Mark here it is.Richard Flying Snake Magazine A brief history Richard Muirhead In early 2011 , after about twelve months of hesitation, I took the plunge and decided to launch my own magazine, `Flying Snake`, sub-titled `a Journal of `Cryptozoology,Folklore and Forteana`. I create the magazine on my pc in my office at home in Macclesfield,Cheshire,England and each issue takes about 4 months to create from the initial ideas in my mind as to what I`d like to put in the approximately 60 pages to its actual creation in hard copy format at the printer. It is immensely enjoyable and not quite as hard work as my long-term friend (since childhood in Hong Kong in the 1960s and `70s) Jon Downes of the Centre for Fortean Zoology warned me it would be ,which was the main reason it took me so long to start with issue 1 (published April 2011). Another problem I had was that I didn`t want to compete with Animals and Men, which thankfully hasn`t happened because Animals and Men and Flying Snake have somewhat different publication schedules and my emphasis is on what I call “archival” ( i.e. pre – 1950) cryptozoology whilst A & M is more about contemporary developments. The main purpose, if there is one I`m concentrating on in particular, is to publish stories mainly connected to cryptozoology that have been neglected,are obscure,highly unusual but not necessarily paranormal. Much, (thankfully not all) cryptozoology still focuses on the well known and over-worked subjects of Alien Big Cats and the Loch Ness Monster and Sasquatch whilst neglecting the kind of obscurities the Victorians were fond of in their magazines such as Science Gossip and the like. In the age of easily (though sometimes expensive) online newspaper archives and Facebook there`s really no excuse for not finding such nuggets of gold as luminous centipedes, entombed bats, piebald moles and,dare I say it, flying snakes as well. I decided to call the magazine `Flying Snake` because for some reason this particular cryptid caught my imagination in the mid 1990s when I stumbled across (or did it stumble across me?) a reference to one seen in Namibia in a book in a London bookshop in Charing Cross Road. Then later I thought that flying snakes encompass natural history, cryptozoology, folklore and the paranormal in one entity. By which I don`t mean the snakes that launch themselves off trees in parts of S.E.Asia but anomalous “snakes” that have turned up in various parts of the world that genuinely seem to be able to hover or glide or even fly. I find the further back in time I look the more interesting the stories get. Perhaps this is because people are more cynical now and too easily suppress “travelers tails”. Or perhaps pre-20th century people had more enquiring minds and took more care to record stories of what now would be called cryptids through fear that no-one would pass through that particular valley/forest/settlement again? There is the other side of the coin though in that racism meant there were always people who would dismiss accounts of ethno-known animals out of hand. However for the sake of posterity I`m prepared to cast my nets very wide indeed as far as what I publish is concerned. I could be accused of too much credulity. Flying Snake is not peer reviewed (though it`s featured God (yes), Ken Livingstone ,one-time scourge of the Thatcher government and Sir David Attenborough ) so I`m relying on the honesty of eye witnesses or long deceased journalists, I`ve even been known to do my own research! Up to issue 7 ( April 2014) I had covered subjects such as (in no particular date order) anomalous flying lizards in Australia, Steller`s Sea Cow, out of place Chinese coins, orange coloured badgers, alligator gar in China, dreams of World War 3, giant spiders in Colorado, pygmy horses in India, wild cats in Dorset, an otter in Ireland , British ball lightning reports, etc,etc. I write under either my own name or my alter-ego Dr Devo, named after the U.S. New Wave band of the 1980s. I am very fortunate to have two loyal sub-editors Carl Marshall and Mike Hardcastle and I`ve had contributions from the U.K , America Australia and Israel. If you interested in subscribing via Pay Pal please use this link: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/richmuirhead/cryptozoology/ This link here shows the cover of Flying Snake 1 : http://www.flyingsnakepress.co.uk Finally, whilst all issues 1 – 7 are available to purchase within about two weeks of me receiving your order, it should be noted that the front cover volume and issue numbering ran from Volume 1 issue 1 to Volume 2 issue 2, then Volume 2 issue 6, Volume 3 issue 7 In other words eaach Volume comprises 3 issues. Cover price was £ 3 up to and including Volume 1 issue 3 and £3.99 thereafter. Checks payable to Richard Muirhead not Flying Snake. 112 High St, Macclesfield, SK11 7QQ. Thanks to Ghostman Raines for giving me this opportunity to write for him and thanks too to all my contributers.
Thanks very much indeed.
ReplyDeleteThe phrase should be "an otter with spots in Ireland"
ReplyDelete