Customer Reviews

Armchair Reader Weird, Scary & Unusual

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The overall impression of this book is like the Sunday morning Monster Vision with Bubba Bo Bob Briggs: Not too scary or in-depth but entertaining.

Being highly prejudiced toward the Uncle John's Bathroom Reader series I still decided to give this one a fair shake since the throne room was running a little low on reading material.

The book covers short pieces (one or two pages, sometimes just a paragraph)on weird, scary(the diet coke of scary variety) and unusual tales of UFO's, ghosts, the rock and roll 27 Club, about 20 lady in white mentions, James Dean's "little bastard", more ghost, ghosts and haunted places, Amityville, the creepy doll in Key West, the Winchester House, Alcatraz, the Valentine's Day Massacre, Michael Jackson's rise and fall, Howard Hughes, ghosts and some cryptozoology (bigfoot, mothman).

But did I mention there was ghosts?

For me it was a bit heavy on the ghosts and the rest of the articles (ahem, page or paragraphs) didn't really go in depth or bring to light any new material on occult stories or strange happenings that if you're someone who likes to read about UFO's or Hollywood hauntings you've already read all of this already, the gloss overs won't do much for you.

If you want just a light reading, family friendly overall spooktacular book to entertain your brain I'd say go for it. After this one I don't think I'd delve into any of the other books in the series but I do not regret the purchase.

I bought this for our plane ride to England. Yes, it's large but SO WORTH it! This is a book you can dip into and look around for as long or short as you like. Lists of scary movies, tales of murderous plots, all will keep you reading and wanting more. I love the 'tone' of the book as well, never takes itself too seriously. I love Armchair readers..so does my 16 year old son and 47 year old husband!

A pretty good collection of exactly what the title claims. Nothing new here or outrageous, but a good easy read and a lot of fun.

The public's interest in trivia seems never-ending. The Armchair Reader team brings together a smorgasbord of "weird, scary and unusual" facts, feats and people in this 2008 release. At 501 pages, it's a hefty piece but trivia buffs will enjoy it.

The items featured in the book include a number of well-known items and some new material. For instance, you'll find Bigfoot, Nessie, Mothman, Liberace, Lizzie Borden, the Winchester Mystery House, the Lake Champlain monster and Mike the Headless Chicken. Other sections include scary movies, strange talents, revolting foods, Presidential peculiarities, the Tennesse Body Farm, the Clutter family murders, odd jobs, King Tut, Bonnie & Clyde, John Dillinger, the Year Without a Summer, etc. Given the items mentioned above (Nessie, etc.), it's a little odd to see separate sections on Mythical Creatures and Media Hoaxes! Nessie isn't mythical!?!

In any case, trivia buffs, especially those just starting out, should find lots of food for thought in WEIRD, SCARY & UNUSUAL. There's way too much ghost material in it for me but...different strokes for different folks. Recommended.

This book is so great that it is hard to put down. I read this book from cover to cover and it is excellent! The subjects are interesting and varied.