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The New England Grimpendium Paperback – Illustrated, September 20, 2010

4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 62 ratings

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An insider’s guide to wicked, weird, and wonderful New England.

A rich compendium of macabre and historic New England happenings, this travelogue features firsthand accounts of almost 200 sites throughout New England. This region is full of the macabre, the grim, and the ghastly―and all of it is worth visiting, for the traveler who dares! Author J. W. Ocker supplements directions and site information with entertaining personal anecdotes.

Topics include:
  • Legends and personalities of the macabre
  • Infamous crimes and killers
  • Dreadful tragedies
  • Horror movie locales
  • Notable cemeteries and gravestones
  • Intriguing memento mori
  • Classic monsters
100 black-and-white photographs

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Winner of the 2013 Lowell Thomas Silver Award from the Society of American Travel Writers in the Best Guidebook Category.

About the Author

J. W. Ocker is the author of two award-winning macabre travelogues, The New England Grimpendium and The New York Grimpendium. He runs the website OTIS: Odd Things I've Seen (oddthingsiveseen.com), where he chronicles his visits to oddities of nature, history, art, and culture. His work has appeared on CNN.com, TheAtlantic.com, Rue Morgue magazine, The Boston Globe, and other places people stick writing. 

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Countryman Press; Illustrated edition (September 20, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0881509191
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0881509199
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.1 x 0.8 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 62 ratings

About the author

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J. W. Ocker
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J. W. Ocker is the Edgar Award-winning author of Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe, A Season with the Witch, and Death and Douglas. His work has appeared in The Guardian, the Boston Globe, CNN, the Atlantic, and other places people stick writing. He's from Maryland but has lived in New Hampshire for more than a decade.

He is also the creator of OTIS: Odd Things I've Seen (Oddthingsiveseen.com), where he writes about his visits to oddities of nature, history, art, and culture.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
62 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book interesting, wonderful, and a joy to read. They also describe the humor as funny and macabre. Opinions are mixed on the writing quality, with some finding it quirky and delightful, while others say it's poorly written and snarky.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

12 customers mention "Readability"12 positive0 negative

Customers find the book interesting, wonderful, and a joy to read. They say it's well-researched and packed with excellent information about New England.

"...facts, J.W. Ocker has a wicked sense of humor that makes this a fun read. Here are a few examples:..." Read more

"...Well, little is not accuarate, this is fully packed with excellent info about my area. Places I had no idea existed!..." Read more

"...His website is wonderful, and highly recommend it. His first published work is wonderful. He takes his love for the "odd" and brings it to his book...." Read more

"...J.W. Ocker's writing is a quirky delight. This book is great. As a travelogue it is a must have for those who love things that are just a bit odd...." Read more

7 customers mention "Humor"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the humor in the book interesting and funny at the same time. They say the author is witty and has a fantastically black sense of humor. Readers also mention the book is spooky and great for Halloween entertainment.

"...history, and little known grisly facts, J.W. Ocker has a wicked sense of humor that makes this a fun read. Here are a few examples:..." Read more

"...familiar with this writer via his blog, then you will know he's both very funny and very knowledgeable. Five stars." Read more

"...travelling alongside the author, who is witty & has a fantastically black sense of humor. I am happy to add these two books to my library!..." Read more

"Really enjoyed this book. Interesting and funny at the same time. Has a great website called OTIS, odd things I've seen...." Read more

6 customers mention "Writing quality"4 positive2 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the writing quality of the book. Some mention it's quirky and delightful, while others say it's poorly written and snarky.

"...J.W.'s writing still is great. While giving the reader all the information they need on the site the essay is about, he also adds great whit to it...." Read more

"I wanted to like the book, but the prose is amateurish, the "humor" falls flat throughout, and entirely too much space is wasted on discussions of..." Read more

"...J.W. Ocker's writing is a quirky delight. This book is great. As a travelogue it is a must have for those who love things that are just a bit odd...." Read more

"...I love the way they are written, and I am thoroughly enjoying them both...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2011
This is a wonderful book for anyone interested in horror and macabre subjects. The book has 5 chapters:

1. Horror Legends and Personalities
2. Infamous Crimes , Killers, and Tragedies
3. Horror Movie Filming Locales
4. Notable Cemeteries, Gravestones, and other Memento Mori
5. Classic Monsters

Even if you have never been to New England and have no plans to go, you'll have a great time reading this book (I often visit Cape Cod, MA, so I'm taking notes!). On top of the fascinating history, and little known grisly facts, J.W. Ocker has a wicked sense of humor that makes this a fun read. Here are a few examples:

About driving in a torrential downpour to the filming location of the movie "Session 9", in Danvers MA - "...I had as many appendages as I could spare on the wheel, and I was squinting to the point of flattened eyeballs and ejected contacts and hoping that none of the wavering red lights in front of me were brake lights. I was on my way to watch a horror movie. More than that, I was on my way to watch a horror movie on the very spot where it was filmed. More than that, I was on my way to watch a horror movie on the very spot where it was filmed, which happened to , in the past, have been in this order: an insane asylum, an abandoned insane asylum, a movie set, and an apartment complex."

