Detours Into the Paranormal: Atlantic City Road Trip

by Denver Michaels

What do cryptid creatures such as the Jersey Devil, the Snarly Yow, Bigfoot, Big Red Eye, the Wooo-wooo, the Snallygaster, the Sykesville Monster, Chessie, the Dwayyo, and various others have in common? They can all be found along a route that stretches from Virginia to Atlantic City, New Jersey. This same stretch of highway is dotted with many haunted locations such as the John Brown Raid Headquarters, Rockwood Mansion, Bellevue, the USS Constellation, the Absecon Lighthouse, to name a few, and winds its way through the eerie Pine Barrens. In this book, the reader joins Denver Michaels as he travels from his home in Virginia to Atlantic City, New Jersey in search of the paranormal. Michaels will serve as a "paranormal tour guide" during the four-hour trip; he stops at haunted buildings and bridges, historic landmarks, and even a well-known gravity hill, sharing some of the interesting history of each location. Combining Colonial Era and Civil War history with a heavy dose of urban legends and folklore, along with some of his own personal experiences, it is sure to be quite a trip! Buckle in.

Genres: Ebooks, Travel, Paranormal, Nonfiction

128 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 9, 2018

About the author

Denver Michaels is an author with a passion for cryptozoology, the paranormal, lost civilizations & ancient history, and all things unexplained. In 2016, the Virginia native released his first book, People are Seeing Something, which makes a case for the existence of lake monsters in the United States and Canada. Since then, he has gone on to author Giants: Men of Renown, Strange Tales from Virginia’s Mountains, and other books covering cryptozoology and paranormal subject matter.

Michaels and his wife sold their home in 2020 and now travel the country full-time in an RV. Michaels enjoys the outdoors, hiking, fishing, investigating the unexplained, and working on new writing projects.

Reviews

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another Kindle book I won from Goodreads and it deals with hauntings and the field of cryptozoology in the states of Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey. I have always been interested in cryptozoology, especially, because I myself have seen a creature that is said not to exist. (My husband saw it too). I was amazed to learn that except for Hawaii, there have been pretty credible Bigfoot sightings in every other state. The author goes into detail about haunted prisons and jails, as well as a saloon Edgar Allen Poe once frequented. He also tells the reader about other strange sightings of unknown animals; dating from the 1700s to the present day. Especially interesting, are the sea serpent tales. I also liked the story about Trump's failed Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City. It was purchased by the Hard Rock Company, and the old casino is said to be haunted and many people have felt strange phenomena when visiting.
This, of course, was prior to Donald Trump being the President of our country. There are also stories of haunted prisons which were in use during the Civil War by both sides; the prisoners were treated terribly by their jailers, and way too many died of scurvy, malnutrition, and smallpox. There are stories of hauntings in these places also.
All in all, I enjoyed this book very much and I learned about animal sightings I had not known about before. This was a very enjoyable read.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Great Read

The author takes you with him as he travels from his home in Virginia to Atlantic City, New Jersey to haunted places as The Piccadilly Mansion where several ghost have been reported to Fort Loudoun built by George Washington where a giant Indian has been seen at night. Belle Grove Plantation has been reported seeing a woman dressed in black looking out of a window on the second floor. Even Haunted bridges where people have thrown their babies over the bridge several people including the author who visit the bridges have heard crying, Denver Michael has even conducted investigations in the historic haunting also there are photos included in the book. There has been sightings of a phantom of a large black dog with glowing red eyes who appears in the middle of a road then vanish without a trace he is called The Snarky Yow. There have been sightings of Bigfoot, UFO's, crop circles and cryptids. The reason I enjoy his books so much is because he makes me feel like I am right with him traveling to these sites. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the historic sites of the Paranormal. I received this e-book on goodreads for a honest review.

[Jarosław · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of Virginia cryptids

But muvh more than just Virginia; much of the mid Atlantic states are included as well. The cryptids section was my favorite, but the whole book is well written. I’m glad I found this author, and will look into his other books, particularly the one on other water cryptids.

Told from a personal memoir point of view, this book spans both a wide geographical range as well as a wide topic range, dealing with all things paranormal in the mid-Atlantic, so cannot be called comprehensive or overly in depth on any one paranormal phenomenon, but represents a good overview/introduction to the paranormal in the area.

Disclosure: Book was won in a kindle giveaway.

[Laura Hundley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writer Denver Michaels, takes us on a journey to places that are considered haunted. In the beginning we learn about a few ufo sightings and to add proof he includes a statement from his sister who is a police officer. Then we start our trip. I loved the way the writer describes the places he visits as well as how much information is added to allow the reader the choice to believe or not believe. I was hoping that there would be more places added and there aero a few that I would love to know more about. Overall, I would give this book a 4.5 but since that is not an option I only felt it was fair to round up.

[Ursula Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun Paranormal Road Trip

This was a fun book on a road trip with a paranormal focus, part of a series. This edition focuses on an Atlantic City road trip. A number of interesting paranormal hot spots are noted, some the author has visited and a few he had not. We are also introduced to local cryptids along the way. The tone is lighthearted and quite a bit of information on the locations. It was a fun book to read and I am going to read the other volumes in this series.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book as a kindle goodreads giveaway. this was. light, quick read. I enjoyed the stories from Virginia to NJ however I was a little disappointed- I thought the focus was going to be on Atlantic City paranormal activity, and that was limited to Trump Taj Mahal and the Jersey devil. otherwise a nice read with alot is detail about the surrounding areas

[Hannah Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice guide about paranormal locations in this region but don't get the audiobook format. The author himself did it and he didn't edit out any of the coughing, awkward breaks, or tongue twister moments.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

A very great read for a traveling paranormal investigator in the northeast. He covers some of the areas that have paranormal ties from ghosts to cryptids.

[Amileigh Gordon]

#GoodreadsGiveaway