Quirk Books, October 1, 2013 (re-release)
eBook; 240 pages
ASIN: B00C8RZHXI
www.samstall.com/blog.php
Description:
Its a Terrible Day in the Neighborhood
They told you the suburbs were a great place to live. They said nothing bad could ever happen here.
But they were wrong.
This collection of terrifying true stories exposes the dark side of life in the ’burbs—from corpses buried in backyards and ghosts lurking in fast food restaurants to UFOs, vanishing persons, bizarre apparitions, and worse. Consider:
• The Soccer Mom’s Secret. Meet Melinda Raisch of Columbus, Ohio. She’s the wife of a dentist. A mother of three. A PTA member. And she has enough murderous secrets to fill a minivan.
• Noise Pollution. More than 100 residents of Kokomo, Indiana, claim their small town is under attack by a low-pitched humming sound that erodes health and sanity. Too bad they’re the only ones who can hear it.
• Death Takes a Holiday inn. There’s nothing more reassuring than a big chain hotel in a quaint small town—unless it’s the Holiday Inn of Grand Island, New York, where you’ll spend the night with the spirit of a mischievous little girl.
So lock your doors, dim the lights, and prepare to stay up all night with this creepy collection of true tales. We promise you’ll never look at white picket fences the same way again!
My Thoughts:
Suburban Legends: True Tales of Murder, Mayhem, and Minivans by Sam Stall is being re-released as an e-book just in time for some scary October fun. This is one of those books full of brief, easy-to-read stories that, and I'm being honest here, are just plain fun to peruse from time to time. Most of the stories are known and not new to this collection. Not one will make sleep difficult, but several should give you a queasy feeling or at least acknowledging the gross-factor. (Certainly several did when they first came out in the news.) The stories range from traditional stories of ghosts and unexplained phenomena, cryptozoological entities, and urban legends to well-known stories of deranged killers. The collection is divided into seven sections and includes several photos.
Contents include:
I. INHUMANLY BAD HOUSEGUESTS: The Prime-Time Poltergeist; The Little Girl in the Window; Disturbing Developments; Guess What’s Coming to Dinner?; Windbreaker of the Damned; Surreal Estate; The Haunting of 2115 Martingale Drive Ghost Dad; Terror by Design; Light My Fire; Make Room for Danny
I I . THE GHOUL NEXT DOOR: Historic Preservation; Family Guy; Demolition Man; The Randy Rabbi; The Game of Death; Shreds of Evidence; The House of Horror
III. HELLISH COMMUTES: Roadside Assistance; Resurrection Mary, Quite Contrary; Close Encounters of the Worst Kind; Death Takes a Holiday Inn; The Dead Zone; The Parkway Phantom; Our Lady of the Savings and Loan; Highway to Hell; The Devil’s Lawn Ornament; The Haunted Car; The Spectral Horsemen of Route 895; Making Tracks Through Devil’s Swamp
IV. BACKYARD BEASTS: Leaping Lizards; The Beast of Bray Road; Big Birds; Better Lake than Never; Hello Kitty; The Dover Demon; Attack of the Killer Spores; The Terror of Levittown; The Goatman Cometh; Snakes in a House; The Beast of Sunset Circle
V. REALLY DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES: Death Becomes Him; The Soccer Mom’s Secret; Serial Mom; Love and Bullets; Rest in Pieces
VI. LAWN OF THE DEAD: The Backyard Boneyard; Concrete Evidence; Graveyard Shift; Frozen Asset; Army of Darkness; On Dangerous Ground; Home Improvements from Hell; The Vanishing Pattersons; Groundbreaking Discovery
VII. SUNDRY CUL-DE-SACRILEGES: Ghosts “R” Us; Noise Pollution; You Want Frights with That?; Water, Water Everywhere; The Runaway Retention Pond; Hanging by a Thread; Ho, Sweet Ho; The UFO in the Attic; The Ring; Fly Away Home; Lighting Up the Neighborhood
Obviously there are a lot of stories packed into a few pages so no one story is delved into in great detail or new facts researched and exposed. The tone is fun and informative - just a guy sharing some creepy stories with you.
As Sam says, "You’ll never look at planned communities the same way again."
Highly Recommended
Excerpt
Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Quirk Books via Edelweiss for review purposes.
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