Fun book with a number of odd places and people in Indiana. A number of sections with a big section with ghost stories, the phantom hitchhiker or the haunted train or bridge. There's a few creeping around the state. Another section about large than life roadside attractions, a huge elephant of which there actually 3, different versions of the "muffler man." Strange animals, from two headed calves to big foot, yes big foot in Indiana, and a giant snapping turtle. Was amazed to see that my home town Prairieton made it into the book with the locally infamous blue hole which is "bottomless." And Terre Haute just north of there where I live now got three mentions, Stiffy green the dog in a mausoleum, the man who had a phone line installed in his family crypt for if he was buried alive and St. Mary of the Woods College and the shrine that is made of shells. Really an enjoyable read and shows that we have more than just corn fields in Indiana. ( )

This book is a great find for people looking for an overview to the history of Indiana. No, not the history of great leaders like Benjamin Harrison or famous writers like James Whitcomb Riley. Rather, this is the history that is remembered through stories and local gossip and folklore. It is the tales of giant turtles in lakes and other mysterious creatures people are sure live in their rural hometowns. It also has creepy stories of strange people that we knew existed like Jim Jones and the black widow Belle Sorenson Gunness. Some stories are just weird history that has to be remembered, such as that of two feuding theme parks in Santa Claus, Indiana or Camp Chesterfield, a place where spiritualists held theatrical seances and people still try to achieve contact with the dead through mediums. This book is a great read and a great reference material for those who heard a story once about Indiana
and want the complete tale. ( )