Can You Catch a Swamp Monster?: An Interactive Monster Hunt

By Eric Braun

In this interactive chapter book, YOU are a reporter for a top-ranked mystery podcast, and you’re out to crack the biggest case yet: Do swamp monsters exist? To find out, you’ll investigate some of history’s greatest swamp monster mysteries, including the Lizard Man, the Australian Bunyip, and the Honey Island Swamp Monster of Louisiana. Will you catch a real-life monster or become part of the legend? It’s up to YOU! With dozens of choices, you can follow the clues to the end. Which path will YOU CHOOSE to discover the truth?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
• Release date: Aug 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781666336818

Eric Braun

Eric Braun has written dozens of books for readers of all ages and edited hundreds more. He is a McKnight fellow and a nice fellow, and he likes to ride his bike really far and really fast. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife and two sons, some of whose antics have found their way into his books (unbeknownst to them).

Book preview

About Your Adventure

YOU are a reporter for a top-ranked mystery podcast, and you’re out to crack the biggest case yet: Do swamp monsters exist? To find out, you’ll investigate some of history’s greatest swamp monsters. Will you catch a real-life monster or become part of the legend?

Chapter One sets the scene. Then you choose which path to read. Follow the links at the bottom of each page as you read the stories. The decisions you make will change your outcome. After you finish one path, go back and read the others for new perspectives and more adventures. Use your device's back buttons or page navigation to jump back to your last choice.

CHAPTER 1

Monstercast

For years, you’ve been a reporter for a podcast about strange happenings called Don’t Turn Out the Light. You’ve reported stories about unsolved mysteries, stolen treasure, UFOs, and a guy who claimed he could read people’s minds. Your work has taken you all over the world. You’ve been in haunted mansions, abandoned mines, secret gangster hideouts, and exotic cities.

An illustration of a Rougarou, a werewolf-looking creature with thick fur, a muscular build, and pointy ear, walking through a swamp.

Depictions of swamp monsters vary widely from place to place. In New Orleans, Louisiana, a hairy, werewolf-like creature known as Rougarou supposedly haunts local swamps.

One thing you love about your job is finding out what’s really going on behind these mysteries. Most of the time, there’s an easy explanation. The ghost of Donner Pass turned out to be a local rancher. The rancher used a hologram to scare away developers who wanted to put a shopping center near his land.

Sometimes, though, there’s no good explanation for the story—and that’s what you really love about the job. True mystery! You never figured out how that guy was so good at reading minds. Maybe he really did have a superpower. And UFOs? You must admit, some of those stories are very convincing.

You’ve always been interested in swamp monster stories, and the way they can turn a community upside down. At the weekly meeting with your producer, Lizzie, you tell her that you’d like to do a story on one of these.

Hot tamale! Lizzie says, slapping her palms onto the table. That’s a great idea. If we find a good one, we could probably get a full season out of it.

Lizzie always dresses in a collared T-shirt and jeans. It gives her a professional look that masks her daring and courage.

You know she’ll want to go with you to report the story—and she’ll probably lead the charge into the swamp.

You’re already thinking about the exciting trip into some muddy, gator-filled swamp as you do research. You narrow it down to three types of monsters that you might investigate. The Honey Island Swamp Monster is an apelike creature that lives in Louisiana. People call it the "Cajun Sasquatch." The Lizard Man of Lee County has been spotted by several witnesses in South Carolina. Then there’s the Bunyip—a mysterious creature that lives in the billabongs of Australia.

To hunt the Honey Island Swamp Monster, press here.

To search for the Lizard Man of Lee County, press here.

To follow the Bunyip of Australia, press here.

CHAPTER 2

The Honey Island Swamp Monster

You and Lizzie fly to New Orleans and rent a car. As Lizzie drives you away from the city and into the countryside, you review your notes on the monster. It’s a hot, muggy summer day, and you have the windows up