Review: Eerie America Travel Guide of the Macabre by Eric R. Vernor and Kevin Eads

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

America is the land of the beautiful, but it is also a land of mystery and many haunted and bizarre places. With 150 images, addresses, and directions, go state-by-state to tour the macabre side of the United States. Journey to haunted old battleships, abandoned prisons, creepy lunatic asylums, the Amityville Horror House, the Winchester House, museums such as Edgar Allan Poe’s home, New Orleans Voodoo Museum, the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast, and much more! In addition suggesting places to visit, where to stay, and places to eat, chapters on each state have a break down of how best to experience the curious and bizarre – sometimes just a building and other times a whole town. Come on this unusual but richly satisfying tour. You won’t be disappointed.

MY TAKE:
I'm not that brave, but as long as it's daylight, I like reading books and watching TV shows that document weird and strange things like this one does.

In Eerie America Travel Guide of the Macabre, readers are given short descriptions about the haunted or odd places around America. The sites are arranged by state, and addresses, websites, contact information, ticket prices and other pertinent information are included.

This book has a lot of potential use for people who like supernatural things and like going on road trips. Two things I liked about the descriptions in the book were the inclusion of places that were odd and bizarre, like a mob museum and the Museum of Questionable Medical Devices, as well as mentions of events that each place holds.

I recognized a number of the places mentioned, like The Catfish Plantation, because I've seen them on television or read about them before. I guess that's why I was a little bit disappointed with the book. I'm so used to books like this delving a little bit more on the ghosts or other interesting tidbits about the place. With this book, there were a number of places that only had vague descriptions of what to expect. I guess the assumption is, since this is a travel guide, you might be going there anyway and to save on space, some descriptions weren't included anymore. That's all well and good if you can travel to these places, but if you can't and you just like reading ghost stories or the history of haunted places, not all of the descriptions here can provide that.

I also noticed a number of grammatical and typographical errors, mostly in the first half of the book. I'm not sure if I got an e-ARC, but if I did, it's probably been corrected already before publication.

Thanks to NetGalley and Schiffer Publishing Ltd. for the e-copy.

THE GOOD:

1. It covers all the states.
2. It specifies places to stay and places to eat that fit in well with the book.
3. There are a lot of places included, especially for New York and Pennsylvania.

THE BAD:

1. Some of the descriptions feel a little lacking when it comes to descriptions of the ghosts. 

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. - St. Augustine 

READ IT IF:

1. You like shows like Ghost Hunters.
2. You want to go on a unique road trip through America.
3. You like odd things. 

RATING:


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