Myths and Mysteries of Ohio: True Stories of the Unsolved and Unexplained

by Sandra Gurvis

Myths and Mysteries of Ohio reveals the dark and ominous cloud of mysteries and myths that hovers over the Buckeye State. This book offers residents, travelers, history buffs, and ghost hunters a refreshingingly lively collection of stories about Ohio's unsolved murders, legendary villains, lingering ghosts, terrifying myths, and haunted places.

Genres: Nonfiction

225 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 7, 2014

Reviews

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I specifically picked this up to read the sections on Johnny Appleseed who had land holdings in my area as well the chapter on the Newark Earthworks. The part on Johnny Appleseed didn't go where I was expecting it to at all. However, it was pretty great to see the chapter all about the Newark Earthworks and those in the immediate vicinity, especially the Great Circle Earthworks in Heath. The more you learn about it it's surprising to learn how they are treated. Just considering what they are, their size, and age, you would fully expect them to have a similar status to something along the lines of Stonehenge. Seriously, you could fit a few Stonehenges neatly inside the Great Circle. As of the time this was written it was under consideration to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and as of now it still is with now real sign of anything really moving forward on the project. Anyway, it's fantastic to see it mentioned in print.

[Orion · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a gift so I forced myself to read it. Otherwise I would have put it down after the first few pages. Its cover categorizes it as a history book, but it is a very big stretch to call it that. The author assigns a chapter to each of thirteen individual topics which have at best a sketchy relationship to a myth or a mystery. Some facts regarding each topic are presented. But the narrative is spoiled by the constant intrusion of the author's personal commentary; an unpleasant, judgmental, often offensive commentary that is totally lacking in insight or humor. The author attempts to be humorous but she totally fails in this regard.
The narrative is hard to follow because one is trying to dodge the author's truly awful, self-congratulatory jokes, but also because the information is relatively thin and is poorly organized.
There is no attempt to show any unifying point or purpose in stringing these 13 chapters together.

[Eve Markley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought this book thinking it had more to do with actual mysteries of Ohio, who built the mounds and why for instance. Instead. it was book full of lame ghost stories of the sort one would tell around a campfire. The author keeps throwing in "amusing" comments of her own. Very chatty. I suspect the author is very good at storytelling in person.

[Cierra Repsha · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to stop reading at a certain point, because the commentary that she gives is so out-of-touch and useless. It’s also classified as a “historical” book, but the main citations come from other books on Ohio supernatural…no newspaper articles, historians, etc. There was an entire chapter where she just quoted another similar book on the area she was talking about. At that point, it’s almost plagiarizing.

There was also something in the authors tone when talking about important issues like slavery (which she also offered unwanted commentary on) that literally made me go “Yikes…” and eventually put down the book before finishing.

[Christina Getrost · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this when I was looking for ghost stories to tell at a library program for adults. I didn't find any in this volume that worked for my program, but I really enjoyed reading it anyway! Each chapter is on a different topic and place in Ohio. Some of them I knew at least passingly or more in depth: I've visited the site of the Athens asylum; I don't believe there are any ghosts in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park but these "legends" were fun to read, albeit a little repetitive; and I knew about Cleveland's Torso Killer and Eliot Ness, the Underground Railroad, and the Ohio Penitentiary. New to me and very entertaining were the stories about the bootleggers and gamblers of Cincinnati (and Newport KY next door), the Golden Lamb--Ohio's oldest continuously operating inn, which I'd taken pictures of when I was in Lebanon Ohio to visit the public library but was ignorant of the history, the Victoria Theater in Dayton, and a very odd story about "Eugene" the "Petrified Man." That one was really cringy: an African American man died in the small town of Sabina and no one knew who he was. The corpse was never claimed, but because his body was well-preserved (hence the petrified name), he was put on display to the public for 35 years in hopes someone would recognize him. But also just for the spectacle of it. It was a very cruel thing to do; people even tried to steal "souvenirs" of his hair and so forth. This was in 1929-1964; I would hope such a thing would never be done today. Imagine your town being famous for this. :-( Overall this book isn't just ghost stories but weird unexplained things--aliens at Wright Patterson Air Force Base among them! While the topics were interesting and unique, the style of writing was a little odd. It's written in a very informal, folksy humor style, with numerous snarky asides--"okayyy", "imagine that!"-- and the author makes comparisons with modern pop culture and jokes that sometimes fall flat. But other than that it is certainly a unique book about Ohio. There are one or two black and white photographs illustrating each chapter.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was OK at best. It had some serious potential to be better, but some chapters were more political than about the mythical or mysterious aspects of the place. But one chapter was actually well-done and that was the chapter talking about Eugene, the dead guy who wasn't buried for almost 40 years. I got a lot of humor out of the chapter. If the other chapters were like that, I would've given this book possibly 4 stars, but as it stands, it is a 3 star book and even then, I am being maybe a little biased in giving it that high of a rating as Ohio is my home state.

[Goe · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a pretty uninteresting collection of "myths" and "mysteries" in Ohio. The little side comments really threw me off and most of the time, I didn't even understand it. I'm not sure if Gurvis thought the comments were funny or added anything, but for me, they were more of annoyance. If you're interested in a history lesson on some events that allegedly look place in Ohio, by all means, read on. But if you're looking for strange, tantalizing tales of Ohio (like I expected), just move on.

[Caitlin Myers · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only really liked 2 of the chapters in this book. It was a struggle finishing it and I now have a migraine because of this book.

I have to add that this is not a history book, most of the events described in each chapter are myths and legends, and the author made a few offensive comments throughout this book.

[Kara Prem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many of the chapters in this book dealt with places and people I had already read about, so there wasn't anything "new" in the book, but that doesn't take away from the fact that the information was well presented and interesting.

[Madison Wendel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really about myths and mysteries... I was expecting... more? I guess.

[Hew La France · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here is my biggest issue with this book: the author couldn’t separate personal opinion from that which was being shared.

[Kaitlynn Scribner · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted this book to be full of quirky mysteries or interesting facts, but since the author could not just share the stories but also had to throw in her own commentary(not funny by the way) it really made this a horrible read. It took me forever to read it because i don't give up on a book, but this one i was VERY close.

[Jeff Rutter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very fun read. I enjoyed the fun overview in each section. This is not an in-depth scientific study of each place. There is humor and a nice quick read of each place. FUN!

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was interesting. It wasn't creepy or scary but it was fun. The authors humor was well placed. It was a quick read if you want to take to the beach.