Weird Michigan

Explores ghosts and haunted places, local legends, cursed roads, crazy characters, and unusual roadside attractions found in Michigan.

This book explores the geography, climate, history, people, government, and economy of Michigan. All books in the It's My State! � series are the definitive research tool for readers looking to know the ins and outs of a specific state, including comprehensive coverage of its history, people, culture, geography, economy and government.

Enigmatic mediums, murders, monsters, and more are all part of Michigan's mysterious and sometimes supernatural history. The will of Detroit's first millionaire, Eber B. Ward, was hotly contested because he took the financial advice of spirits. Marian Spore Bush, Bay City's first female dentist, moved to New York City, where she became a psychic wonder--and a secret philanthropist. Old witchcraft superstitions drove a Mount Morris family insane and caused another man to murder his godmother in Trenton. Researcher Amberrose Hammond brings to light strange and unusual tales from Michigan's colorful and exciting past.

Michigan has two beautiful peninsulas that are connected by stories, legends, and mysteries. This book is the perfect glove compartment companion for exploring those paranormal parts of the Mitten State, as most of these hotels, restaurants, theaters, lighthouses, and other places are open to the public. This road trip to "the other side," filled with hauntings, ghost towns, and bizarre tales of murder and mayhem, draws from more than 300 years of Michigan history--from the notoriously haunted remote lighthouses like Seul Choix in the Upper Peninsula to Eloise, one of the most famous psychiatric asylums in America, to the legend of Lover's Leap on Mackinac Island. What Purple Gang member still hangs out in Clare? What spirits lurk at Henry Ford's Greenfield Village? Here is a guide to all that and more, including Houdini's Detroit connections, the poisonings at Cass Corridor's Alhambra, and paranormal activity at Detroit's historic Fort Wayne. Puzzles are still waiting for a solution; Ripley's Believe It or Not once offered $100,000 to anyone who could solve the strange phenomenon of the Paulding Lights near Watersmeet.

From tales of pirate treasure to Jimmy Hoffa’s mysterious disappearance, Michigan Myths and Legends makes history fun and pulls back the curtain on some of the state’s most fascinating and compelling stories. Most people have heard about the Bermuda Triangle, where ships and people disappear without a trace—but few have heard about the equally deadly Great Lakes Triangle, where one-third of all unsolved sea and air disasters in America take place. Night after night, curious onlookers congregate on a remote hill near the Michigan/Wisconsin border to watch for mysterious lights that rise out of the ground, hover, and then disappear. Are the orbs merely optical phenomena created by headlights of passing cars? Or are they spirits returning to haunt where their earthly bodies met their demise? In the mid-1960s, the number of reports to the US Air Force of UFO sightings spiked across the country. Were people seeing unfamiliar technological innovations in aircraft? Had the rising popularity of the new-fangled television’s sci-fi programs sparked Americans’ imaginations? Or were extraterrestrial beings actually responding to signals from newly constructed deep-space radio transmitters?

Best in Tent Camping: Michigan is for those who want to experience the beauty of Michigan amongst quiet and solitude. Author Matt Forster carefully selected all 50 campgrounds to offer readers the most promise for a unique outdoor experience. With a five-star rating system for qualities like privacy, security, noise, beauty, and cleanliness and detailed maps leading directly to the campsites, Best in Tent Camping: Michigan is the perfect tool for a weekend getaway.

There’s more to Michigan than beautiful forests, shuttered factories, and miles and miles of stunning shoreline. Armed with this offbeat travel guide, you’ll soon discover the strange underbelly of the Great Lakes State. Michigan has monuments to fluoridation, snurfing, the designer of the Jefferson nickel, and the once-famous Mr. Chicken, as well as festivals honoring tulips, Christmas pickles, and a 38-acre fungus. It’s where you’ll find the World’s Largest Lugnut, the Nun Doll Museum, Joe’s Gizzard City, the Teenie-Weenie Pickle Barrel Cottage, Howdy Doody, and Thomas Edison’s last breath. The state also has its share of weird history—it’s where Harry Houdini perished on Halloween night in 1926, where skater Tanya Harding’s posse whacked Nancy Kerrigan, and where the Kellogg brothers invented popular breakfast cereals and less-popular yogurt enemas. Along with humorous histories and witty observations, Oddball Michigan provides addresses, websites, hours, fees, and driving directions for each of its 450 entries.

Discusses the hauntings of various houses throughout the United States.