Virginia Republican House candidate Denver Riggleman addressed opponent Democrat Leslie Cockburn’s charges that he is a “devotee of Bigfoot erotica” on Monday, telling the Daily Beast that he is merely interested in the belief systems surrounding the mythical beast, and that he will push on with his next Bigfoot installment.

“For me, the book really is an anthropological study on all the people who believe in Bigfoot and the different Bigfoot belief systems out there. That’s it,” Riggleman told the Daily Beast. “This is a real subculture in the United States and it’s hundreds of thousands of people that believe.”

“It has nothing to do with Bigfoot erotica, which makes me laugh by the way,” he added. “I’m sure Bigfoot erotica writers are excited everywhere.”

Riggleman’s first foray into Bigfoot literature was “Bigfoot Exterminators Inc: The Partially Cautionary, Mostly True Tale of Monster Hunt 2006,” which he co-authored.

His next work will be titled “Mating Habits of Bigfoot and Why Women Want Him.” He insists that he will not change the title, despite the flurry of erotic speculation.

“I’m not gonna change the title,” Riggleman told the Daily Beast “Absolutely not. It’s funny, I love it.”

While the world waits on tenterhooks for Riggleman’s next Bigfoot saga, he insists: it’s all academic.

“When you interview people that have different belief systems, you start to see that there’s even different belief systems within the Bigfoot community,” Riggleman said to the Daily Beast “And it’s a little bit like politics.”

Riggleman and Cockburn are duking it out for Rep. Thomas Garrett’s seat in Virginia’s 5th District, which he will vacate in the aftermath of charges of mistreatment by aides and the revelation that he struggles with alcoholism.