Customer Reviews

Weird New York: Your Travel Guide to New York's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Great fun for residents, former residents, and transplants alike. It gives a good "overview" of this great state. Unfortunately, it focuses more on one locale than all of them. Long Islanders should be in their glory because much of the "weirdness" takes place in their area of the state. I wish some of the stories could have been trimmed to include more of a variety. There's a treasure trove of incidents from Upstate New York, particularly in the Herkimer-Utica area, that would have been interesting to read about. Perhaps a sequel is in order?

I picked this up because I recognized the photo on the front. That's the "waitress lady" I've passed for more than 40 years in a tiny town called Silver Creek NY. That's the glory of this book. Filled with wonderful color photos, you too will recognize the 'weird' of NY that you never realized was right under your nose. Did you notice the "Burger Family" in Glens Falls? Hear the creepy knock from the crypt on Rt 8? Just a great read. Since there are books for every state, they make wonderful gifts as well.

This should be titled Weird New York City because it doesn't have much outside of that city, unlike other Weird series books which usually include state wide coverage. I have read others which are usually pretty good, this one is pretty bad, so thumbs down!

For a book about Weird New York, you're tackling a huge, fertile topic, and yet this guide at times seems...boring. For some reason, in a state containing everything from metropolitan cities to towering mountains and sprawling lakes, the information presented is really not that interesting. A few abandoned places, some local folklore, even an analysis of popular myths like alligators in the sewers all seem somewhat mediocre for a place that very well should have some of the weirdest stuff on the planet. New York City itself, which seems like it could merit an entire volume, gets very few mentions in the guide.

Part of it is due to the writing. The author really doesn't seem very enthused by anything he's describing, and not that I really care for a Weird volume, but his prose is pretty bad at times. I bought this next to Joseph Citro's Weird New England, and the two are lightyears apart - in addition to being a good writer, Citro seems geuinely excited by every fact and tidbit he includes. Whereas here, Chris seems like he's just trying to fill a volume.

I give it three stars because it's still the best of its kind out there, and a decent coffee table book at that. But there are definitely some better Weird editions out there.

That's what I said to my husband after reading this book. I can't believe that there are so many interesting places to visit in NY. So we've put yellow stickies on each of our favorite places and we'll do weekend trips.

Wierd NY is well written and offers something for every age. The photos are beatifully done. I loved this book so much that I am planning to buy the other books in this series.

Weird NJ has been a mainstay of my magazine rack for years, and now Weird NY clues us in to cool spooky and strange things in New York State! And one of my pictures appears on a top righthand page (baby crib grave).

Collect all of the "Weird" books - even for states you may never visit, they are the coolest.

I first saw this book lying on a Specials table in a local bookstore. I picked it up, read a few exerpts and decided I have to had to have it. Weird New York is a collection of short stories and oddities regarding New York places, people and facinations. Although its a big book (almost 300 pages) its really affordably priced, a quick read and an absolute blast to read. Its interesting to read stories about places near where you live and you never even knew existed. I suggest this book to anyone with a fascination of the weird and wanting a lighthearted book to read.

this book is so wonderful. as you travel around new york, you keep finding more and more interesting places. the writers have done a great job of describing some of the oddities and best kept secrets of new york state. i keep it in the car, and have been to 1/2 of them already. a must have for anyone who likes to go off the beaten path

For anyone who lives on Long Island, this book is a must have. I cannot believe they mentioned Mary's Grave, the Devil house, and all the other things that used to scare us when we first started to venture out on our own. I am now taking my kids to these places so they can go on their own and get scared. Reading this book brings back alot of great memories. I LOVED IT!!!

Great value for a hard cover book with many photos and glossy pages.
However while the factual parts of the book are very interesting, the reader entries are a bit inplauible. Most of the reported ghost sightings sound like real BS.