The Almanac of the Infamous, the Incredible, and the Ignored is a fact-collector’s dream directory of history’s mysteries and unexplained events — rich with original illustrations throughout. An outstanding trivia and reference book for any lover of unusual lore, each date has one or more historical events, a quote, an illustration, and a “secret power.” Topics include the Crystal Skull, UFO encounters, and other enigmas of nature, uncanny experiments in science, coincidences, the unsolved and the downright peculiar.
This collection offers cultural historical analyses of enfreakment and freak shows, examining the social construction and spectacular display of wondrous, monstrous, or curious Otherness in the formerly relatively neglected region of Continental Europe. Forgotten stories are uncovered about freak-show celebrities, medical specimen, and philosophical fantasies presenting the anatomically unusual in a wide range of sites, including curiosity cabinets, anatomical museums, and traveling circus acts. The essays explore the locally specific dimensions of the exhibition of extraordinary bodies within their particular historical, cultural and political context. Thus the impact of the Nazi eugenics programs, state Socialism, or the Chernobyl catastrophe is observed closely and yet the transnational dimensions of enfreakment are made obvious through topics ranging from Jesuit missionaries’ diabolization of American Indians, to translations of Continental European teratology in British medical journals, and the Hollywood silver screen’s colonization of European fantasies about deformity. Although Continental European freaks are introduced as products of ideologically-infiltrated representations, they also emerge as embodied subjects endowed with their own voice, view, and subversive agency.
A wise, helpful book that provides practical tools for one of modern life's greatest challenges -- Change. True help for everyone -- no matter what difficult or exciting transition you are in! Provides a model based on the four seasons to help align you with natural forces. Using a simple questionnaire, you can discover where you are in your transition process, how to move forward, and how to not get off track. Includes advice for building a strong support network for times of change.
An A-to-Z resource on paranormal phenomena, with illustrations. Stranded motorists on a lonesome road are rescued by angels. The phone rings with a call from beyond the grave. A blood-sucking predator is sighted in the south of Texas. The Weiser Field Guide to the Paranormal is your gateway into the world beyond the known. Covering topics from cryptids to psychics, telekinesis to telepathy, this concise, alphabetized handbook will guide you through the eerie, the undeniable, and the strange world of the paranormal. Once upon a time, events like ghost sightings were commonplace. Parlors were redecorated to accommodate seance rituals, and ghost stories poured from the culture. Psychic occurrences and abilities might have been feared and disliked, but they were accepted as a normal part of life. Today, we are experiencing a resurgence of all things paranormal. Join paranormal investigator and psychic Judith Joyce as she delves into this world with haunting detail and illuminating clarity. Joyce touches on all of the major aspects of paranormal phenomena, and more. Do you have telepathic powers? Can the Ouija board really speak from the Other Side? Use this paranormal primer to find out.
A fascinating, beautifully illustrated guide to the monsters that are part of our collective psyche, featuring stories from the Lore podcast—now a streaming television series—including “They Made a Tonic,” “Passed Notes,” and “Unboxed,” as well as rare material. They live in shadows—deep in the forest, late in the night, in the dark recesses of our minds. They’re spoken of in stories and superstitions, relics of an unenlightened age, old wives’ tales, passed down through generations. Yet no matter how wary and jaded we have become, as individuals or as a society, a part of us remains vulnerable to them: werewolves and wendigos, poltergeists and vampires, angry elves and vengeful spirits. In this beautifully illustrated volume, the host of the hit podcast Lore serves as a guide on a fascinating journey through the history of these terrifying creatures, exploring not only the legends but what they tell us about ourselves. Aaron Mahnke invites us to the desolate Pine Barrens of New Jersey, where the notorious winged, red-eyed Jersey Devil dwells. He delves into harrowing accounts of cannibalism—some officially documented, others the stuff of speculation . . . perhaps. He visits the dimly lit rooms where séances take place, the European villages where gremlins make mischief, even Key West, Florida, home of a haunted doll named Robert. In a world of “emotional vampires” and “zombie malls,” the monsters of folklore have become both a part of our language and a part of our collective psyche. Whether these beasts and bogeymen are real or just a reflection of our primal fears, we know, on some level, that not every mystery has been explained and that the unknown still holds the power to strike fear deep in our hearts and souls. As Aaron Mahnke reminds us, sometimes the truth is even scarier than the lore. The World of Lore series includes: MONSTROUS CREATURES • WICKED MORTALS • DREADFUL PLACES
The investigation continues . . . A skeptical ghost hunter teams with a medium to investigate paranormal mysteries. More Ghost Chronicles will provide a unique perspective into the lives of people touched by the paranormal. Ron, with his down-to-earth scientific approach, and Maureen, with her psychic insight, will take you on yet another journey into the realm of the unknown, the unexplained, and the unbelievable. Readers will join Maureen and Ron on their investigations throughout the Northeast and beyond. Their travels take them to Portsmouth, NH where the caretaker seeks to learn more about the strange happenings at the windswept Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse and to Georgia where they hunt for the true identity of Button Wood’s spirit, General Beauregard, as well as to Daniel Lady Farm in Gettysburg, PA, widely considered one of the most haunted locations in America. This book also includes follow-ups to the investigations compiled in the original Ghost Chronicles book.
A tour guide and founder of Gothic Milwaukee shares the spine-tingling tales of the Beer City's famous, and not so famous, specters and legends. Beneath Milwaukee's calm façade, its ghastly past awaits. The overbearing spirit of Frederick Pabst keeps persistent watch over the mansion that shares his name. The remains of the Newhall House Fire, the city's deadliest disaster, may lie beneath a new building, but those who lost their lives that night refuse to rest in peace. Even the suburbs hold their share of ghoulish secrets, including the furtive dwarves of Haunchyville, the fabled Bray Road Beast and the stubborn spirits lurking in Deacon West's house. “A breeze—a spine-tingling breeze—to read. It's extremely well crafted, organized into deliciously digestible segments and laden with descriptive yet straight-forward language. Lardinois stocks the stories with so many peculiar historical tidbits that the text is simultaneously scary, fascinating and educational. (Did you know the ashes of the founder of The Skylight Theater are still beneath the stage?)” —OnMilwaukee.com
The author of The Book of the Bizarre returns with a new compendium of freaky facts, terrifying trivia, and true stories that are stranger than fiction. In Beyond Bizarre, Varla Ventura presents an all-new batch of nightmarish tales that teem queasy diseases and paranormal encounters—not to mention the outrageous, outlandish, and the simply strange. Arranged into thirteen chilling chapters like Haunted Hollywood, Tales from the Cryptids, Bride of the Bizarre, and It’s Enough to Make You Hurl, Beyond Bizarre tackles everything from female pirates and creepy candy stripers to psychic predictions, virgin shark births and much, much more. A word of warning: this book is not for the faint of heart!
From the legend of the Crystal Skull to UFO encounters to spontaneous human cumbustion, this directory of 365 days teeming with history's mysteries and unexplained events.
