Weird Illinois: Your Travel Guide to America's Local Legends And Best Kept Secrets

Troy Taylor, Mark Sceurman

Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., Apr 7, 2005 - Travel - 252 pages

Fabled places, roadside oddities, bizarre beasts and people?if it's weird and it's in Illinois, it's in Weird Illinois. 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.

What people are saying

Review: Weird Illinois (Weird Travel Guides)

User Review  - Jason - Goodreads

In a book like this, some of the weird stuff is going to be more interesting than others. I was intrigued by the chapters on forgotten structures and cemeteries, less so by the Bigfoot tales and yet ...

Review: Weird Illinois (Weird Travel Guides)

User Review  - Michelle - Goodreads

The quality of this book suffered a downward spiral. At first the tales were all original and thought-provoking, then more about novelty/tourist attractions, then generic urban legends that all ...

Contents

• A Note from the Marks: 6
• Local Legends and Lore: 30
• Fabled People and Places: 40
• Unexplained Phenomena: 56
• Local Heroes and Villains: 98
• Ghost Stories and Local Haunts: 187
• Weird Illinois is intended as entertainment to present: 207

About the author

Mark Moran is an antiques dealer and author, and contributing editor for Antique Trader Weekly. Heas written many antiques and collectibles references including Warmanas McCoy Pottery, Warmanas Cookie Jars and Warmanas Fiesta.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Weird Illinois: Your Travel Guide to America's Local Legends And Best Kept Secrets; Weird Series
• Authors: Troy Taylor, Mark Sceurman
• Contributor: Mark Moran
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2005
• ISBN: 076075943X, 9780760759431
• Length: 252 pages
• Subjects: Travel / United States / Midwest / East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI); Travel / United States / Midwest / General