Part of the Weird US series, this title talks about the strange things to see in California, from the Pitch Monster of La Brea to the ghost of Elvis (yes, he really is dead), and from the biggest pineapple in the world to the smallest museum in America.

    The Pilgrims probably landed here first, and recorded history got the geography wrong, because really, everything started here. We have the Yankees and the Mets, plus the Giants and the Jets, even if they are, for some weird reason, in New Jersey. And we have trout, lots of cows, the Catskills, the Baseball Hall of Fame, a really big waterfall, and we're the birthplace of Martin Van Buren and Millard Fillmore, for Pete's sake.But there's something else, something we've got so much more of. We've got a great big quantity of . . . weirdness. Yes, our level of bizarreness is so high that we enticed an out of stater to become a New Yorker and chronicle it all. With notepad in hand and apples in pocket for nourishment, author Chris Gethard scouted the state's highways and byways in search of the odd and the offbeat. He tracked down impossible-to-believe tales, only to discover odd grains of truth that give the stories just enough credibility to make one feel . . . slightly uneasy.So turn the pages and visit Long Island's Big Duck, travel down Moan and Groan Road in, of all places, a town called Hope, and sample the Jell-O Museum in Le Roy. Drive by the abandoned insane asylums that blanket the state?big surprise. By all means avoid the screaming and gunshots of House Road, but do coast up Spook Rock Road, say hi to Jumper and Grumpy at America's largest pet cemetery, and knock on Eunice Welsh's crypt (she might knock back). Be lured into the water, if you're really dumb, by the Lady of Lake Ronkonkoma, and next time you're in Staten Island, beware of Bigfoot?he's found his way out there.Yes, it's a grand state, and it's clear why we all sing "I Love New York" with such fervor. A brand-new entry in the best-selling Weird U.S. series, Weird New York is filled with all the good stuff your history teacher never taught you. So get on the road with Chris for a great adventure. We guarantee it'll make you love New York that much more.Chris Gethard served as the associate editor of Weird NJ magazine for over four years. While there he helped write and edit the book, Weird NJ, and co-authored its follow-up, Weird U.S. Chris is also an actor and comedian, has contributed writing to shows on Comedy Central, and has acted on a number of TV programs, including Late Night with Conan O'Brien. He is a performer and teacher at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in Manhattan.Chris grew up in West Orange, New Jersey, a few short blocks from the laboratory where Thomas Edison once put on public electrocutions of a variety of animals. Now he lives in Astoria, Queens, just a stone's throw from the Hell Gate section of the East River where over one thousand people perished in the General Slocum steamboat fire of 1904.

    But we dug a little deeper and found all kinds of local legends, bizarre beasts, surprising cemeteries, and uncovered the best kept secrets from all over the Bay State. Our state certainly celebrates more than just tea parties, the Red Sox and Patriots; folks from Massachusetts cherish their weird history too. Our brave and valiant author, Jeff Belanger, toured the state with camera and notepad in hand as he waded through cranberry bogs and trudged up the Berkshires to uncover the state's odd and offbeat. If it's unusual or unexplainable or fantastic, and in the Bay State, you'll find it all here in Weird Massachusetts. See how the world's biggest elephant now fits into a peanut butter jar and why it brings good luck to students, listen for those unexplained booms in Nashoba, discover the hidden secrets at Wizard's Glen and Altar Rock, escape from the Sea Witch and the Cape Cod Mermaid, check out the Museum of Burnt Food, or eat an apple from one of Isaac Newton's famous apple trees';but whatever you do, don't pick up a red-headed hitchhiker on Route 44. With so many places named after the devil, it's a wonder we're not called the Devil State or the Witch State, but see for yourself at the Witch Museum, dedicated to educating the public on what witchcraft was, and is today; for the really daring, unlock some of the spooky secrets at the Houghton Mansion or stay a night at the Concord's Colonial Inn. Look out for the Pukwudgees, circle around haunted trees in cemeteries, and enjoy one of the longest-named lakes in the world, or try climbing Dighton Rock and unravel the messages in its centuries-old carvings. It's all here. It's all weird and it's all in Massachusetts. A brand-new entry in the best-selling Weird U.S. series, Weird Massachusetts is packed with all that great stuff your history teacher wouldn't teach you. So get ready to join our author on his great adventure. It's a journey you'll never forget!

