Forgotten Tales of Indiana


Book Description

Author Keven McQueen recalls a time when skunk farms, which allegedly produced a cure for rheumatism, were speckled throughout the countryside and a miserable woman tied her husband to a fence post, coated him with salt and intended to let the cows "lick him to death." Meet the King of the Ghouls, an accomplished grave robber and notorious murderer, and a man so convinced he was an ox that he often joined neighborhood cattle for a bite of grass, and discover ghosts, monsters, giant skeletons and more in this collection of outlandish tales from the Hoosier State.




Strange Tales of Crime and Murder in Southern Indiana


Book Description

The author of Horror in the Heartland delves deep into the dark and sordid annals of the region where Hoosier history began. Prepare to take a tour of some dark, strange moments of southern Indiana’s history. From the scheming wife who wanted her dull husband out of the way to make room for a young love affair and the husband who stomped his wife to death because she wouldn’t stop singing an irritating song, to the man who murdered an entire family to pay off some farming equipment and the case of a mistaken-identity murder, author Keven McQueen relates the sinister (or not so) motives and gruesome details of nine murders that occurred in southern Indiana between 1880 and 1912. With a detailed, if macabre, look at each story as well as the ambiguities surrounding the criminals and punishments, McQueen illuminates the darker side of Hoosier history. Includes photos!




Forgotten Tales of Pennsylvania


Book Description

What do you really know about the Keystone State? William Penn, the Revolutionary figures of Philadelphia, and the strength of Pittsburgh's steel all loom large in Pennsylvania's history, but author Thomas White brings together a collection of tales that have been cast in the shadows of these giant icons. From the 1869 storm that pelted Chester County with snails to the bloody end of the Cooley gang, White selects events with an eye for the humorous and strange. Mostly true accounts of cannibalistic feats, goat-rescuing lawmen, heroic goldfish, the funeral of a gypsy queen, and a Pittsburgh canine whose obituary was featured in the New York Times all leap from the lost pages of history.




Forgotten Tales of Philadelphia


Book Description

A twelve-foot bull shark in the Delaware, the 1856 tornado that tore through Kensington and the four-elephant battle royal that rolled into Fair Hill Junction are among the bizarre tales that are too often overlooked in the history of Penn's Holy Experiment. Authors Thomas and Edward White have intrepidly stormed the stacks to unearth this offbeat collection of strange stories and weird lore with accounts of body snatchers, witch trials and a snake-wielding lunatic. From the outlawing of tambourine beating to the posse that caught a "ghost" and everything in between, the Brothers White take a wickedly gleeful romp through the freak happenings, dastardly deeds and unbelievable characters that lurk in the lost chronicles of the City of Brotherly Love.




Forgotten Tales of Idaho


Book Description

Idaho was the forty-third state admitted to the Union, but it just might lead the nation in strange stories and offbeat legends. Author and Idaho resident Andy Weeks fills this collection of tales with stories ranging from compelling and heartfelt to outlandish and bizarre. Discover the boxcar that carried the alleged body of John Wilkes Booth through Idaho. Uncover the identity of Lady Bluebeard, the unassuming Twin Falls housewife who allegedly murdered four husbands. Find out how cars ended up at the bottom of Lake Coeur d'Alene. Learn the grisly story of Gobo Fango, a black Mormon sheepherder whose late 1800s bloody dispute with a cattleman on the open range proved fatal. These tales and many others bring to light Idaho's unruly past in fascinating detail.




Forgotten Tales of Alabama


Book Description

Alabama tales that have existed only in rumor, legend and lore are uncovered in this volume of strange, funny, far-fetched, unique and gripping stories from Muscle Shoals to Mobile. From Muscle Shoals to Montgomery to Mobile, there's just no place quite like Alabama. Take a journey off the beaten path through the Cotton State with author Kelly Kazek as she uncovers the stories that make Alabama one of a kind. Kazek, a longtime Alabama resident, unearths tales that have existed only in rumor, anecdote, legend and lore. This collection is packed with little-known stories of strange sites, like the world's largest Nehi bottle; curious critters, like the first monkey in space; and colorful characters, such as the outlaw Tom Clark. Whether funny, far-fetched, gripping or grisly, Forgotten Tales of Alabama is filled with stories you won't soon forget.




Old Indian Legends


Book Description

IKTOMI is a spider fairy. He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet. His long black hair is parted in the middle and wrapped with red, red bands. Each round braid hangs over a small brown ear and falls forward over his shoulders.He even paints his funny face with red and yellow, and draws big black rings around his eyes. He wears a deerskin jacket, with bright colored beads sewed tightly on it. Iktomi dresses like a real Dakota brave. In truth, his paint and deerskins are the best part of him—if ever dress is part of man or fairy.




Forgotten Tales of Illinois


Book Description

Dig up the men who tried to dig up Lincoln. Mull over the Mad Gasser of Mattoon and the 1977 thunderbird infestation, from a safe distance. Watch in horror as one of the greatest maritime disasters in U.S. history occurs twenty feet from the banks of the Chicago River or follow the course of the blimp crash that convinced a downtown bank employee that it was raining hell. Try not to blink as towns washed away by floods and shrines covered over by condominiums are dragged back from the margins of history into the center of the page, where they belong. After all, reasons author Bryan Alaspa, if the pope was eager to stop by the House of Crosses during his visit to Chicago, surely it is worth a look. Just beware: a quick glance into this book and you might not look up until you've read the whole gripping and grin-inspiring collection.




Forgotten Tales of Missouri


Book Description

Truth, after all, still remains stranger and more engaging than most legends. And Missouri, of course, leads every other place in truth. Hop aboard Long's dragon boat or take advantage of 1846 wind wagon technology to plunge into the forgotten tales of this fascinating place. Hobnob cautiously with Stagger Lee, Mike Fink and Calamity Jane and view the chamber pot war from a safe distance. Trade witticisms with Alphonse Wetmore and Mark Twain, the frontier folk who keep us civilized today. If you keep company with storyteller Mary Collins Barile, you'll even catch a glimpse of the Mississippi River running backward from an earthquake that was all Missouri's fault.




Forgotten Tales of Tennessee


Book Description

Tennessee has never been a stranger to strangeness. Stories of the weird, wild, and wonderful abound in the Volunteer state. Join author and seasoned journalist Kelly Kazek as she tracks down the extraordinary stories that other history books overlook. Each section covers a different outlandish theme of Tennessee history colorful characters, strange sites, intriguing incidents, tombstone tales, odd occurrences, and curious creatures. Readers will discover the brilliant phenomenon of synchronized firefly flashes in the Smoky Mountain town of Elmont, take on the world's largest Moon Pie in Chattanooga and learn Tennessee's history of damaging earthquakes. From the humorous to the haunting, the madcap to the macabre, Forgotten Tales of Tennessee offers a collection as remarkable as the state itself.