ORION MAGAZINE: The Winter 2026 Issue features  the elusive cryptid—creatures that, despite mysterious sightings, dedicated societies, and extensive mythologizing, have not been scientifically proven to exist. Across the issue, writers grapple with questions of belief: Why do we want to believe in the things that we do? What might our enthusiastic focus on creatures like Bigfoot be preventing us from seeing, and protecting, in the real world? What do the stories we tell about the natural world really reveal about ourselves? Ranging from the playful to the impassioned, the fantastical to the deadly serious, Cryptids: On the Trail of Bigfoot and Other Improbable Beasts offers a tour through a menagerie both real and imagined. Inside:

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  Jeff VanderMeer asks what the widespread fascination with Bigfoot might be preventing people from appreciating in the world around them
• J. Drew Lanham wades into the debates about the extinction of the ivory-billed woodpecker
• Tove Danovich investigates a bizarre pattern of cattle mutilations in the West
• Katherine Cusumano dives into the myths and the muck of the Gowanus Canal
• Lance Richardson retraces the steps of Peter Matthiessen in his legendary quest for the snow leopard