Weird Florida: Your Travel Guide to Florida's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets

Weird Travel Guides

by Charlie Carlson, Mark Sceurman (Foreword), Mark Moran (Foreword)

Ah, Florida: sun, surf, sand, South Beach, and senior citizens. That's about it, right? Well, no, not exactly. Florida is also one of the best places to chart your weirdest travel destinations. And who better to chronicle this state's fabled places, roadside wonders, bizarre beasts, and downright peculiar people than Charlie Carlson, a tenth-generation Floridian. All who know Charlie can testify that he is one very strange dude and the perfect person to steer you to Florida's best-kept secrets and oddest legends.

Mosquito netting in place and notepad in hand, Charlie has waddled through swamps, trekked the lesser-traveled roads, and visited the weirder destinations of our country's only peninsula state. Looking for the odd and the offbeat, he found them everywhere. He has tracked down impossible-to-believe tales that had just enough truth in them to create the same uneasiness a gator sighting would. Whether it's the Skunk Ape, the Devil's Chair of Cassadaga, or the She-Man of the Caloosahatchee River, Charlie presents it here for you, our fellow admirers of the weird.

So act like a tourist and start browsing. You'll be entranced with the beer-can car, the tombstone for Pearl ("I told you I was sick") Roberts, the Blue Heaven Rooster Graveyard, the Devil Tree, the bowling-ball house, Catalina's ghost, the Mafia House, and Xanadu, the abandoned and neglected house of the future. Read all about the Wizard of Central Florida and Count Von Cosel and his immortal love. It's all here. It's all for you. It's all...very weird.

A brand-new entry in the best-selling Weird U.S. series, Weird Florida is packed with all the info about the Sunshine State that your history teacher never taught you. So travel down our state's highways and byways with your tour guide, Mr. Charlie. It's a great adventure. And we promise: it's a journey you'll never forget.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, History, Paranormal, Reference, Humor

240 pages, Hardcover

First published April 7, 2005

Reviews

[Nicole Amburgey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Born a Florida native, I could not wait to move away. I have moved back in the last couple of years and have been determined to make the most out of living here. I enjoy the odd, quirky, and downright weird. This book has given me tons of day trip ideas! There are so many cool stories and places to see! I may need to pick these up for a few other states as well.

[George Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too hokey for my tastes. I’d like more info on real areas and phenomena instead of the focus on the supernatural.

A good introduction to Florida landmarks, but skip the ridiculous ghost stories and hauntings.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading Weird Florida. I love local lore and weird places and this book offered a glimpse into both throughout the state. I was pleased, though not surprised, to see St. Augustine pop up in many chapters. St. Aug is my favorite city in Florida so I love learning more about it than I already know, which is a considerable amount. I recommend this book for anyone who is a fan of the strange but true, local legends, folk lore, the state of Florida, and interesting roadside attractions as well as anyone interested in Florida's history, the Spanish take over of Florida, and/or Southern Native Americans.

[Louise Pare-Lobinske · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a transplant to Florida, I was unfamiliar with most of the material covered: everything from old tourist attractions to weird houses built by eccentric people, to haunted places. I was a little amused that Twistee Treat stores (the soft-serve ice cream places shaped like ice cream cones) were weird enough to merit mention. Cassadaga is mentioned, as is the I-4 Dead Zone (which anyone familiar with American Supernatural will recognize). There is a heavy emphasis on the supernatural/haunted houses, roads, and other places. If I could have given the book 3.5 stars, I would have, as my true reaction lies somewhere between liking it and really liking it. But what the heck, I rounded up.

[Carla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read as we're in Florida on vacation. Found at the local library. Only one story that was in our area, and I have no idea why it was included in the book because it is not weird. I know there is the same from other States. I read the one for Wisconsin and it was no worse, or better. Quite gimmicky really. More a coffee table book.

[Stacey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought that being a local, I'd learn something about the small town and strange happenings around the swamp, but that did not happen. Most of the "stories" are just that, hogwash, local tales to keep your kids out of trouble or stir up some emotions for fun. Growin' up in FL I've heard about most of the tales in the book. There were a few I did not know. I probably wouldn't recommend this book, I have read and skimmed through better.

[Michael Nash · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a pretty serious disappointment. I was hoping for essentially a list of roadside attraction-type destinations with directions on how to reach them. While the book has a bit of that, it's mostly chock full of Skunk Ape and Alien sightings, and people's cool yards. In fact, they only cursorily point out the locations of places you may actually want to visit. But to be fair to them, this is a conflict between my expectations and what they wanted to provide.

[Stefanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have spent about a decade living in Florida, and while I was well aware of some of the oddness the Sunshine State has to offer, this "off the beaten path" guidebook has added a whole lot of insight, not to mention many, many sights and places I have added to my "must see" and "must do" bucket lists. If seeing those places is only half as much fun as it was reading about those in this book, those trips will be totally worth it. :-)

[D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

These "Weird Whatever" books are always a lot of fun, and WEIRD FLORIDA is no exception. There's a mix of ghosts, monsters, and weird places, with photographs and anecdotes thrown in for good measure. It serves as a nice primer for some of Florida's strange history and locations, and was written by a native Floridian who claims ten generations of Florida ancestors.

Well worth tracking down, even if you don't live there.

[Kristin Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book did not interest me at all...most of the stuff was not my kind of "weird." It covers things like Unexplained Phenomena, Sunshine State Ghosts, Bazarre Beasts, Cemetery Safari.... too much paranormal stuff for my preference. I ws looking for a book to show me hidden gems to visit in Florida. Back to the library for this book. :)

[Gina Bégin]

Holy cow- this is interesting stuff! What I never knew about my home state! My brother got it for Christmas, but I made him leave it with me because I've had a hard time putting it down. I guess there is a "Weird ..." for more states than just Florida-- wonder if Utah has anything weird going for it? (Ha ha).

[Lisa James · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you've read any of the Weird series, you'll get a kick out of this one too. Since Florida is my home, I had to include in my library. Most of the sites in the book I already knew about, & some I've even visited! The tales are quirky, sometimes funny & sometimes a trifle creepy, but never less than entertaining!

[Yosef Shapiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book points out many weird attractions t/o the state. It is a good book for trivia purists. However, it is hard to use to organize a trip. The attractions are grouped by category and not by location.So, this makes it hard to plan a road trip with just this book. You need to do your research and planning ahead of time.

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is strictly a fluff read, it's interesting with odd facts about the state of Florida. Ghosts, eerie places and oddities found in Florida. If you like the usless information kind of books you might find this one interesting.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. I've lived in Florida my whole life and would have never known about most of Florida's hidden treasures that this book offers. It is a great read if you're really bored and just want something neat to entertain yourself with.

[Monica English · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are definitely some Florida oddities I want to check out after reading this, and I liked the book for day-trip ideas. However, there is too much focus on mystical/hokey fables. I'd rather the book just detail certain landmarks.

[Josh Liller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some amusing tidbits about the weird and wacky stuff you can find in Florida.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gift from my brother. I bet he found it in the bargain bin. Fun, for a novelty book.

[Chrissy Bessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brought back memories of moving to Florida in the early 1960's.

[Sadie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a fun read, and made even better if you're a Florida native ('hey, I've been there!'). It's a good way too see the real character of Florida before the developers pave over it all.

[Brittany N · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting look at where I live. Read about some local legends I am familiar with, and learned about even more!

[Presley Acuna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Florida is profoundly wierd. Basically it's NJ with Palm Trees. A cultural tundra, so having a guide like this is handy dandy, to help you tease out the gold nuggets.

[Stacey L · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love books like this. I did all these weird spots one summer with this as my guidebook!

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't wait to search out some of these great spots to visit!

[David Alicea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was good but not up to date due to many of the locations no longer existing. Overall entertaining and good for historical references.

[Beth Novak Paquette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy books like these. They are filled with fun information and suggestions if you plan on visiting these states one day.

[Sasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

If there was an Atlas Obscura exclusive to Florida and written by Larry the Cable Guy on bath salts, it would be this fantastical tome.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the news recently there was a discussion of a "Mysterious Miami Circle", leading me to seek more info (is it just a septic tank ?) about Florida. While most American states have their own ghost stories, odd burial grounds, a requisite 'burned-down-school-house-with-children-crying', abandoned properties, etc., Florida has some unique oddities: a Coral Castle (I've visited, totally worth a day trip), Hoodoo practitioners, the Devil's Millhopper (a giant sinkhole, no thanks to a stairway to the bottom), various ruins, roads built to nowhere, and more. Three stars for content (Florida isn't THAT weird), and a fourth star for photographs/illustrations. BUT, I realize, there are no maps for serious day-trippers, so minus one star.

[Sarah W Bowers · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more. I was hoping it would be a travel book where I could plan my way around Florida, but it wasn't. I feel like they missed so many weird places that you can actually visit and instead focused on legends and ghost stories. A true disappointment.

[Susanna]

This is the coolest book I own + I’m obsessed + but I agree w the more negative reviews that I would prefer it to focus on real places w quirky history than places that are rumored to exist lol