The Chupacabra is a creature that I have always heard about, but never really paid much attention to; so when I saw a book about a topic of which I knew nothing about I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to learn about something new and interesting. I was not let down. Benjamin Radford, the author of this book, went above and beyond in looking into the legendary Chupacabra. Not only did he meticulously research all of the previous myths, legends, and history behind the beast but he also took it upon himself to go on his own search for the Chupacabra in the jungles of Nicaragua.
At the start of the book he discretely leads the reader to believe that he is skeptical about the existence of the Chupacabra, but he does not let his skepticism get in the way of his research. He starts of with the history of how the monster came to be; the legend began in Puerto Rico and spread over the years to other Latin American countries and eventually the United States. While talking about each of the different places where the Chupacabra has been seen he mentions that the differences in the descriptions of the creatures differ greatly which he applies to the fallacy of eyewitness testimony. His examination of eyewitnesses throughout the entire book proves as his main point as to why it is difficult to believe that a monster like this truly exists. To delve even deeper into the history, he takes his time and researches into the history of vampires and how the Chupacabra has affected popular culture. This is the first time he brings up the point that the Chupacabra is an explanation for people to explain why bad things are happening in their communities. For example, the Chupacabra conveniently began during a period in Puerto Rican history where there was much stress and great crisis. In regards to pop culture he classifies the general public into three categories: the believers, the skeptics (the ones that believe that something is doing this) who make up the majority of the population, and the non-believers. He also brings up a good point by saying that many of the people who believe in and are scared of the Chupacabra are the people who could potentially be affected by the monster, such as people with large ranches.
Something that makes him stand out from the typical skeptic is that instead of just stating the facts from the past, he himself traveled into the into the jungle of Nicaragua to try and find the Chupacabra itself. In the book he gives a day-by-day description of how his search progressed. They found multiple footprints that were thought to be from the Chupacabra but ended up being explained by the guide as various jungle creatures. While there, his guide debunked his theory of Puerto Rican famers believing in the Chupacabra because he says that the local farmers are not scared of the Chupacabra nor are they believers that a monster like that even exists. Despite this disappointment, he continues his journey with the mindset that “absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”
After a failed journey on his own, he goes into a detailed account of the most significant Chupacabra sightings and talks about what went wrong with each individual’s “sighting.” This method is effective because he not only is able to take the most credible accounts of the Chupacabra and lists the reasons why it could be true and why it is most likely false. Most of the reasoning for why it is false relies on eyewitness testimony and DNA evidence from bodies that were found. The common bodies that were thought to be Chupacabras included raccoons, dogs, and coyotes. He goes into particular detail into one of the closest encounters to a Chupacabra. The woman in this encounter claims to have seen a Chupacabra and then found its body weeks later in her driveway. She convinced herself that because it did not look like a normal coyote then it must be a Chupacabra. Radford goes into detail about all of the steps and processes that took place in this story because there were many people who truly believed that this woman had found a Chupacabra.
The final section of this book truly distinguishes it from other researchers on the topic. Instead of just ending the book and stating that Chupacabras are indeed a myth, Radford delves deeper into the topic and gives his honest opinions and beliefs on not only why the rumored beast continues to spread but also what animal or reason could be behind the murder of all of the animals that died. He talks about fact that eyewitness testimonies are not credible because many times, especially during times of stress, people will fill in the blanks of what they cannot remember with the things they expect to see. He also talks about the mechanics behind why observers thought their animals had been drained completely of blood. From influence by the United States Government to a creature sent from heaven as a sign of the apocalypse, Radford does and excellent job of completely taking apart piece by piece the face, fiction, and folklore of this infamous monster. I recommend this book to anyone who has any remote interest in learning about the Chupacabra or who is planning on going on a search for one on his or her own. This book does not necessarily completely rule out the possibility of the existence of the Chupacabra, but proves it to be highly unlikely.
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