Stranger Than Science [Paperback]

Frank Edwards (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1983

Readers will be baffled by this collection of astounding true stories of strange events, weird happenings, and unusual discoveries that science cannot explain. Reprint.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 303 pages
• Publisher: Lyle Stuart (October 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806508507
• ISBN-13: 978-0806508504
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #572,361 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Book That Started It All, October 18, 2006

By 

William R. Hancock (Travelers Rest, S.C. United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stranger Than Science (Paperback)

When I read reviews of what an interesting, breezily-written little book this is, I have to shake my head a little bit and chuckle to myself. Such an evaluation falls somewhat short with this particular book. While Charles Fort produced several volumes of "unusualness" before this, and while a few spiritualist-based books by authors like R. DeWitt Miller, Nandor Fodor, and others were "out there" to be found, these books were not at all very "high profile" on the general reader's "radar" at the end of the 50s, beginning of the 60s. Sci-Fi and horror novels were, and westerns, and "hard-boiled" private eye and superlawyer stuff (Mike Hammer & Perry Mason), but...."(Alledgedly) True Weird"?...unh unh. Barely a blip on the "scope".

And then came "Stranger Than Science". It's appearance in hardback made only a modest ripple of waves, but when it came out in paperback from Ace Books (and the cover photo shown above IS the original paperback edition cover) the effect was like Boulder Dam breaking. Copies almost "flew" off the bookracks. Why? Because KIDS discovered it and found it in an a format that they could AFFORD (It could be squeezed in between Sergeant Rock, Batman, the Justice League, the Fantastic Four, Tom Swift, Jr., the Hardy Boys, and everything else "currently cool").

The timing was right on the money, too. The post-war baby boomers were hitting 12, 13, 14 years of age at the time and their interests were focussed on "neat stuff" (as Beaver Cleaver might tell you); UFOs, monster movies, Ray Harryhausen stop-motion flicks, "Famous Monsters of Filmland" magazine ,"Zacherly" and numerous otherlate-night "Shock Theatre' hosts, and any and all things that made you shivver and shake. Readers Digest was putting out stories about "The Mysterious Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas" and "The Elusive Loch Ness Monster", and youngsters were lapping the stuff up. So "Stranger Than Science" hits the mass market paperback shelves at just the right time and with just the right material to grab the attention of a perfect ready-made readership that almost squealed with glee at its appearance.

Edward's book became a huge hit and a BIG bestseller for Ace (who knew a good thing when they had one and who started cranking out more and more "strange but true" books as fast as they could set type on them...and other publishers hopped on the bandwagon right behind them).

Following this trail in the early sixties and on into the seventies came a slew of new author names that blazed through the media: John Keel, Brad Steiger, Ivan Sanderson, Warren Smith, Gray Baker,Erich von Daniken, Otto Binder, Andrew Tomas, and a host of others. And there were kids then that this book "turned on" to strange happenings who made the study of such things lifelong avocations (the Coleman Brothers, Loren and Jerry, spring to mind as such). Most of the gray-haired cryptozoologists and paranormalists of today got fired up for these things originally because of this book. And plenty of wet-behind-the-ears "new generation" aficionadoes of the weird and unexplained owe their own interest base to this man and this book...though they are largely (and typically) clueless about it.

This reviewer here was one of those that came on the "ground floor" of all this true-weirdness stuff. I was thirteen years old at the time and a voracious reader (though mostly of comic books and such fare as "Tom Swift And His Ultrasonic Cycloplane"). I noticed this little softcover on the book rack at the neighborhood drugstore and bought it to take home and read.

