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Weird Travel Guides
Weird Georgia: Your Travel Guide to Georgia's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets
From the front flap of this 255 page "We don't want to argue with all of our state's motto (wisdom, justice, moderation), only with the moderation part. This is a state where one guy's home is a tree house with an airplane stuck through it for his bedroom. We've got a twenty-foot-tall rabbit sculpture holding an Olympic torch and a tombstone that's a seven-foot-long marble elephant. And there's a flower garden in Toccoa where a forty-pound iceberg somehow landed. This is great stuff, and nothing moderate about any of it. Who better to chronicle the weirdness in Georgia than Jim Miles, a man whose fascination with the bizarre is anything but moderate. So with the three P's for sustenance - pecans, peanuts, and peaches, of course - and a camera and notepad in hand, Jim set out on an extensive tour in search of the odd and the offbeat. He tracked down impossible-to-believe tales, only to discover odd grains of truth that give the stories just enough credibility to make one feel slightly uneasy. Check out Atlanta's own White House; look for the mutant turtle of Berkeley Lake; stroll by the Tomb of the Unknown Shopper; gaze at Georgia's very own Statue of Liberty; remember warts, toenail, and all; hunt down the Beast of Pond Road; watch your car roll up Booger Hill; terrify yourself at abandoned Hawkinsville Hospital; have a chat with the Moon-eyed people; hear the cries for help in Ebenezer's Swamp, and take care not to fall into the Deveil's Hopper near Quitman. It's all here. It's all ours. It's all so immoderate."
272 pages, Hardcover
First published April 24, 2006
9 people are currently reading
153 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 2, 2015
Yet another great "WEIRD" book from Sceurman. I enjoyed my time reading these not so known little stories about places in the peach state that are just plain weird, odd and possibly delightful. I had heard of a few as I live near some, but most in this book was brand new to me. Looking forward to maybe seeing some of these in the near future.
May 12, 2013
Not bad. It tends to lean heavily on supposedly haunted bridges and trees, but also educates about points of interest such as the Georgia Guidestones and Berry College. More of a bathroom reader than an indispensable treasure, it is worth learning about what to see off the beaten path.
November 4, 2013
Five stars! For any lover of Georgia history this book is simply amazing, with many photos to boot. I have read it straight through since I checked it out of the library. I liked it so very much I ordered my own copy from Amazon, as I am sure I will refer to it time and again. There is no place like our Georgia. From legends to hauntings to weird folk art to abandoned mysteries to areas where an unexplained gravitational pull will pull your car in neutral up a hill (including the one in Dalton in the West Hill cemetery--and it is true--as a native I have been pulled up that hill in an automobile many times)there is no end to the strange stuff that makes up the state of Georgia. Sightings of Big Foot--and even an ALBINO Bigfoot, strange water creatures of the Okefenokee and odd markers in odd cemeteries....this book has it all. I was sorry to come to the last page. If more students could approach history in this manner, we would have more kids interested in the subject as well as historical preservation. I am awed at the research and writing of Jim Miles, Georgian and high school history teacher. How I would have loved to have had a history teacher like Jim. Amazing anthology. Loved the stories of Jimmy Carter and his family and while the rest of the country thought they were a little crazy, we Georgians simply found them and their experiences comfortably normal. Heck, Jimmy Carter even witnessed a UFO, along with ten other male members of the Leary, GA Lions Club. While he was governor, he filed a report with the UFO Research Society. One Georgian self proclaimed prophet and preacher (St. EOM) told Carter he lost the presidency to Reagan because Reagan had a big head o' hair! I was pleased to find stories I had never heard before, and I have heard and read so many. I can't wait to dive into Weird Tennessee and Weird Carolinas. This book will have a favorite place in my library section of great Southern books, and will be required reading for my children. I want an encore, a sequel, Mr. Miles!!
October 12, 2012
While I liked the idea of learning more about the weird and unusual that can be found in Georgia, this book ended up being a bit of a let down. Instead of real concrete information it was generally filled with misleading pictures and blurb-style, at best, descriptions of paranormal or occult folktales. It's presentation was more about saying "here, check this out", and then moving on to something else. Most of the accounts were usually anecdotal, with very little verification or anything resembling proof.
But don't get me wrong, there are some interesting things and locations mentioned within the book. I just didn't find it very educational. It needed fewer folktales and local legends, and more of the weird oddities that I had hoped to read about.
But don't get me wrong, there are some interesting things and locations mentioned within the book. I just didn't find it very educational. It needed fewer folktales and local legends, and more of the weird oddities that I had hoped to read about.
