the existence of entities from the folklore record), the paranormal, lost civilizations, and all things unexplained. Denver is an engineering technologist and works full-time while nurturing his obsession with his subject matter. He has traveled widely exploring the unexplained and in this his first book he turns his (and our!) attention to the waters of the lakes of the US and Canada and the paranormal activity there.Denver writes in a style that suggests a knowledgeable sleuth sharing tales in the dark around a campfire site in a lost woods somewhere – that gift of relating stories of the unexplainable to wide-eyed friends huddled together for security. He openly relates his many findings of the strange things that go bump in the night (and day) in places we would not expect the bizarre to touch upon. In his introduction he states, ‘There seems to have always been a fascination with monsters of the deep by people all over the world. Legends of sea serpents and lake monsters are nearly as old as mankind itself. Although these creatures are largely dismissed as nothing more than myth by skeptics and naysayers, things may not be quite so simple; myths and legends contain elements of truth. Water monster legends are born out of a very real phenomenon— people are seeing something in the world’s oceans and lakes, and they have been from time immemorial. Long before recorded history, tales have been handed down through the generations of sea serpents and other strange creatures that inhabit the deep. In fact, there are locations where these tales are recorded in stone— in the form of ancient petroglyphs. Indigenous peoples have preserved these legends of monsters through their oral traditions as well. To demonstrate how far back legends of lake monsters go, consider the most famous water monster of all, the Loch Ness Monster. ThoughNessie gained notoriety and became a household name during the first half of the 20th century, a vivid documented account precedes her rise to fame by well over a millennium. The first known documented encounter with the Scottish beast dates back to the sixth century. This report, a chronicled Nessie sighting, the first of its kind, is logged in Adomnàn’s account of the life of Saint Columba. Adomnàn recorded details of Columba’s life and works in the late seventh century or early eighth century.’And it is just this manner of relating the origins of the sightings and tales of cryptids that flavor every page of this most entertaining exploration of lake monsters. Where feasible Denver includes color photographs, while in other portions he relies on drawings and illustrations to bring his message to real life exposure! The regions covered include the Northwest, Montana and Wyoming, The Great Basin, Southern California, Heartland Monsters, the South, Eastern Canada and the Northeastern States, The Great Lakes and the Canadian Plains. He shares stories of monsters in all of these regions and brings many sightings and traditions to our attention.For the brave of heart and the curious, this book is a treasure chest of the unbelievable. Grady Harp, March 18

Those with either just a passing interest or a desire to dig deeper into lake monters will be thrilled with this tome. Extremely in depth & very long (in a good way!), this book certainly drew me in. If you give this book a try, you won't be disappointed!

People are Seeing Something: a Survey of Lake Monsters in the United States and Canada by Denver Michaels is a thought provoking book that explores that question we all have asked, "is there something strange living in this lake?" The author gives plenty of examples of stories of various sightings from Native people to present day. Especially interesting is his take on the story of tunnels that connect lakes. Highly interesting and informative, you can take what you want from this book and leave the rest. Whether you believe in this kind of thing or not, or if you are an avid fan of Nessie, you can find a lot to read about in this book. Lots of lake monsters to go around, Michaels covers a lot of territory here and keeps you interested. Highly recommend.

Like Denver Michaels, I have always been fascinated with the unknowns lurking in the deep waters, though I didn’t like to think of it while swimming or boating in the Great Lakes. But a kid it was always fun fantasizing about them in the safety of my home.I love how the author informs about the lake the monsters, the lakes, the terrain, and the people who had the most interesting sitings. He tells the facts and the possibilities of what the creatures could be, while keeping the mystique and leagues alive. I really enjoyed this read about what could be found in the deep lakes of our country and our northern neighbor.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author relates story after story about strange sightings in the lakes & rivers of North America, including tales from Native peoples and early settlers up through modern times. There's even a sea serpent story from my adopted home town of Scituate, MA - who knew?? Impressively documented so the reader can explore any of these stories further. There are links in the Kindle edition to external videos as well. The book is written in such a way to allow the reader to draw his/her own conclusion, and the author's style is engaging and insightful. Highly recommended for a journey into the mysteries of the waters. And keep your camera handy!

This is a greatreading book that covers alto of sea monsters but you don't see them !!! There are no picture or drawings of them which would have been awesome !###

of, many more were new to me. I felt the reports were well written. The tales of lakes being connected by tunnels is interesting but I do not feel is valid, but hey, what do I know of such places?! I will without hesitancy recommend this book to others interested in cryptozoology. I was well pleased with this book and the volume on Latin American water monsters.

Very well written, thought provoking book on what people may or may not be seeing in lakes. I think Mr. Michael's approach is much like my own in the sense that some sightings can be explained while others can't and until some concrete evidence surfaces, what are we to really believe? Anyhow, he covers a lot of ground and introduces the readers to a good many sightings. Loved the book and would love to see another one.

Excellent, loads of info. Check out his second book too, also excellent

A lot of research has gone into this book.I didn't want to put it down.Well worth a read.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It's amazing that there could possibly exist sea monsters so close to where we live. It's an interesting subject and from all sightings that occurred makes the reader believe that there is something to the theory. I found this book very interesting to read and very informative.