    Then go gape at the country's largest collection of underwear. After all that, relax at the Bowling Hall of Fame. This new paperback version of Weird Minnesota is a wild and wacky trip you'll never forget.

    Troy Taylor, long a chronicler of the strangest hauntings the Prairie State has to offer, has taken a long, eerie look at the goings-on around here and has come up with more strange stuff than any one state should legally be able to have.With notepad and camera in hand, Troy has traveled the back roads, main roads, and all roads in between in search of the odd and the offbeat. He's tracked down impossible-to-believe tales, only to discover an odd grain of truth that gives the story just enough credibility to make one feel a little . . . uncomfortable. Whether it's a man-eating Piasa Bird, an abandoned insane asylum, mystery airships, or the haunted tomb of a certain famous Abe, Troy has researched and chronicled the story and presents it here for you, fellow admirers of the weird.Turn the pages and visit the hell of Hell Hollow and learn the legend of the Devil's Bake Oven. Find out about the Macomb Fire Starter, the Mad Gasser of Mattoon, and the Curse of Kaskaskia. Go off the beaten path and look for kangaroos and albino squirrels on the loose. Walk down Ghost Hollow Road, see the World's Largest Catsup Bottle, touch Lincoln's lucky nose, gawk at the miniature houses on the prairie, and gaze in puzzlement at the double-deck outhouse and the Leaning Tower of Niles. Read all about the Devil Baby of Hull House, visit the grave of the Chesterville Witch, and meet, if you dare, the demon butcher of Palos Park.A brand-new entry in the best-selling Weird U.S. series, Weird Illinois is packed with all the info about our state that your history teacher never taught you. So join Troy on his great adventure. It's a journey you'll never forget.

    Well…uninhabited by humans, at least. Reports abound of such creatures as flying dinosaurs, goblins, shape shifters, and vicious bloodsuckers. Whether it’s the Mogollon Monsters or the weird Ninimbe (tiny elves anywhere from two inches to three feet tall) Arizona seems to have them, along with killer cacti and the Can Can Merman. Now, that’s weird!

    Praise for Weird Pennsylvania:“Fun, amazing, and arrestingly illustrated.?  —Booklist“…a real fine read and can serve as a travel guide for a trek among the unusual, odd and scary parts of our “weird? state.?  —Pennsylvania Magazine

    Who are we kidding? This is a state where a guy's home is a tree house with an airplane stuck through it for his bedroom. We've got a twenty-foot-tall rabbit sculpture holding an Olympic torch and a tombstone that's a seven-foot-long marble elephant. And there's a flower garden in Toccoa, where a forty-pound iceberg somehow landed. This is great stuff, and nothing moderate about any of it.A better word than moderation? That would be "weirdness." And who better to chronicle the enormous amount of weirdness in Georgia than Jim Miles, a man whose fascination with the bizarre—and with Georgia—is anything but moderate. So with the three P's for sustenance—pecans, peanuts and peaches, of course—and camera and notepad in hand, Jim set out on an extensive tour in search of the odd and the offbeat. He tracked down impossible-to-believe tales, only to discover odd grains of truth that give the stories just enough credibility to make one feel . . .slightly uneasy.So turn the pages and check out Atlanta's own White House; look for the mutant turtle of Berkeley Lake; stroll by the Tomb of the Unknown Shopper; gaze at Georgia's very own Statue of Liberty; Remember Elvis: warts, toenail, and all; hunt down, if you're feeling energetic, the Beast of Pond Road; watch your car roll UP Booger Hill; terrify yourself at abandoned Hawkinsville Hospital; have a chat with the Moon-eyed people; hear the cries for help in Ebenezer's Swamp, and take care not to fall into the Devil's Hopper near Quitman.It's all here. It's all ours. It's all so immoderate.A brand-new entry in the best-selling Weird U.S. series, Weird Georgia is filled with the good stuff your history teacher never taught you. So join Jim on his great adventure through our fabulous oddball state. We promise you—it's a trip.

    Now the weirdness has spread throughout key locales in the U.S. Each fun and intriguing volume offers more than 250 illustrated pages of places where tourists usually don’t venture—it’s chock-full of oddball curiosities, ghostly places, local legends, crazy characters, cursed roads, and peculiar roadside attractions. What’s NOT shockingly odd here: that every previously published Weird book has become a bestseller in its region.

