Strange, Spooky and Supernatural: Curious Tales of Fascinating People, Places and Things

by Mike Browne

The host of the Dark Poutine podcast is back with a new collection of stories for those who are curious about the paranormal, the mysterious and the unexplained

Strange, Spooky and Supernatural is divided into three sections and recounts stories of unusual and enigmatic people, places and things. The first section explores strange people in history, including the death of escape artist and occult debunker Harry Houdini; BC resident Taylor Grainger, who left a note saying he was leaving on a spaceship and disappeared; and a man known only as Jerome, who was discovered on a Nova Scotia beach in 1863 and was unable to communicate anything about his past.

The second section, about strange places, embarks on a journey around the world, touching down in locations cloaked in mystery and steeped in spine-chilling stories of hauntings, unexplained deaths and lost civilizations. This chapter includes stories about the Borley Rectory, which has been labelled the most haunted house in England; Nahanni National Park in the Northwest Territories, which is referred to by many as “the Valley of Headless Men”; and the unexplained occurrences at Old MacDonald’s Farm in Caledonia Mills, Nova Scotia.

In the final section, Browne explores mysterious things including the Van Meter Visitor, an unidentified nocturnal creature that terrorized citizens of the small town of Van Meter, Iowa, in 1903; the Vampire of Highgate Cemetery, an entity that allegedly haunted the famous cemetery in London during the 1970s; and the Philip Experiment, a 1970s-era parapsychological experiment conducted in Toronto.

Strange, Spooky and Supernatural includes a foreword by paranormal researcher Morgan Knudsen, who is also a co-host of the podcast Supernatural Circumstances.

 

Genres: Nonfiction, Adult, Paranormal, True Crime, Mystery

304 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2024

Reviews

[Michele · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Written by an author who grew up in Canada, this book is a collection of the strange: People, Places and Things. With stories that fill out each of those three sections, the tales range from Houdini, to Japan’s Aokigahara Jukai forest and a Nova Scotian farm, to poltergeists and vampires.

I really wanted to like this more than I did. It seemed right up my alley, especially with the Canadian element, but I really struggled to get through it. In all honesty, I skimmed most of it once I realized that I couldn’t stay focused. The stories itself are short and succinct enough, and usually I don’t mind that at all but maybe in this case it didn’t help with fleshing out the stories. The statements of facts, without the bridge of carrying it from one idea to the next, felt clunky. I kept losing the flow of following the story. It’s like it’s not enough detail, but tries to capture the whole story so it felt a bit disjointed for me. Also a lot of the stories weren’t necessarily anything new - especially for someone who is interested in this subject matter. So maybe it’s a good introduction to this topic but not a lot of the stories I felt overly “spooky” or “strange” to be honest.

[kickthenarrative · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slow. Boring at times. The Harry Houdini chapter is by far the best & most interesting. I skimmed through some chapters. There are definitely better books on topics such as these. I wanted to like it & it was the bookstore’s pick of the month but it just wasn’t for me at all. Easy read though & might work for you.

[Kathleen Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5.... rounded up to 4.

This was good but IMO not as engaging as his first book. That is probably entirely up to personal preference. I also think I wasn't in the right mindset when I read this book hence the slightly lower rating.
Still a great book.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just not as interesting as I thought it would be. It also felt a little directionless because of the multiple topics. If it focused on fewer topics, it would make more sense but this just felt a little tiresome.

[Lisa Marie Walters · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this, especially because the author is originally from Nova Scotia so there’s some Atlantic Canadian tales in here. But it was unfortunately underwhelming to me.

[Anett ☾ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted so badly for this to be a captivating read ... but it wasn't. My secret obsession for all things strange and unexplained has only been tapped through podcasts and documentaries. As one who is always open to learning new stories, I was so excited to see this in the bookstore.

