Exploring the Darker Side of America... Strange Highways: A guidebook to American mysteries & The Unexplained [Paperback]

Jerry D. Coleman (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Whitechapel Productions (October 20, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 189252337X
• ISBN-13: 978-1892523372
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #980,594 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Other Coleman, May 26, 2004

By 

Gerry Bacon (Detroit, Mi) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Exploring the Darker Side of America... Strange Highways: A guidebook to American mysteries & The Unexplained (Paperback)

With "Strange Highways", Jerry Coleman doesn't simply follow in the footsteps of his brother Loren. He steps boldly along the twists and turns of America's paranormal and cryptozoological roadways. "Strange Highways" is the culmination of 30 years of field investigations by one of the sanest men in the often insane world of the unexplained.

Coleman doesn't write to titilate your senses. He doesn't attempt to persuade you to his point of view. Jerry Coleman isn't selling anything. He simply takes a sometimes cynical but open minded approach to some of the mysteries America has to offer. Like others engaged in this field, he brings an inquisitive mind harnessed to good old fashioned common sense. The result is a book that offers sensible explanations where explanations are possible.

The Lawndale, Illinois thunderbird incident is a case in point. Jerry investigated this report personally and shares his field notes with us. While his results may disappoint those hoping for a more sensational ending, Colemen's conclusions underscore his ability to cut through the mythology and weigh the evidence in a meaningful manner.

And for those who demand a little more of the unexplained, there's plenty of that also.

I do find two problems with this book. One is that it is too broad in scope to allow for an in depth discussion of all the topics. I can't help but feel Mr. Coleman has much more to tell us.

The other complaint is minor and has to do with the number of typos. That I think, can be layed at the publisher's feet. Perhaps in Jerry's next book, that problem will be resolved.

And I do hope there is a next one. If there is, it will definitely be on my "Must Buy" list.

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not an Armchair Researcher, September 22, 2004

By 

Pathfinder (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Exploring the Darker Side of America... Strange Highways: A guidebook to American mysteries & The Unexplained (Paperback)

I don't usually take the time to write reviews but after reading this book, I felt it warranted one. While reading "Strange Highways" I was continually impressed by the fact that Mr. Coleman utilized scientific methods. He did not research from his armchair but actually travelled to the sites and interviewed the witnesses and the geographical locations where the sighting occurred. Many times he went back to interview the witnesses a second or third time to clarify facts. All the facts are documented with names, locations, details and some re-enactments. The book is written with an unbiased approach which allows the reader to determine how they feel, not the precluded opinion of the writer or witnesses. Mr. Coleman includes only verified facts, no undocumented evidence is precluded as the "truth". There are no allusions made to the paranormal as the "answer" and only answer, leaving no other options as some writers utilize. If Mr. Coleman found a resolution to the case, he resolves it also for the reader. I have found other writters will "leave it open" as to suggest again paranormal tendencies and there are no answers. A very good read, with physically researched facts.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars True stories or campfire tales?, July 25, 2006

By 

M. LaPlante (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Exploring the Darker Side of America... Strange Highways: A guidebook to American mysteries & The Unexplained (Paperback)

Overall, Strange Highways was a decent read; however I have some problems that bothered me throughout the book.

First of all, this book is deeply in need of a good editor...or at the very least, a decent spellchecker. The book is literally filled with obvious typos and grammatical errors. It really kills the flow of some stories when the eye is continually being distracted by these mistakes. Some sentences don't even make sense when read, so it seems hard to believe anyone actually took the time to proof read the book. Even the table of contents randomly stops listing page numbers half way down the page!

Next, many of the paranormal stories in the book actually revolve around Mr. Coleman's own purported experiences. At first glance, this isn't a bad thing, as it would seem to provide some fresh material for the reader. As I progressed through the chapters however, I became more and more suspicious each time he revealed a first hand experience from some point in his life. I am a believer in at least the strong possibility of paranormal events, and am a regular reader of this type of material. Despite this, I can safely report that I have never actually had any type of paranormal experience, be it cryptozoological, extraterrestrial, ghostly, etc. (Nor have any of my friends, that I know of.) Yet it appears that Jerry Coleman has had these experiences regularly, throughout his life; as have many of his friends. Hardly a chapter in this diverse book seemed to pass without a first hand account! Now I can accept if someone is unusually receptive to ghosts, or believes they've been abducted by aliens, but I find it hard to believe that anyone could experience the diversity of paranormal phenomena Mr. Coleman claims to have experienced. It seems everywhere he went in life a random paranormal occurrence fell upon himself or a friend! I have no reason to call him a liar, but it certainly seemed suspicious after awhile.

My third criticism of the book is that it attempts to be very diverse, yet does not evenly address any of its topics. The entire text is less than 200 pages, despite the fact that many of the topics within have been the subject of thousands to millions of pages of research over the years. It would take a real effort to compress that kind of information into a useful summary of each topic, and unfortunately Strange Highways did not succeed. Topics are simply addressed very unevenly. For contrast, I will use a book I thought provided an excellent overview of various paranormal topics: John Keel's "The Complete Guide to Mysterious Beings." In Keel's work one gets a very broad and thorough (although superficial) treatment of all the topics. By contrast, Strange Highways is completely hit or miss. Coleman chooses to skip discussion of the phenomena themselves, and plunge right into his random collection of stories.

Finally, there is a distinct lack of structure or scientific method in the information presented. There is very little done in the way of references for material, or documentary quotes or photographs. When you read some works on the paranormal, they're well documented, as you would expect a scientific report to be. Strange Highways reads more like campfire tales...they may be true, but there's little in the way of proof short of the words themselves.

I will give one upside to this writing: some of the material does seem fresh to me. Since it's based primarily on some of Coleman's own experiences and/or interviews, it makes sense some of these stories are not to be read elsewhere. You don't have to worry about being hit with the same old rehashed tales for the umpteenth time here.

So in summation, there are certainly better books available. If you already have experience with a given topic you'll be better served choosing a book focusing on that topic. If you're new to the paranormal you won't learn much here, as there is much more storytelling than discussion of the actual phenomena. I recommend this book only to pad the collections of avid readers of the paranormal who may be looking for a couple fresh tales.