October 18, 2008
Weird Georgia by Mark sceurman is about... Well Georgia. It tells about things like haunted houses to giant peanuts. In one chapter, icebergs fell from the sky and landed on peoples' houses! All the occurances inthe book are {supposedly} true. It is an interesting book, and if you want to learn about th weirdness of Georgia, read it.
This book really doesn't teach you anything. The author probably wrote this because he is one of those weird people who like staring at the sky and wonder about all the things people usually don't wonder about. Not saying it's a bad book, it's really good. Sometimes people write about the same stories over and over, this was not a repeat.
This book really doesn't teach you anything. The author probably wrote this because he is one of those weird people who like staring at the sky and wonder about all the things people usually don't wonder about. Not saying it's a bad book, it's really good. Sometimes people write about the same stories over and over, this was not a repeat.
November 23, 2014
There was just enough substance in this book to warrant three stars, though it was not what I expected. I was hoping to learn about intriguing places in my home state that I wasn't already familiar with, hadn't already visited. This book read more like a collection of campfire ghost stories. Still, I read of some places/things that made me say (to myself), "Hey, I've seen that!"
May 26, 2008
good, but not as good as the other one i just finished reading, california.
that's all i feel like writing right now.
that's all i feel like writing right now.
November 20, 2013
Maybe reading Weird Georgia right after moving back to Atlanta wasn't the best plan. I think I'm terrified of my own state.
September 6, 2024
I definitely enjoyed this book many awesome stories as well as questionable stories, things that even I did not know and I've lived in Georgia All My Life. You got to read it it's a very enjoyable and awesome book. I can read this one again! Definitely recommend this book.
October 27, 2018
Great great fun.
June 22, 2023
Great historical things around the state.
March 22, 2010
A not-too-well-done anthology of weird, heavy emphasis on the occult, stuff in Georgia. The book is most reminiscent of a sophomore high school English class anthology of local "spook" stories and legends though the spelling and grammar are better.
Too many of the illustrations are not actually of the things/places/people being "blurbed" and for the most part shallow blurbing is what you can expect. Though apparently the the accumulation of years of collecting odd tidbits, it appears that this book may have been thrown together in a couple of long weekends to meet a deadline before the "Weird" wave crested since very little depth is to be found in most of the stories.
The book, however, is printed on nice paper and the binding seems sturdy enough.
Too many of the illustrations are not actually of the things/places/people being "blurbed" and for the most part shallow blurbing is what you can expect. Though apparently the the accumulation of years of collecting odd tidbits, it appears that this book may have been thrown together in a couple of long weekends to meet a deadline before the "Weird" wave crested since very little depth is to be found in most of the stories.
The book, however, is printed on nice paper and the binding seems sturdy enough.
July 8, 2013
My desire for facts was allayed by the repeated refrain of "never let the truth get in the way of a good story." I learned a few things that I didn't know before, and added a couple places on my list of things to see. 12-year-old me would have loved the heck out of this book series.
Several things could have made this better. Better research for some details (like getting a name for Baton Bob) would be the first thing. The second would be little map chips for each place showing generally what region of the state the segment was discussing. Actual photos (like the ones referenced in the stories) rather than manufactured photos.
Several things could have made this better. Better research for some details (like getting a name for Baton Bob) would be the first thing. The second would be little map chips for each place showing generally what region of the state the segment was discussing. Actual photos (like the ones referenced in the stories) rather than manufactured photos.
December 13, 2009
A terrific concept gone horribly bad!
This was supposed to be a tour of all the strange, unique and notable places in Georgia. Instead it was a collection of city names and short blurbs of what someone's-aunt's-sister's-brother's-cousin's-uncle's-roommate from college said about it. Zero research, zero substance. Since I travel all over Georgia, I had hoped to be able to learn something cool about all the places I visit. Instead, all I learned is that it doesn't take much to get published if you have a slick cover.
This was supposed to be a tour of all the strange, unique and notable places in Georgia. Instead it was a collection of city names and short blurbs of what someone's-aunt's-sister's-brother's-cousin's-uncle's-roommate from college said about it. Zero research, zero substance. Since I travel all over Georgia, I had hoped to be able to learn something cool about all the places I visit. Instead, all I learned is that it doesn't take much to get published if you have a slick cover.
August 21, 2007
This book had many interesting places in Georgia that I had never heard of before.
Read
June 20, 2008These books are so fun! I never knew even half the things in this book and they have them for every region...
Want to read
October 14, 2012Sounds interesting gotta pic this one up next time I'm out!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews