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Weird Travel Guides
Weird U.S. The ODDyssey Continues: Your Travel Guide to America's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets by Mark Moran Mark Sceurman Matt Lake
What's WEIRD around here? “Best Travel Series of The Year 2006”—Booklist That’s a question Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman have enjoyed asking for years—and their offbeat sense of curiosity led them to create the bestselling phenomenon, Weird N.J. Now the weirdness has spread throughout the U.S.! Each fun and intriguing volume offers more than 250 illustrated pages of places where tourists usually don’t it’s chock-full of oddball curiosities, ghostly places, local legends, crazy characters, cursed roads, and peculiar roadside attractions. What’s NOT shockingly odd that every previously published Weird book has become a bestseller in its region.
Hardcover
First published November 4, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
September 2, 2012
I love reading about US oddities and this was a lot of fun. I especially liked the section about a little known area in California called ZZYZX.
Whenever we travel I-15 from Southern CA to Nevada we pass an exit called ZZYZX (pronounced "zeye-zix") Road and I've always wondered at the origin of the name. My curiosity was further piqued by Michael Connelly's using this area as his murder location in THE NARROWS. Turns out the little town was the dream of a health guru (with wacky cures, natch) who created a desination spa, which was disbanded in the early 70s when he started selling land that wasn't his.
Another fun book in this series is "Weird Oregon: Your Travel Guide to Oregon's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets", also with fun and interesting facts about our state.
Whenever we travel I-15 from Southern CA to Nevada we pass an exit called ZZYZX (pronounced "zeye-zix") Road and I've always wondered at the origin of the name. My curiosity was further piqued by Michael Connelly's using this area as his murder location in THE NARROWS. Turns out the little town was the dream of a health guru (with wacky cures, natch) who created a desination spa, which was disbanded in the early 70s when he started selling land that wasn't his.
Another fun book in this series is "Weird Oregon: Your Travel Guide to Oregon's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets", also with fun and interesting facts about our state.
May 4, 2017
So weird but pretty cool. Some parts more interesting than others. Definitely worth a read.
June 11, 2017
I love anything that deals with travel, so of course I loved it. These Authors are the best at writing about this topic. Fun and entertaining. I have pretty much read almost the entire series.
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June 16, 2016Weird U.S. Review
The book Weird U.S by Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman is a bunch of short stories about strange towns across the U.S. This book was interesting because it all happened in real life. Most of the towns in the book have haunted houses and buildings. Each town has a different story to tell. Many of the stories told have a lot of horror and terror to them. Some stories can happen anywhere even in the neighborhood you live in. The authors did a good job constructing the stories because every story is in real life. The stories make me want to visit every state and visit the places that are haunted and scary. The author’s writing style is different between each story, some are more simple and others are more details. The writing style makes the reader want to keep on reading. Readers also don't know what type of story they are going to read, it could be a scary story, a funny story, or it could also be a depressing story.
One of the stories is from Fairfax, VA and talks about an evil killer clown that dresses in a fuzzy rabbit costume. He's called Bunnyman. They said this bunny rabbit as killed about 15 people and he has his own bridge that he stays near. There were some college kids making a documentary and one of the kids went missing that night and his friends are left to figure out what happened to him. This is just one of the stories that is told throughout the book. To find out what happens, you’ll just have to read the book.
We don't know if these stories are true or not but they're all very interesting and you can visit these places all around the world. I would recommend Weird U.S by Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman to everyone that likes short stories. The authors use short stories to explore towns around the U.S. and weird events that happen in these towns.
The book Weird U.S by Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman is a bunch of short stories about strange towns across the U.S. This book was interesting because it all happened in real life. Most of the towns in the book have haunted houses and buildings. Each town has a different story to tell. Many of the stories told have a lot of horror and terror to them. Some stories can happen anywhere even in the neighborhood you live in. The authors did a good job constructing the stories because every story is in real life. The stories make me want to visit every state and visit the places that are haunted and scary. The author’s writing style is different between each story, some are more simple and others are more details. The writing style makes the reader want to keep on reading. Readers also don't know what type of story they are going to read, it could be a scary story, a funny story, or it could also be a depressing story.
One of the stories is from Fairfax, VA and talks about an evil killer clown that dresses in a fuzzy rabbit costume. He's called Bunnyman. They said this bunny rabbit as killed about 15 people and he has his own bridge that he stays near. There were some college kids making a documentary and one of the kids went missing that night and his friends are left to figure out what happened to him. This is just one of the stories that is told throughout the book. To find out what happens, you’ll just have to read the book.
We don't know if these stories are true or not but they're all very interesting and you can visit these places all around the world. I would recommend Weird U.S by Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman to everyone that likes short stories. The authors use short stories to explore towns around the U.S. and weird events that happen in these towns.
July 29, 2011
I bought this as a companion book to the first and I expected the stories to resemble the first: scary. I was a bit disappointed that there weren't as many ghost/monster stories but then I got lured in by the stories of everyday people whose quirky hobbies became obsessions.
Weird and humble roadside attractions, grandiose cemetery markers, and urban legends created by ordinary people rule the book. In a way, the book could be seen as inspirational. We can be more than we are!
I'd recommend this book to those who enjoy the quirkiness of humans. We're a fun group when we let ourselves be!
Weird and humble roadside attractions, grandiose cemetery markers, and urban legends created by ordinary people rule the book. In a way, the book could be seen as inspirational. We can be more than we are!
I'd recommend this book to those who enjoy the quirkiness of humans. We're a fun group when we let ourselves be!
May 15, 2016
Another interesting and intriguing installment in the Weird collection. I like the way the editors provide information on various topics and histories instead of limiting the book to just one (ghosts, monsters, etc) like so many others do. This method provides a more well-rounded introduction to the weirdness of the region.
February 7, 2011
THis reads more like a GUiness Book of World Records or Ripley's Believe it or Not than a travel guide. If you are looking for Kitschy, this is it; if you want addresses and hours for the attractions,you'll have to rely on word of mouth.
October 20, 2008
A brilliant epic read sure to change the face of literature. Especially the articles on Kay's Cross and Gilgal Gardens.
October 29, 2008
I love this book, because it shows me all kinds of weird things across the country, and when I travel I can keep an eye out for them.
January 31, 2010
like the first "weird us" book, i just didn't find this one to be as interesting as the two state specific ones i read. this is totally because of me though and not the books, i think....
November 16, 2010
Liked WNJ more
January 28, 2013
Not recommended for before-bed reading.
October 6, 2013
This is another book of offbeat graves, tales, legends and people across the United States. It is okay to hear about some of the local oddball legends and such across the US.
January 2, 2014
Better than the first, but not by a lot.
February 26, 2014
This was on the shelf at my cousin's place. I love reading about legends, oddness and mysteries. I wish we had these books for Canada. What fun facts.
September 11, 2025
didn't like the whole section dedicated to religion. I love the rest of this book and this series.
January 1, 2009
These books are so much fun!
March 9, 2012
A fun travel book featuring the weirder side of the United States.
December 22, 2013
Silly, odd, but useful for those of you who like visiting strange places.
November 12, 2013
Love this book series! Very fun!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews