Nick Redfern

Kirtha’s (Krystal Kave) Review of ”There’s Something in the Woods”:

Nick Redfern’s latest book “There’s Something in the Woods” is the third in a series about his research into the weird, wonderful, and almost certainly paranormal, creatures of cryptozoology. It’s a much darker book than the two previous ones. This volume mainly concentrates on the strange entities that keep being seen throughout the UK, but there are also a few chapters about strange events across the Atlantic.I really felt for Dana, Nick’s wife, as I’m sure she went through hell at times while following Nick around on some of his monster investigations, especially in their search for the Man-Monkey of the Shropshire Union Canal in the Midlands of the UK, detailed in Chapter 2 “The Devil-Monkey.” It includes the story of Nick’s research, and the terror of their overnight camping trip. At the very end of the chapter her fear was palpable.

The two chapters about UK Crop circles, and their makers, were fascinating. The first of these chapters gives a most revealing insight into how, and why, they are made. And the second one tells of some of the mystery beings, and bizarre phenomena, that are frequently associated with them.

But, overall, I thought that Chapter 8 “Terror in the Trailer,” one of the shortest chapters, was the most frightening. It records the time they spent staying in a trailer home outside Fort Worth, Texas. It tells of the weirdness they encountered there, and the possible Bigfoot that prowled around their temporary home.

Many book reviews give details of exactly what the book contains, but I think that would spoil the enjoyment of reading it. Suffice it to say that if you’re a fan of Nick Redfern, which I most definitely am, you will want to read this book right through to the end without putting it down.

At he back of the book is a gallery of pictures associated with some of the cases Nick refers to in the text. This is followed by an interesting and comprehensive list of references and then, finally, a good index. This information is a real treat as, with so many books published in the USA, you find no indexing of any sort.

Being a Brit I loved this book because it contains so many stories about the weird things that might be unexpectedly stumbled upon in the countryside of my homeland.

I’ll never look on woods and forests in the same way again!

Lee Prosser’s Ghostvillage.com review of “Memoirs of a Monster Hunter: A Five-Year Journey in Search of the Unknown”:

Nick Redfern is a well-known author in the field of the supernatural. He has written many books including Strange Secrets. He also writes for Fate and UFO, among other magazines. Those new to his writing will find this book makes for exciting reading. This is Nick Redfern’s five-year journey in search of the unknown. 

Along the way, Nick Redfern chronicles his highly surreal trip, which includes encounters with chupacabras, goat-men, werewolves, gargoyles, living dinosaurs, giant birds, and other creatures. Redfern investigates things that go bump in the night in an up-close and very personal manner. 

Well-written, this is an entertaining book reading experience. It should capture a wide reading audience with its unique encounters. Roswell, New Mexico and its extraterrestrials are also covered in this book and there is a photo of the Roswell UFO Museum on page 234. 

There are sixteen chapters in the book, plus a detailed resources section and index. Among the topics covered are tales from Taos, New Mexico, fangs, fur, and flies, monsters of the Big Thicket, spectral animals, creatures of the black lagoon, in search of vampires, on the track of Bigfoot, and back to the Island of Blood. Each chapter will hold the reader spellbound! 

This is the type of book which makes for enjoyable reading entertainment, and a unusual education into the unknown as witnessed by Nick Redfern. If you are looking for something lively, with an ironic sense of humor, then this is also going to be a treat for you to read. 

Nick Redfern knows his monsters, and he shares them with his reading audience. Highly recommended entertainment.

Linda Godfrey, author of “Hunting the American Werewolf” on “Man-Monkey”:

I would buy Nick Redfern’s new book, Man-Monkey: In Search of the British Bigfoot, for the title and charming British place names alone: Grubstreet, Cannock Chase, and Shugborough Hall. Sounds like a landscape straight out of Harry Potter. But the hairy, apelike creature that has haunted this part of the British Isles since 1879 is anything but kid-stuff. Sightings that included a giant “chimpanzee”, a large and hairy, upright bear, a werewolf-like “Moon Beast” and more became the targets of Redfern’s five-year, on-site investigation. In the course of his work, Redfern scrounged up forgotten old files, interviewed dozens of witnesses, and quaffed endless flasks of tea in his hunt for the truth about this furry fiend. Redfern examines explanations from the natural to the Fortean, allowing that the ancient myth of the shape-shifting Kelpie just may play a part in these strange appearances. This book is an important contribution to the annals of furry, upright creature lore and belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in unidentified animals or unexplained mysteries.

Publisher’s Weekly on Celebrity Secrets:

This collection offers a roundup of the titillating, mundane, hilarious and unusual information gathered by government agencies-including the FBI, CIA and military-on more than 20 celebrities. Collected through Freedom of Information Act requests, this provides a quick-reading peek into the files of Errol Flynn, John Wayne, Billie Holiday and Princess Diana, among others. Each chapter provides a brief bio, explains why the government investigated and then lays open the file, highlighting details both juicy and inane and answering some frequently asked celebrity quesitons: Was John Lennon funding Irish terrorism? Was Frank Sinatra really in league with the mob? Why was Jimi Hendrix discharged from the Army? And what in the hell were the Kingsmen singing about, anyway? Frequently, the motivation behind an agency’s interest is the most intriguing part of the file; Rock Hudson, for example, was tailed by the FBI because he was slated to portray one of their own in a film. Several dozen short entries round up the book, covering Lucille Ball, Jack London and the Sex Pistols, to name a few. This title is satisfying both as a repository of quick and dirty celebrity trivia and as a revealing cross-section of Washington’s long, tense relationship with Hollywood.