And read it I did. Cover to cover. In one Saturday afternoon out on our house's screened-in porch. And I did it mostly open-mouthed, slack-jawed, and half bug-eyed. For instance, one thing I read about was a place Frank Edwards called "The Point of No Return"...located off the southeast coast of the U.S., particularly in the area of the Bahamas...where ships and planes had disappeared without trace for years...and where an entire flight of Navy Avenger torpedo bombers vanished completely in 1945, along with a PBY Flying Boat sent out to search for them (it would be several YEARS yet before Vincent Gaddis would give this place a name..."The Bermuda Triangle"...and OVER A DECADE AND A HALF before Charles Berlitz and others would give it the kind of international notoriety it eventually achieved). A couple of newspaper articles had mentioned these disappearances before, and a write-up in Fate magazine, but...to my knowledge..."Stranger Than Science" was the first BOOK ever to delve into the subject (Yes, it pre-dates "Invisible Horizons").

Other chapters hit on the Tunguska event in Siberia (first I'd ever heard of it), sea serpents, Loch Ness, the disappearance of Tennessee farmer David Lang, an Eskimo village where the RCMP found all the humans vanished, and the scariest thing I'd ever encountered ; "The Invisible Fangs", a story about a Manila girl being attacked and bitten repeatedly by an "invisible entity" that no one could protect her from.

Needless to say, such accounts as these had THIS young'un hyped up like nobody's business! And it can truthfully said that this is one of the most influential books in my life. It fired my imagination, it fired my curiousity, and it fired my desire to go out there and see what the heck was going on in the world.

Is the influence still there? You betcha. I still research such subjects, I have been an off-and-on ghost hunting dilletante for years (and had some MARVELOUS "encounters" down in Savannah, Georgia), and I once got to see a UFO make a monkey out of a jet fighter pilot . No bigfoot yet, no lake monsters, and no Wisconsin werewolves...but I'm still ready to go look. And, ultimately, all because of this book.

Now "Stranger Than Science" is NOT debunk-proof. Over the years, numerous stories that it relates have not held up to investigative scrutiny. "Farmer David Lang" never disappeared in his field because he never existed to begin with. He was something "filched" and "embroidered upon" out of an old Ambrose Bierce short story. And the Eskimo village that befuddled the Mounties? It never did. They weren't any missing Eskimos to find, because no such village existed except in a short horror story entitled "The Wendigo". No sea captain ever pickled a sea serpent's head, either. And in other instances things "kinda-sorta" happened the way Edwards says they did, but there is wiggle room in all that "kinda-sorta" to suggest possible rational explanations (or less "boogery" interpretations) for some of his shivver stories.

There ARE some accounts here that DO stand the test of time and investigation, and this most be acknowledged too. So what all stands up and what all doesn't? Well, heck, I'm not gonna TELL you. To exercise your mind and satisfy your intellectual curiosity, you need to get out there and "dig" for it yourself. That makes everything you learn WORTH more to you than if it is all handed to you on a platter.

Besides, the journey as half the fun.

Just remember, though, before you "diss" this book too much, just remember that it was out blazing the trail in paranormal and cryptozoological studies and research WAY BACK WHEN , and , for all its found-faults, it still has the power to inspire enthusiasm for seeking the truths about the "unknown" and the "unexplained".

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining Teen Fare, April 3, 2002

By 

J. Reynolds (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stranger Than Science (Paperback)

Like everyone else, I read and enjoyed this book when I was a teenager. It contains some fascinating, mystifying tales, providing hours of entertainment.

I later discovered it was helpful in prompting a couple of young people (aged 10 - 11) to read more, for entertainment. Edwards' vignettes are stimulating enough to capture the attention of today's youngsters, who've grown up with televisions and computers. STS was a good transition tool for pushing them toward higher quality literature.

As an adult, years after taking a university journalism course, I happened to pick up Stranger Than Science again, and immediately discerned how weak the reporting was, how unsubstantiated the allegations and how non-existent the attribution. Frank Edwards didn't seem to be much of a skeptic, which appeared to result in a lot of blithe acceptance of a lot of fantastic tale-telling.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stranger than Science, April 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Stranger Than Science (Paperback)

I read and re-read this book as a teenager and was fascinated by the bizarre collection of true? stories. Nothing of concern for youngsters which is a pleasant change. Well worth reading at any age.