Meet the monsters in our midst, from bigfoot to Mothman and beyond! Welcome to the United States of Cryptids, where mysterious monsters lurk in the dark forests, deep lakes, and sticky swamps of all fifty states. From the infamous Jersey Devil to the obscure Snallygaster, travel writer and chronicler of the strange J. W. Ocker uncovers the bizarre stories of these creatures and investigates the ways in which communities embrace and celebrate their local cryptids. Readers will learn about: Batsquatch of Washington, a winged bigfoot that is said to have emerged from the eruption of Mount Saint Helens Nain Rouge of Michigan, a fierce red goblin that has been spotted before every major city disaster in Detroit Flatwoods Monster of West Virginia, a robotic extraterrestrial that crash-landed in rural Appalachia Lizard Man of South Carolina, a reptilian mutant that attacked a teenager in the summer of 1988 Glocester Ghoul of Rhode Island, a fire-breathing dragon that guards a hoard of pirate treasure And many more! Whether you believe in bigfoot or not, this fully illustrated compendium is a fun, frightening, fascinating tour through American folklore and history, exploring the stories we tell about monsters and what those stories say about us.

They re lurking in museums, graveyards, and private homes around the world. Their stories have inspired countless horror movies, reality TV shows, campfire tales, books, and even chain emails. They re cursed objects, and in order to unleash a wave of misfortune, all they need is you. As a culture, we can t seem to get enough of cursed objects. But never before have the true stories of these infamous real-life items been compiled into a fascinating and chilling volume. Entries include: Annabelle the Doll, a Raggedy Ann doll which inspired the acclaimed horror franchise The Conjuring The Tomb of Tutankhamen, the discovery of which kicked-started media hysteria over a rumored Curse of the Pharaohs The Ring of Silvianus, a Roman artifact believed to have inspired J. R. R. Tolkien s The Hobbit The Hope Diamond, which was owned by kings and inspired the Heart of the Ocean in James Cameron s Titanic The Dybbuk Box, which was sold on eBay and inspired the horror film The Possession. Whether you believe in curses or not, the often tragic and always bizarre stories behind these objects will fascinate you. Many of them have intersected with some of the most notable events and people in history. But beyond Hollywood and beyond the hysteria, author J. W. Ocker suggests that cursed objects are simply objects which have been witness to great human tragedy, and thereafter operate as mechanisms for remembering and retelling those stories. Cursed Objects will be equally appealing to true believers as well as history buffs, horror fans, and anyone who loves a good spine-tingling tale.

"It's easy to recognize Ocker as a future master of madness after this thrilling haunted house trip."—Fangoria Magazine Felix Allsey is a travel writer with a keen eye for the paranormal, and he’s carved out a unique, if only slightly lucrative, niche for himself in nonfiction; he writes travelogues of the country’s most haunted places, after haunting them himself. When he convinces the owner of the infamous Rotterdam Mansion to let him stay on the premises for 13 nights, he believes he’s finally found the location that will bring him a bestseller. As with his other gigs, he sets rules for himself: no leaving the house for any reason, refrain from outside contact, and sleep during the day. When Thomas Ruth, Felix's oldest friend and fellow horror film obsessive, joins him on the project, the two dance around a recent and unspeakably painful rough-patch in their friendship, but eventually fall into their old rhythms of dark humor and movie trivia. That’s when things start going wrong: screams from upstairs, figures in the thresholds, and more than what should be in any basement. Felix realizes the book he’s writing, and his very state of mind, is tilting from nonfiction into all out horror, and the shocking climax answers a question that’s been staring these men in the face all along: In Rotter House, who’s haunting who?

Edgar Allan Poe was an oddity: his life, literature, and legacy are all, well, odd. In Poe-Land, J. W. Ocker explores the physical aspects of Poe s legacy across the East Coast and beyond, touring Poe s homes, examining artifacts from his life locks of his hair, pieces of his coffin, original manuscripts, his boyhood bed and visiting the many memorials dedicated to him.

Along the way, Ocker meets people from a range of backgrounds and professions actors, museum managers, collectors, historians who have dedicated some part of their lives to Poe and his legacy. Poe-Land is a unique travelogue of the afterlife of the poet who invented detective fiction, advanced the emerging genre of science fiction, and elevated the horror genre with a mastery over the macabre that is arguably still unrivaled today."

Salem, Massachusetts, may be the strangest city on the planet. A single event in its 400 years of history-the Salem Witch Trials of 1692-transformed it into the Capital of Creepy in America. But Salem is a seasonal town-and its season happens to be Halloween. Every October, this small city of 40,000 swells to close to half a million as witches, goblins, ghouls, and ghosts (and their admirers) descend on Essex Street. For the fall of 2015, occult enthusiast and Edgar Award-winning writer J.W. Ocker moved his family of four to downtown Salem to experience firsthand a season with the witch, visiting all of its historical sites and macabre attractions. In between, he interviews its leaders and citizens, its entrepreneurs and visitors, its street performers and Wiccans, its psychics and critics, creating a picture of this unique place and the people who revel in, or merely weather, its witchiness.

When J. W. Ocker's first book, The New England Grimpendium, emerged on the scene, Max Weinstein of Fangoria.com called it "a travelogue for those who revel in the glory of their nightmares." Rick Broussard at New Hampshire Magazine said of it, "I've read a dozen books about New England ghosties and weirdnesses, and this one is my favorite. It's also one of the few that actually came up with stuff I didn't already know about." Now the author of that Lowell Thomas Award winner has unearthed hundreds of similarly creepy and colorful places in the Empire State that will make your skin crawl and your hair stand on end! Ocker's essays on these places, some little known, some area landmarks, include directions and site information along with entertaining anecdotes delivered in his signature wry style. It's definitely a wild ride from a jar full of the harvested brains of dead killers to horror movie filming sites around the state; from a ships' graveyard to lake monster sightings. If it's in New York and it's bizarrely noteworthy or wonderfully wacky, you'll find it in The New York Grimpendium.

A rich compendium of macabre and historic New England happenings, this travelogue features firsthand accounts of almost 200 sites throughout New England. This region is full of the macabre, the grim, and the ghastly--and all of it is worth visiting, for the traveler who dares Author J. W. Ocker supplements directions and site information with entertaining personal anecdotes. Topics include: Legends and personalities of the macabre Infamous crimes and killers Dreadful tragedies Horror movie locales Notable cemeteries and gravestones Intriguing memento mori Classic monsters