Publisher’s Weekly on Three Men Seeking Monsters:

Ufologist Redfern (Cosmic Crashes, etc.) and two paranormally inclined pals, Jonathon Downes and Richard Freeman, take the reader for a rollicking, often alcohol-infused ride in a camper during the summer of 2001, “chasing monsters around the British countryside.” Redfern dredges up a number of secondhand, sometimes centuries-old accounts of “de-evolved” humans and other odd creatures, even once citing Daniel Defoe, an author well known for his tendency to mix fact and fiction, on the existence of wild men in the West Country. At one point Redfern remarks, “Jon was unsure of the cause of all this mystery and mayhem, but speculated that some form of ethereal, superior intelligence coexisted with us-and had done so for millennia-and that, for reasons of its own, was constantly manipulating and molding the human mind with images of bizarre and unexplained phenomena.” Some may feel that’s as good an explanation as any for the elusive beings they investigate. At the end of their quest, Redfern and his colleagues weren’t disappointed-nor will like-minded readers be after finishing this cheerful excursion into the occult fringe.

Joshua P. Warren, author of Pet Ghosts and How to Hunt Ghosts on Memoirs of a Monster Hunter:

This is one of the best books I’ve read in years. Redfern sweeps you away on his personal adventure. Around the world, from romance, to ghastly beasts, to the cosmos, Redfern has candidly shared the wonders of his young life.

Marie Jones, author of PSIence and Supervolcano on Memoirs of a Monster Hunter:

Memoirs of a Monster Hunter is a wild and wolly five-year odyssey into the unknown, courtesy of one of the premier investigative researchers and authors in the field. Redfern’s adventures and often hilarious antics will leave you breathless.

Bruce Maccabbee, Journal of Scientific Exploration, on On the Trail of the Saucer Spies:

The bottom line, according to Redfern’s well documented book, is that there has been a considerable amount of government spying on ufologists, but it was not so much carried out because of a fear that ufologists would learn government secrets about flying saucers, but rather because the intelligence agencies were afraid that some ufologists were being ‘used,’ willingly or unwillingly, as information sources by foreign intelligence services… Redfern demonstrates that the MIB myth is not without foundation… I recommend this book to everyone and especially to those who have not yet requested a copy of their ‘file.’

Stuart Miller, UFO Review, on Body Snatchers in the Desert:

In Body Snatchers, Nick almost certainly offers the definitive explanation about what happened at Roswell. It may not be what you want to hear because I will tell you right now; it doesn’t involve aliens, but as you read what he says, if your reaction is the same as mine was, then you will find yourself reluctantly coming to the conclusion that he has probably cracked it. As you read it, there is a dreaded sense of feeling that it all just seems to make a horrible sense.

There is a lot to take in and it will be difficult to absorb in one hit but as you do, you will be struck with a further wave of shock as you then consider the implications of what he has to say. They are very, very profound for this subject that we love. 

For others there will be a sense of relief that, as they see it, this albatross is finally removed from around their necks and Ufology can get on with its life unfettered by the distraction of this incident.

I would like to congratulate Nick on what I consider to be a truly excellent piece of research. My feeling is that this may well come to be regarded as his seminal work.

Strange Secrets Reviews:

Publishers Weekly, 2003

Redfern and Roberts, both experienced writers on UFOs and the paranormal, preface their study of real-life X-files by admitting that, “the nature of intelligence work requires agencies to obtain information on just about anything and everything that might conceivably have a bearing on national security.” So it’s no surprise that “documentation on the ‘unknown’ has been created and studied at an official level.” The authors have uncovered such files from the U.S., British and former Soviet governments touching on alien visitations, the use of psychic spies and other strange subjects. A local vampire legend was used by the U.S. in the Philippines as part of a psy-ops program. The authors discuss reports that the British government convened a secret ministerial briefing to discuss the mysterious crop circles that had started appearing in the 1980s. And they explore the possibility that some supposed UFO sightings were actually of highly advanced, secret technology being tested by the U.S. government. This is a trove of entertaining stories for X-files fans and government skeptics.

The Town Talk, 2003

Redfern and Roberts definitely did their research. I hope they do a follow-up. 

A Covert Agenda Reviews:

Daily Express, 1997

Billed as the shocking truth of the British Government’s UFO conspiracy, anyone with a remote interest will be held spellbound by this claimed expose. His book gives much food for thought.

Alien Encounters, 1997

A Covert Agenda is a gripping and utterly readable account of a conspiracy and silence that has allegedly existed at the highest levels of the British Government.

UFO Magazine, 1997

A Covert Agenda is an accomplished and thoroughly fascinating expose of official government and military interest in the phenomenon.