The 5 Greatest Books Featuring Cryptids

The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
One of the most beloved fantasy novels ever written, Beagle’s wonderful story about a unicorn on a quest to discover what became of the rest of her kind is touching, poignant, and just generally lovely. On her journey, the unicorn finds friendship and love, experiences loss, and learns a great deal about existence. A beautiful and warmly written fable, The Last Unicorn is a wonderful book for anyone from middle-grade readers to the adults who have doubtless enjoyed it many times before.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, by Newt Scamander (J. K. Rowling)
The book any witch or wizard would ignore at their peril, no magical home library is complete without Scamander’s classic text—now it’s available to Muggle readers as well. We too can learn to recognize the Demiguise, the Phoenix, and the Werewolf…not that it will do very much good, because if you do see any of the magical creatures described in Fantastic Beasts, you’ll likely be hit with a memory charm in short order. But the book also includes a fascinating overview of the legal framework governing the management of magical beasts, which you’ll likely be able to remember; margin notes by the famous Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermoine Granger; and best of all, the proceeds go to Comic Relief.

Proof, by Alex Grecian and Riley Rossmo
This delightful comic book series has it all: the protagonist is a Sasquatch named John “Proof” Prufock who wears a suit and works for a secret government agency called The Lodge, hunting cryptids. He and his partner have tracked El Chupacabra, saved baby dinosaurs, battled yetis, solved the murder of the Dover Demon, and generally come across more mysterious creatures than even the most devoted lover of cryptid literature could ask for. Also: beware the fairies, because they’ll totally try to eat you.

The Brides of Rollrock Island, by Margo Lanagan
It’s been theorized that the legend of the selkies—beings who are seals in the sea but shed their seal coats to become (usually very beautiful) humans on land—stems from a time when early Scottish settlers encountered Finnish or Laplander women in sealskin kayaks and clothing. The legend may not say a lot about those settlers’ powers of observation, but it’s a beautiful and sad one, used to lovely effect in Lanagan’s well-received book about a witch who takes revenge upon Rollrock Island by giving the men selkie-wives, who, in the way of selkies, must always long for the sea.

Among Others, by Jo Walton
“This isn’t a nice story, and this isn’t an easy story. But it is a story about fairies, so feel free to think of it as a fairy story. It’s not like you’d believe it anyway.”
So warns the narrator in the beginning pages of Among Others, one of the best books, period, that I’ve read in the last decade (the award circuit agreed—it won both the 2011 Nebula and the 2012 Hugo). There are indeed fairies, which are somehow exactly how they should be while not bearing much resemblance to those we grew up with, and if you love fairy tales you should read it, and if you love magic you should read it, and if you love twisty autobiographies you should read it, and if you love boarding school stories you should read it…oh, just read it. You get the idea.
What’s your favorite fantastic beast in fiction?