Freaky Florida: The Wonderhouse, the Devil’s Tree, the Shaman of Philippe Park, and More

by Mark Muncy, Kari Schultz

Millions of people flock to Florida for its beaches and tourist attractions. Most never learn about the strange locations just off the beaten path.
In the beautiful Florida Caverns, a second Rip Van Winkle was woken from one hundred years of sleep. The Green Swamp is home to murders, monsters and mysteries galore. A shining castle made of recycled material, built by an artist like no other, gleams within a Florida swamp. A spectral horse heralds tragedy and caused a notorious scandal in a central Florida city. Join Mark Muncy and Kari Schultz as they share tales of Florida's myths, monsters, massacres and legends and the hidden history behind them.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

176 pages, Paperback

Published September 10, 2018

Reviews

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun book! Some legends were shared but there is also true historical facts included. Loved the book and highly recommend it.

[shannon Stubbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's not bad for a local travel guide. It's has weird, historical, and interesting places you wouldn't think to go out and see. Some of the places in here are near my house and make me want to get in the car and check them out. I guess that is what this book is about.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinatingly freaky reading!

This book really opened my eyes to the weirdness that outnumbers us all here in Florida. I feel a need to explore these sites and perhaps discover a new piece of weirdness on my own. A must-read for Floridians and non-Floridians alike.

[Rachel Roth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite its title, this book focuses more on the historical side of Florida in relation to each "freaky" legend or story that it tells, and I appreciate that. As someone who lives in Florida, I've grown tired of the constant jokes about how weird and shocking the state is. It's an odd mixture of people, opinions, and environments with too many vacationers, but really, there's nothing down here that's any weirder than half the things I've seen in Tennessee, Texas, or Louisiana.
I just wish the book delved more into each story. Some of them were fascinating, but only about two or three pages were dedicated to them, like the massacre of Rosewood. They gave it more attention than some of the other tales but there's so much more they could have included. Still, I enjoyed this read.

[Pug · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yet another cheap travel guide. Sometimes they can be SO FUN to read, and other times (like in this instance), it's dry and wordy and poorly written.

I immediately skipped to the chapter about my favorite place, Key West. Not only did he make this most fascinating island sound extremely boring (even the story about Count Carl Von Cosel and Elena de Hoyos was dull), but he called it Casa Hueso. "HOUSE of bones"??? Anyone who has visited Key West (as he claims he has) knows that it is Cayo Hueso. Terribly lazy writing.

[Kailyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cool read and I'm glad I grabbed it the last time I visited Florida. There were tons of historically interesting stories told within this book, and I learned a lot more about Florida than I anticipated. I didn't quite get the Freaky part of this book. One story at the end stuck out to me as truly freaky, but most of the other stories were pretty tame and not too spooky. I enjoyed the author's writing style and am definitely going to check out his other book, Eerie Florida.

[Rickie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reads like a poorly proofread, rambling book report about Florida legends. It gets three stars because it was still interesting and funny in a folksy way.

[Jeff J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting stories but nothing that encourages me to visit.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a native and resident of Florida, it was interesting to learn of the legends of places I visited as a kid. Truly entertaining.