And another, about the legend of the glowing tombstone in Portsmouth NH: "It's not the first time I've been in a graveyard at night, and because I plan on dying like everyone else, it won't be the last." (I've got to work that into an epitaph somehow!)

And yet another excerpt about the un-spookiness (is that a word?) of staying at the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast in Fall River, MA : "It actually took longer getting used to the idea of sharing a bathroom with strangers, than to the fact that we were gallivanting around an ancient murder scene in our socks"

And still another one (I love this book) about the house from the film "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" in Southern CT : "... a NO TRESSPASSING sign was placed in a location blatant enough to get its message across in no uncertain terms: 'You will be consumed by cannibals if you linger'."

Get this book! If you don't find yourself fascinated by the locales, or cackling evilly at the humor, at the very least you'll make your in-laws uncomfortable with this on the bookshelf in the guest bedroom.

The New England Grimpendium
9 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2011
J.W. Ocker has a website called O.T.I.S. (Odd Things I've Seen) I stumbled upon it one evening browsing the internet. I think I was trying to scrounge up some info on the Danvers State Hospital site since I have driven past it that day and it was fresh in my mind. Ocker visited that site, now a fully fledged condo complex complete with a clubhouse, a pool and.....a cemetery. Wanna read about it? It's all here.

Ocker's website led me to this fabulous little book. Well, little is not accuarate, this is fully packed with excellent info about my area. Places I had no idea existed!

Wanna see where "Beetlejuice" was filmed? The author tells you the exact sites in Vermont. What about finding the grave with a window? (Yes, it really DOES have a window!)It's here too. Did you know there's a mummy at Mass General Hospital? Nope, neither did I.

And to my delight, I also found out that Dungeon Rock and Skull Cliff were right down the street from my home!

I must say this book is the book I wanted "Weird New England" and "Weird Massachusetts" to be. I thought those books would be more "guidebook" like. But to my disappointment those books, while still good, relied heavily on illustrations and legends. The Grimpendium has a picture for every entry and you hear firsthand about the author's experience there. Plus, I love the way Ocker writes: "I was at South Cememtery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, checking out a legend about a tombstone that glows. It's not the first time I've been in a graveyard at night, and because I plan on dying like everyone else, it won't be the last."

I love all things New England and this book will help make for some interesting day trips this coming summer.

If you want to check out Ocker yourself then go to his website and see if all this morbid stuff is really for you. Don't be surprised though to find yourself clicking entry after entry and then looking at the clock, realizing 3 hrs have passed. If you like the site, you will love the book.

And in case you are wondering while a lot of entries on the website are in the book, Ocker isn't dumb enough to reveal his bag of tricks with just a click of the mouse--there are a great number of entries in the book that aren't on the site and vice versa.
6 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2010
I've been a fan of J.W.'s since I first stumbled on his website years ago. His website is wonderful, and highly recommend it. His first published work is wonderful. He takes his love for the "odd" and brings it to his book. While his webpage has essays on it about he's seen, the essays in this book are longer and very nicely researched.

J.W.'s writing still is great. While giving the reader all the information they need on the site the essay is about, he also adds great whit to it. On many occasions i caught myself laughing out loud to a quick line he wrote down. He also trows in random pop culture references through out the book. In many cases its feels almost like a game to figure out what he is referencing.

This book was truly a joy to read. I enjoyed it very much. I recommend to anyone who is a fan of the "odd" or urban legends. I also recommend this book to people who enjoy the Weird US series.
3 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2010
I've been a fan of the Odd Things I've Seen website since I first started reading it several years ago. J.W. Ocker's writing is a quirky delight. This book is great. As a travelogue it is a must have for those who love things that are just a bit odd. The whit with which this book is written has sparked a lot of reading aloud in our household. I recommend this book to anyone who is a fan things that are just a little bit darker and weird. It is an excellent read and you won't be able to finish it without several chuckles.
10 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2019
I wanted to like the book, but the prose is amateurish, the "humor" falls flat throughout, and entirely too much space is wasted on discussions of movie shoot locations that have little to nothing to do with he topic at hand. I can't recommend this.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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mr. W
3.0 out of 5 stars Grim!
Reviewed in Spain on October 2, 2013
Interesting guide to cool places, with detailed information. Sometimes it seems America is a theme park, even for the macabre and ghastly...
waterkelpie
3.0 out of 5 stars Inhalt gut - Print schlecht
Reviewed in Germany on February 4, 2013
Leider ist die Taschenbuchversion auf billigem Papier und schlecht gedruckt und die schönen und stimmungsvollen Bilder sind durch die schlechte Druckqualität in schwarzweiß kaum ansehendwert. Entgegen der Vorschau gibt es kein einziges Farbbild im Buch.
Inhaltlich ist es natürlich trotzdem interessant, daher insgesamt 3 Sterne!