    And it's precisely this offbeat sense of curiosity that led the duo to create Weird N.J. and the successful series that followed. The NOT shocking result? Every Weird book has become a best seller in its region! This best-selling series has sold more than one million copies...and counting! Thirty volumes of the Weird series have been published to great success since Weird New Jersey's 2003 debut.

    That's about it, right? Well, no, not exactly. Florida is also one of the best places to chart your weirdest travel destinations. And who better to chronicle this state's fabled places, roadside wonders, bizarre beasts, and downright peculiar people than Charlie Carlson, a tenth-generation Floridian. All who know Charlie can testify that he is one very strange dude and the perfect person to steer you to Florida's best-kept secrets and oddest legends.Mosquito netting in place and notepad in hand, Charlie has waddled through swamps, trekked the lesser-traveled roads, and visited the weirder destinations of our country's only peninsula state. Looking for the odd and the offbeat, he found them everywhere. He has tracked down impossible-to-believe tales that had just enough truth in them to create the same uneasiness a gator sighting would. Whether it's the Skunk Ape, the Devil's Chair of Cassadaga, or the She-Man of the Caloosahatchee River, Charlie presents it here for you, our fellow admirers of the weird.So act like a tourist and start browsing. You'll be entranced with the beer-can car, the tombstone for Pearl ("I told you I was sick") Roberts, the Blue Heaven Rooster Graveyard, the Devil Tree, the bowling-ball house, Catalina's ghost, the Mafia House, and Xanadu, the abandoned and neglected house of the future. Read all about the Wizard of Central Florida and Count Von Cosel and his immortal love. It's all here. It's all for you. It's all...very weird.A brand-new entry in the best-selling Weird U.S. series, Weird Florida is packed with all the info about the Sunshine State that your history teacher never taught you. So travel down our state's highways and byways with your tour guide, Mr. Charlie. It's a great adventure. And we promise: it's a journey you'll never forget.

    We have apple pie heroes like Hopalong Cassidy, Neil Armstrong, Thomas Edison, and Doris Day. Our state bird is the jaunty and ever popular cardinal, and our state flower is the carnation, found in the buttonholes of politicians and bridegrooms everywhere. We started America rolling by opening the country's first gas station, and we have a museum dedicated to America's music, rock and roll. Why, we're just so all-American normal, it can bring a tear to the eye. Okay, fine. But there's something else we have a whole lot of, and that's...weirdness. Yes, the Buckeye State has lots and lots of strange people and unusual sites, and they burst forth from every page of this, the biggest, most bizarre collection of Ohio stories ever assembled: Weird Ohio.Our weird quotient is so high that we needed three authors to put this book together. With cameras and notepads in hand, James Willis, Andrew Henderson, and Loren Coleman traveled the highways, byways, hills, and dales of our fair state, seeking out the odd and the offbeat. And they found it. Whether it's ghosts at Ohio State, a slew of screaming bridges, Frogman, a witches' grave, or a flying cigar, our fearless authors have researched the stories with care and present them here for you, fellow admirers of the weird.So turn the pages and visit with the Melonheads, have a fun day at Satan's Hollow, Hell House, and the Devil's Pit, but watch out for the Demon Tree. Bike with Oxford's phantom bicyclist, chat with the Lady in White, check out Oberlin's giant three-way plug and the really big rocking chair in Austinberg. Tiptoe through Dublin's concrete corncobs, take a brief detour down the world's shortest street, and look for Bigfoot in Minerva. And as night descends, gaze longingly at a whole bunch of abandoned drive-in theaters.Yes, it's all here—weirdness in the heartland. A brand-new entry in the best-selling Weird U.S. series, Weird Ohio is chock-full of everything your history teacher never taught you. Some of the people you'll meet and the places you'll go are disturbing, others are hilarious, but all are very, very weird. We guarantee you'll enjoy the journey.James A. Willis was born and raised in Upstate New York. In 1999, he moved to Ohio and founded the Ghosts of Ohio (www.ghostsofohio.org), a nationally recognized paranormal research organization. James has been featured in numerous publications, television and radio programs, and live webcasts. He has given presentations throughout the state on how one may hope to find evidence of the existence of ghosts. James currently resides in Columbus with his Queen-loving parrot and the world's whiniest cat. When he's not seeking out all things weird and wonderful, James often stays awake nights wondering if he will ever lose the moniker of the Man Who Debunked Hell Town.Andrew Henderson is a writer and researcher who has been exploring Ohio's abandoned buildings, old cemeteries, ghost towns, ghost stories, and weird history for years. Since 1999, he has run the popular Web site Forgotten Ohio, and his first book, Forgotten Columbus, was published in 2002. His work has been featured both locally and nationally—most notably in the Washington Post. An alumnus of Ohio State University, Andrew lives in Columbus.Loren Coleman has been investigating cryptozoology and unexplained phenomena since 1960. He is the author of more than two dozen books, including The Copycat Effect; Bigfoot! The True Story of Apes in America; The Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep; Tom Slick, Mothman and Other Curious Encounters; Mysterious America: The Revised Edition; The Field Guide to Bigfoot, Yeti, and Other Mystery Primates Worldwide; and Cryptozoology A to Z. Having grown up in Illinois before moving to New England, Coleman often traveled to Ohio to investigate breaking cases and has continued to visit the state frequently for fieldwork and conferences.