Perhaps it's because the stories are so dated, don't have much evidence, or the sources seem unbelievable but I just found this entire book hard to get through. Oddly, it was the oversimplifying, units of measurement (broken into metric and imperial), and side tangents that put me off. I also found these creepy tales went on longer than they should. Much of the content could have easily been condensed while retaining the storyline.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Cathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

My heavens this book is a sleeper, and not in a good way. I can overlook the grammatical errors but the writing was as dry as three-day-old sour dough the crows rejected. The topic was such that it almost begged a four-star rating but the quality of the writing and the tedious attention to details were excruciatingly painful.

[Stephanie H · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of stories about the strange and supernatural looked at through the lens of someone who is interested in them, but also has a healthy dose of skepticism.

The chapters are a good length and the subject matter is interesting. While this book doesn’t break any new ground, it could be a place for people to be introduced to some of the strange topics in history that aren’t often covered in a history class.

Overall this was an enjoyable read.

Thank you Collins for the copy of this ebook through NetGalley.

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Mike's first book, and I'm generally a fan of his style of storytelling - but I wasn't too fond of the structure this book carried.

Breaking it apart into "People, Places, and Things" made some sense, but also made it feel like it was a children's book teaching you about "spooky nouns".

Overall, I'm also not sure if there's another way to have done it either, but it just made it feel a bit clunky to get through compared to the first book.

Still interesting overall, and it contained a lot of very cool stories which were neat to learn about.

[Mike Broderick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its an interesting thing that I actually do not believe in much of the unknown world, but I really enjoy reading and watching things about the unknown world. I thought for sure I would get this one and be in disagreement with everyone. However, despite a very interesting topic, this was not that interesting. I am not sure if it was the narrator or the writing, but I found that I only really enjoyed a couple of the stories. There is a Canadian component to it with some of the supernatural coming from Canada.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mike’s books are always super interesting. One reviewer wrote nothing new revealed here but I disagree. I learned new things throughout the book.

One may consider this an easy read but it held my attention and broadened my thinking and that what books are for.

I really hope there is a third book in the making I will definitely want to read it and I am telling my friends about this book I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Riley Bowman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book but the writing style was just uninteresting for me. Too many unnecessary details and historic jargon that made it boring for me. If you’re more into historic dates and facts and nothing much else then you’d probably like it, but it wasn’t for me. Ended up only reading a few of the sections.

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I borrowed this book from my local public library. I enjoyed reading this book. I read the previous book by this author and liked it too. I am a weekly listener of the podcast by this author called Dark Poutine. I enjoy listening to it.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

More fascinating stories from the author of Murder, Madness and Mayhem! All the stories in this new book are interesting, with many being creepy also. I LOVE the way Mike tells a story; he’s an excellent writer and great storyteller.

[Jessie Arthur · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an impulse buy/read. Strange, Spooky, and Supernatural was… fine. It had some interesting stories, and a few moments caught my attention. Some chapters were engaging, others dragged a little, and I found myself skimming. Not bad, just not a must-read for me.

[Mike Browne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I voiced the audiobook on these dates.

[Crio B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping for stranger things.
Fascinating stories nonetheless.

[Nichola · Rating 2 out of 5]

I need to stop looking for Aaron Manhke books and accept that it’s never going to happen.

[Jas · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up

[Rod Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well researched but some stories felt overly long… too much information @ times. Also I guess I was looking for more current stories/mysteries (this century or so).
3 stars

[Rebecca Ubhi · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5

Some stories were pretty creepy.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book was sort of interesting.

[Kenny Davey · Rating 2 out of 5]

It reads like a poorly written podcast script.

[kylie · Rating 4 out of 5]

**I listened on Audible, narrated by Mike 🫰🏻

3.5 rounded up to 4⭐️

[Sarah Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love everything supernatural and spooky and I chose to read this during Halloween season. It was a bit of a slow read for me simply because it doesn’t read like a story, it’s incredibly factual. The entire time I was reading it, I felt a better medium for this would have been a tv mini series. There was an incredible amount of information packed into a small book and it was difficult to keep things straight.

I appreciate all the research that went into this and I really enjoyed certain segments of it, but overall it just wasn’t for me.