Sunday, March 24, 2024

"Unnatural Ohio: A History of Buckeye Cryptids, Legends & Other Mysteries" by M. Kristina Smith and Kevin Moore





I picked a nice signed copy of "Unnatural Ohio" up from the two authors at the recent Frogman Festival in Loveland.
 
I was excited about this one after reading about it before the festival.  I spent nearly a decade living in Cleveland, and I still enjoy the strange history books that keep coming out about the Buckeye state.  Plus, the authors work at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museum in Fremont (it's between Toledo and Cleveland)...  so I was able to talk a little history with them in addition to chatting about the cryptids and the paranormal.

This is really my favorite type of book when it comes to legends, ghosts, cryptids, etc.  The authors tell the story that is well known.  They give details about sightings and reports.  They try to see how valid some of the claims are (some local legends about hauntings are pretty thoroughly debunked by them).  Some are somewhat debunked as the authors find a small bit of truth to a legend- the famous Gore Orphanage story is a good example.  But the authors did a lot of research and site their sources.

I thought Unnatural Ohio covered some of the classics (The Loveland Frogman is covered about as thoroughly as it can be, as are the Melon Heads, and Mothman)...  But I read about some other legends that were new to me.

I love it when you find out a strange fact relating to a story that you had never heard before too, and this volume has a lot of those.  The authors mention an old Bigfoot report from Gallipolis (a town mostly known for it's link to the Mothman).  I enjoyed reading about how the spot where the "Wow! signal" was discovered is now part of a golf course.  I also was interested to hear about a stranded boat with a link to a Madonna video.

This book packs a punch, and the chapters are short but thorough and very easy to read.  You will learn something new about the classic Ohio legends you already know, and you will also discover some new legends you had never heard of.


No comments:

Post a Comment