THE BIGFOOT FILES/Chapter Sixty-Nine: Bog Beast

“The terror was in the legends.” 

From that opening line – “The terror was in the legends,” Bog Beast by Massachusetts author Brian Gatto displays a nostalgic respect and knowledge of cryptids that saturates the 161-page book. Plus it’s just plain fun.

Released in February by Raven Tale Publishing, the novella features at least one legendary beast and a father-son relationship complicated by past tragedy. Much of the fun from reading Bog Beast is discovering if the creature is a vengeful grizzly bear, a Nandi bear, a Bigfoot, or a legendary Arkansas aquatic reptile known as the Arking. Or something else. 

The main characters in the book are the woodsy hermit Moe and his son Jake who’s studying cryptozoology in college. The story starts fast when Jake receives a frantic call from his estranged father saying, “I think it’s back.” When Jake asks what, Moe replies, “The thing that killed your mom and brother.” 

Jake quickly assembles a crew to journey to Moe’s isolated farm in Arkansas and investigate. The crew includes his friend Phillip, their cryptozoology professor Albert, and Albert’s sexy daughter Eva. There is some melodrama amongst the characters with ex-girlfriends, the professor’s obsession with the pliosaur, and the father-son dynamic. 

However, the looming shadow of the beast is what propels the story forward fueled by Jake’s painful ties to the creature via the death of his family members years ago. Evidence like a dead hog crammed in a tree, mangled dog pens, and a buck’s torn head illustrate the power of the elusive beast. All of it leads to an action-packed finale that veers wildly– and I mean wildly — into extreme horror territory by the end.

The author Gatto loves writing creature features and has penned books about crocodiles, giant crabs, and deep-sea predators. Croc Attack, Croc Attack 2, Limbs, and Extant are among his most popular books. 

In an exclusive interview with The Bigfoot Files, Gatto discusses Bog Beast and shares his passion for cryptids and what he thinks about the real-world Bigfoot phenomenon. The interview includes spoilers for Bog Beast. 

Brian Gatto

“I grew up with the Sci-Fi channel,” Gatto says. “Back in the day before it became Syfy, the old school network era was king of my television. I probably watched movies I shouldn’t have at that age, but it shaped who I became and my passion for creature horror. I love Bigfoot because he scares me. The idea of being toyed with, chased, and then killed frightens me to my core. The Loch Ness Monster and El Chupacabra are fun to think about too. In all honesty, I want to see more cryptid-based horror, especially in the film industry. There are plenty of books out there to adapt.” 

Gatto created his own cryptids for Bog Beast, including the titular creature and another called the Arking. 

“Bog beast is an original creature closer to a Nandi bear than a Bigfoot but still somewhere in between,” Gatto says. “Arking was something I made up. It is a name that combines the words Arkansas and King. It may or may not appear in some form or another in the future.” 

The climactic finish of Bog Beast is a shocker, and I asked Gatto if that was the original ending. 

“As is the case with most books I write, and I assume a lot of authors deal with this too, the ending was different originally,” Gatto says. “Originally a certain character was to die much earlier on, but I saved their demise for a much more savage climax.” 

Gatto’s first completed book Wildman was about a Bigfoot creature, and he hopes to rewrite that one along with his other two self-published books, Chomp and Rattack. Bog Beast began as the rewrite for Wildman, but Gatto “wanted to make Wildman a much larger scale story and was in the mood for a more straightforward approach” with Bog Beast. 

“There will be a sequel,” Gatto says of Bog Beast. “The cliffhanger at the end was not fully set up beyond a want for revenge. The ideas left to toy with in a sequel are too good to pass up. I hope to start a sequel soon. I have other projects I am focusing on at the moment.” 

I asked Gatto why Bigfoot remains so prevalent in pop culture today and if he believes it’s real. 

“People love to discover things that are possibly fictional and internal,” Gatto says. “They want to make a name for themselves and be remembered in their lifetime beyond just mere existing. It’s a feeling of self-satisfaction. It’s not a bad thing at all. I myself strive to be thought of by the public long after I am gone. That being said, Bigfoot is a mysterious beast in their entirety. From the very idea of them to the way in which it is assumed they behave. I think diehard Bigfoot fans want to connect with this creature in this way. No need for Bigfoot to show off. That is what makes them so infamous. It may also be why people find interest in them. That and they are really interesting specimens. The ultimate hide-and-seek champions. There are plenty of things in the wilderness that could be construed as Bigfoot. I do believe there is something out there, but, as for the creatures themselves, it’s a coin toss for me. I want to believe.”

AUTHOR LINK: https://www.facebook.com/brian.gatto.5

NEXT UP: Chapter Seventy: Bigfoot Ridge. I review the 2024 novella by C.E. Osborn.

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