Well, you must be some crafty son of a bitch if you managed to get your hands on this book, or perhaps you just managed to snag it off of my cold, lifeless corpse, assuming there'll be anything left. If the later be the case than you're not just crafty, you're like me; a Hunter, but if not then... I might have to explain a few things.

If you are still reading these pages then depending on your circumstances fortune is smiling down on you or the universe wants you dead. Either way, you're the one holding this journal, not me.

I'll start be asking you this.

Remember when you were just a snot-nosed pipsqueak causing trouble for your parents, and every night when you went to sleep in your little PJs tucked in under your sheets but then stayed awake just a little longer than you should've? It wasn't because you were still hyped up on a sugar rush after scarfing down all the sweets in the pantry when you were told NOT to.

No. That's just the "rational"part of your brain talking.

Rational; oh how despicable that word has become for me.

The real reason why was because you thought there was a monster under your bed, skulking in the darkness between the mattress and floorboards, waiting to gnaw at your tasty little ankles.

Well, chances are, there probably was.

Goblins most likely. They like the smell of dirty socks for some reason. But I'm getting ahead of myself. This world we live in, the society that modern humans made, likes to convince us that we are the only sentient beings on the planet, that the only monsters that exist are the ones we put in movies.

Just like how we thought Earth was flat, or that the holocaust never happened, or that disco would come back.

Getting the point yet?

See, Earth is home to a whole bunch of intelligent races-though some being more intelligent than others -there are THOUSANDS of them. Our ancestors labeled most of them as monsters, beasts, yokai, demons, the list goes on.

So why are we not aware of them today? Because we're morons with the memory span of a trout. But I must sound like some kind of crazy conspiracy theorist. I've been called worse.

On the rare occasion I am not described in some form of profanity, folks call me Crane.

Before you start wondering it, YES, as in the Ichabod Crane. I'm just his descendant though, a very... distant one.Yeah, yeah the guy was real, seriously this should be the least surprising fact.

The stories, I'll admit, didn't get my ancestor's character quite right, but they certainly got the Horseman down.

Scratch the flaming pumpkin.

Seriously why the hell would a ghost throw jack-o-lanterns at people when he'd chop their heads off instead?

But Ichabod did indeed encounter the Headless Horseman, but it was less it chasing him and more him chasing it. But I guess that wouldn't make much for a compelling ghost story. But there are others out there, hunters, the people that know what really goes on in the night. Granted there isn't much of us around anymore. Probably because we weren't the typical kind that would go after prancing bucks or gullible pheasants. I speak for myself at least that I'd prefer that overall. Most family businesses are something you could easily believe, like, running a mechanic shop or owning a restaurant, you know, something that stays within the borders of "normal". But my family's line is etched with the deeds of individuals like me and my ancestor whom have shared in the dark and bloody business of hunting monsters.

Ichabod was one of others that professionalized in pursuing nightmarish beasties that once terrorized the land, wasn't just his bloodline either. However, things are a little different now in the twenty first century. Things have become more...sophisticated.

More reformed in a way.

Now of days most monsters have become much like humans, in fact, a lot of them have clever disguises to fool the ignorant masses. Most of them are just trying to get by, not cause any trouble like they had in the past.

Sounds progressive right?

But that's what they have in common with us humans. Every kind of people, no matter what race, color, or even species, have their fair share of criminals.

The nutters, the wild ones, the broken, the psychos, the kind that still think mass gore orgies is trendy.

Ya know, the real monsters.

And there is still a lot of beasties just like'em.

That's why people like me are still around; the morons, the idiots, and the down right insane.

So I guess you could call me that too. But look, I've been around a lot, learned some nasty things, and seen even worse.

But what I am writing in the journal could very well be my last words. I trapped, ye see. Stuck in a place that I am still trying my best to understand despite everything else I have learned. Every time I think I find an answer only leaves me with more questions. So, as I said before, if you are in the same predicament as I was, then I'd strongly suggest you keep reading, maybe it'll help you more than me. Perhaps you'll even notice something I missed or overlooked.

I will say that there is this one, undeniable fact that I discovered while trapped here. May not be the most important one, but at least it'll prepare you, presuming you end up meeting...them.

And if there is one thing that I have learned here that is indisputable is that kids are a pain-in-the-ass.