    Colorado is blessed with all three! From the Frozen Dead Guy Days festival in tiny Nederland, to Fruitas annual commemoration of Mike (the rooster that lost its head but not its will to live), theres no shortage of bizarre happenings in this Rocky Mountain locale.

    The weirder the better, we say, and Michigan falls perfectly into that category. Oh, sure, big-time heroes like Charles Lindbergh and Madonna hail from here, and so does President Gerald Ford, but do they compare to superhero Captain Jackson, who strolls around town in a purple cape doing good deeds? Well, yes, maybe they do, but the captain, in our opinion, is more representative of our fine state. Because, let's face it, Michigan has a great big quantity of . . . weirdness. That's how we were able to entice best-selling author Linda Godfrey to swim over from Wisconsin, grab a notebook, and track down all kinds of serious weirdness for you, Motown flowing through her headphones the whole time. Just turn the pages and see what she found. Read about the guru of toilet paper, the Devil's Soup Bowl, a bottle house and a bottle tower, our own Bigfoot, a pickle barrel house, the world's fastest cow, a fire breather and an eyeball smoker, the Outhouse Classic, UFOs of every size and shape, crop circles, and brown goo. Just don't, no matter how tired you are, even think about sitting in the Witch's Chair. It's a great state. Especially since we have lots of lake monsters and all our residents live no more than six miles from an inland lake—at least that's what our state's official Web site says. But Linda will take you way beyond what the governor's office will tell you—to say nothing of what your history teacher left out of the lesson plans. We think you'll agree that Weird Michigan, a brand-new entry in the best-selling Weird U.S. series, is a trip no self-respecting Michigander (or Michiganian, if you prefer—and that's pretty odd, don't you think?) would ever want to miss.

    Our authors, Mark Marimen, Jim Willis, and Troy Taylor, set off with cameras and notepads in hand, in search of Indiana's best kept secrets, local legends, bizarre beasts, and more, and they found it--in spades! Sit back and enjoy a relaxing picnic in Shades of Death Park; see the light if you're lucky enough to witness those unexplained glowing spots known as Moody's Light. Find out how a town named Santa Claus became involved in one of the fiercest rivalries in the state's history. Slap on another layer of color to the world's biggest ball of paint, and no, you're not seeing things--that really is an enormous pink-spectacled elephant drinking a martini on the side of the road! Get the time from an enormous leg sundial, and listen for the whistle of terror on the White Lick Creek Bridge, but whatever you do, don't answer an ad from La Porte's Black Widow. Make a person-to-person call from inside a tomb, and meet Indiana's most upright citizen, buried that way for almost two hundred years. Check out the ruins of Littleville, where 125 miniature buildings once stood--complete with a courthouse, and even a yacht club, all of eighteen inches tall. Yes, there certainly is more to Indiana than just cornfields! A brand-new entry in the best-selling Weird U.S. series, Weird Indiana is packed with all that great stuff your history teacher wouldn't teach you. So join our authors on their great adventure. It's a journeyyou'll never forget.