Weird U.S.: A Freaky Field Trip Through the 50 States Book

I've always seen these "Weird U.S." and "Weird" state books but never picked one up until I saw this one in the kids' section of the library. I figured I'd finally give it a shot in hopes I'd gather some neat inspirations for stories to write or places to visit on road trips.

It's a fun little book. I'm guessing it's sort of light weight since it's classified as a children's book. I read the entire thing in a couple hours and that included flipping around randomly and looking up my state of Maryland at various points. There's lots of cool little stories about various oddities. The sections on hauntings, cryptozoology, and other paranormal subjects were much more entertaining and interesting than the mundane sections about the more standard roadside attractions such as giant teapots and toilet seat art. I'm sure there's even better books about the paranormal topics that would provide more depth, but that wasn't the point of this book so I won't really fault it.

Everything written in an easy to read manner which makes zipping through it all quickly very easy. There's also lots of pictures although some appear to be just random pictures put in for atmosphere (e.g. a mostly overgrown "Dead End" sign in the haunted road section). Sometimes the incredulous tour guide shtick gets a little overbearing but it's all in good fun and feels like an overactive TV show host (akin to Mythbusters).

So take this for what it is, a quick highlighting of some oddities and legends that make up the United States.