VON COSEL

by Tom Swicegood

It happened in KEY greatest love story since THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN"Swicegood casts a powerful light upon this compelling tale a fascinating journey of an obviously brilliant mind to the limits of sanity. The manuscript kept me spellbound."Charles "Sonny" McCoyFive time Mayor of Key West"A wonderful job of telling a horror-love story based upon an actual event I read it in one sitting-couldn't put it down."Rev. Elder Troy Perry, FounderMetropolitan Community Church"Well written one of the most macabre events in Key West's annals."Norman Artman, former Editor-PublisherThe Key West Citizen"Tom Swicegood has given new insight into the strange love of Count von Cosel for Elena Hoyos exciting and lively kind and gentle as the Count would have told it."Tom Hambright, Monroe County Historian

Genres: Nonfiction

302 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Sandra Frey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mainly went with three stars because I prefer straight nonfiction to the so-called nonfiction novel, which this is. (Creepy stories are creepier when we preserve the gaps of non-information that come with piecing a story together later, rather than filling them in with imagined details and dialogue.) That said, this account did well to humanize the unfortunate and/or nefarious Carl Tanzler Von Cosel and give insight into his disquieting mental state and how he normalized his own actions. The book also gives a thorough rendering of the Key West environment and community atmosphere, which certainly played a role in both how this caper was possible to begin with, and how it was publicly received when discovered.

The story is an icky precursor to the AI relationships that are going to become more and more common as the tech world provides for them. It is the same basic concept: a fantasy that takes the place of reality in a lonely person's brain. Eventually, I suspect much of the stigma will fade away from the latter—but hopefully not the former. Because, again...icky.

[Chevon Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story that will stick with me forever. So completely unbelievable. I wanted so badly to not like Von Cosel and yet I found myself feeling sorry for him.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

captivating but hard to describe. An incredible story.

[Lisa James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book when I was in Key West, it was one of the creepiest things I'd ever read, because it was true, & documented. If ever a story should be made into a movie that will make you squirm, it's this one.

[Elisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The love story of a mad scientist. If you want a true story that reads like fiction, try to get your hands on a copy of Von Cosel. There are parts that will make your stomach turn but even at that point, it will be hard to put it down.