Spooky Season Reads

Meet the unusual creatures of the Pacific Northweird.

The Pacific Northwest is a land of secrets, legends, and some might even say monsters. Stories of cryptids—hidden animals—are whispered throughout the region’s history, told in everything from bashful confidences to bold headlines.

Unusual creatures like the Cadborosaurus have been sighted in the Salish Sea, and the Pend Oreille Paddler is rumored to live inland, lurking deep in still waters. It’s said that one can sometimes catch a glimpse of a hulking bat-humanoid winging its way across gray skies, and the rugged Pacific Coast could be hiding more scaled, tailed, finned and furred sea cryptids in remote harbors. The foggy forests, thick with evergreens, are said to hide everything from an arboreal octopus to the king of cryptids, Sasquatch.

Peppered with historic and contemporary newspaper articles, expert interviews by cryptozoologists and cryptid enthusiasts, and retellings of local legends, author and professional weirdo Devon Kelley uncovers the hidden creatures of Cascadia.   

Beyond the sun-drenched beaches and historic charm of Florida’s Atlantic shoreline lies a darker history—one shaped by restless spirits, unsolved mysteries, and stories that refuse to fade. Along this coast, tales of hauntings and paranormal encounters weave through centuries of local lore, blending real history with the unexplained. From the yellow fever epidemic of 1821 to eerie accounts of revenants, mediums, and psychic communities, the region is steeped in legends that challenge logic and invite curiosity.

Explore a coastal town known for psychics and spiritual seekers, and step inside a renowned college said to be haunted by a powerful industrialist, his mistress, and a child whose presence lingers long after death. Discover chilling rumors surrounding Cold War experiments in a grand seaside hotel, where whispers claim that government research crossed unseen boundaries with terrifying consequences. Visit a historic theater where one seat mysteriously folds itself down each night and remains untouched until the curtain falls. Follow the unsettling final transmission tied to Flight 19 and the enduring mystery of the Bermuda Triangle, where vanished aviators left behind questions that still echo today.

Blending Florida history, paranormal investigation, and true ghost stories, this collection is perfect for readers who love haunted travel, supernatural legends, and unexplained phenomena rooted in real places. Both atmospheric and deeply researched, these accounts reveal a coastline where beauty and mystery coexist—the past may be closer than you think. Author Thomas Smith details these stories and more in a haunting collection.

Meet the unusual creatures of the Pacific Northweird.

The Pacific Northwest is a land of secrets, legends, and some might even say monsters. Stories of cryptids—hidden animals—are whispered throughout the region’s history, told in everything from bashful confidences to bold headlines.

Unusual creatures like the Cadborosaurus have been sighted in the Salish Sea, and the Pend Oreille Paddler is rumored to live inland, lurking deep in still waters. It’s said that one can sometimes catch a glimpse of a hulking bat-humanoid winging its way across gray skies, and the rugged Pacific coast could be hiding more scaled, tailed, finned, and furred sea cryptids in remote harbors. The foggy forests, thick with evergreens, are said to hide everything from an arboreal octopus to the king of cryptids, Sasquatch.

Through historic and contemporary newspaper articles, expert interviews by cryptozoologists and cryptid enthusiasts, and retellings of local legends, author and professional weirdo Devon Kelley uncovers the hidden creatures of Cascadia.   

An enduring feedback loop where belief masquerades as evidence and credibility becomes collateral damage.

In April 1966, police officers in rural Ohio and Western Pennsylvania chased a glowing object across eighty miles of back roads. The object—silent, blinding, and seemingly intelligent—became one of the most famous UFO cases in American history and helped inspire the opening scenes of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. But the mystery didn’t end when the lights vanished. Drawing on primary sources, official records, and personal experience, this book traces how a single night’s events were transformed into lasting folklore—shaped not just by witnesses and the media, but by the U.S. military’s own investigative machinery. Rather than merely asking what the police chased, a more unsettling question is asked here: how did government involvement, belief, and mistrust combine to create a self-perpetuating legend that still echoes today?

Author Michael Kishbucher, a career U.S. Air Force and Defense Intelligence Agency officer, revisits this strange Appalachian legend from an uncommon perspective: from within the intelligence community itself.

Ghostly reverberations pulse for eternity in the most haunted crime scenes in Chicago.

The rat-a-tat of machine guns echoes at the site of Al Capone's St. Valentine's Day Massacre. The ghost of Louisa Luetgert makes the occasional appearance on the grounds of the old Luetgert Sausage and Packing Company—her husband, the “Sausage King,” cooked her down in a vat of meat tenderizer in 1897. Ghostly screams ring out and dogs get their hackles up at the site of serial killer H.H. Holmes's “Murder Castle” on West 63rd Street. Hundreds died at the Iroquois Theatre fire in 1903—inspectors had overlooked violations that made the venue on West Randolph Street a veritable tinderbox. Today, passersby are greeted by cold spots and pleas for help from the long-dead and perpetually tortured. The City with Broad Shoulders is burdened by souls whose lives were stolen and are seemingly in pursuit of justice and comfort—or perhaps vengeance. Author Eva Pilch guides readers on a citywide tour of the most haunted crime scenes in Chicago.

The infamous 1892 murders of Andrew and Abby Borden have captivated New Englanders for more than one hundred years. But the story doesn’t end in Fall River. Far beyond the locked doors of the Borden household, there is a wider web of people, places, and histories connected to the case. From the investigators who shaped the trial and the reporters who sensationalized it to the key locations that marked Lizzie Borden’s life and lingering legacy, there is a multifaceted history behind one of America's most enduring true crime stories. There are the lives of other remarkable—and often overlooked—figures linked to the Borden bloodline. Among them are Innocent Borden, the recently discovered daughter of Thomas Cornell, a man who was executed in 1673 for the alleged murder of his mother in colonial Rhode Island. And then there’s Sarah Maria Cornell, a millworker and distant cousin of Lizzie, whose mysterious death sparked scandal when a prominent Methodist minister was accused of her murder. By weaving these parallel tales of crime, gender, and societal upheaval into the central narrative, local author Sam Baltrusis takes a deep dive into the ultimate whodunit—placing Lizzie’s story within a broader historical and cultural context of rumors, power, and the shifting expectations of women in American society.

Wandering shades, ghost towns, and a phantom train

The Land of Enchantment lives up to its name when it comes to Route 66—and stories of the paranormal. With not one but two paths to explore, the Mother Road winds through New Mexico's mountains and deserts, past ghost towns and thriving cities, and boasts more than its fair share of haunts.

Budville, once a thriving hub and stopover between Albuquerque and Grants, now lies deserted, except, perhaps, for the spirit of the last person to call it home. The whistle of a phantom train can sometimes be heard chugging alongside the highway in Tucumcari, and in Glenrio, an abandoned town that straddles the New Mexico–Texas border, the spirit of a murder victim is rumored to inhabit one of the last buildings standing.

Even the New Mexico Mining Museum plays host to the spirits of miners who once worked in the uranium capital of the world, and in Gallup, the Hotel El Rancho boasts not just Hollywood credentials but tales of otherworldly encounters.

Author Sundee Perkins explores the spooky twists and turns of New Mexico’s Route 66.