Weird Florida »

Ah, Florida: sun, surf, sand, South Beach, and senior citizens. That's about it, right? Well, no, not exactly. Florida is also one of the best places to chart your weirdest travel destinations. And who better to chronicle this state's fabled places, roadside wonders, bizarre beasts, and downright peculiar people than Charlie Carlson, a tenth-generation Floridian. All who know Charlie can testify that he is one very strange dude and the perfect person to steer you to Florida's best-kept secrets and oddest legends.

Mosquito netting in place and notepad in hand, Charlie has waddled through swamps, trekked the lesser-traveled roads, and visited the weirder destinations of our country's only peninsula state. Looking for the odd and the offbeat, he found them everywhere. He has tracked down impossible-to-believe tales that had just enough truth in them to create the same uneasiness a gator sighting would. Whether it's the Skunk Ape, the Devil's Chair of Cassadaga, or the She-Man of the Caloosahatchee River, Charlie presents it here for you, our fellow admirers of the weird.

So act like a tourist and start browsing. You'll be entranced with the beer-can car, the tombstone for Pearl ("I told you I was sick") Roberts, the Blue Heaven Rooster Graveyard, the Devil Tree, the bowling-ball house, Catalina's ghost, the Mafia House, and Xanadu, the abandoned and neglected house of the future. Read all about the Wizard of Central Florida and Count Von Cosel and his immortal love. It's all here. It's all for you. It's all...very weird.

A brand-new entry in the best-selling Weird U.S.series, Weird Florida is packed with all the info about the Sunshine State that your history teacher never taught you. So travel down our state's highways and byways with your tour guide, Mr. Charlie. It's a great adventure. And we promise: it's a journey you'll never forget.

Charlie Carlson is a folk-historian, author, and explorer of unexplained phenomena. He has appeared in several television documentaries and has played a folklore historian in the Curse of the Blair Witch on the Sci-Fi Channel. He is a tenth generation Floridian who has never been to a Central Florida theme park, but has visited Yeehaw Junction more than thirty times.As an enthusiast of Florida's past, he has served on the boards of several historical organizations and is a past president of the Seminole County Historical Society. He resides on Florida's east coast with his wife, Dot, and a small menagerie of dogs, cats, and pet squirrels.

Library Journal

Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman, who brought you Weird New Jersey and then Weird U.S., now as "Creative Directors" bring you weirdness in other states: Florida, Illinois, and Wisconsin. They have picked each author for his or her quirky sensibility and familiarity with the state in question. Indeed, the authors have all previously published eccentric titles on their respective states: Carlson-Strange Florida; Godfrey-The Beast of Bray Road: Tailing Wisconsin's Werewolf; and Taylor-Haunted Illinois. Each volume presents the same table of contents: "Local Legends" (e.g., Devil Baby of Hull House, IL), "Ancient Mysteries" (Lake Okeechobee's Watery Graves, FL), "Fabled People and Places" (Jeane Dixon, WI), "Phenomena" (Malcomb the Fire Starter, IL), "Bizzare Beasts" (Skunk Ape, FL), "Personalized Properties" (Gold Pyramid House, IL), "Roadside Oddities" (Giant Mouse with Cheese, WI), "Roads Less Traveled" (Bloody Bucket Road, FL), "Ghosts" (Old Slave House, IL), "Cemetery Safari" (St. Peter Cemetery, WI), and "Abandoned and Forgotten" (Xanadu, FL). Similar to the "Oddball" series (e.g., Oddball Wisconsin), which also covers these three states plus six more, this series is distinguished by its focus on stories over places and its colorful photos (which take up about a third of each volume); "Weird," however, lacks "Oddball's" more practical directions and contact information ("Weird" offers no maps or specific directions). These titles may hold special appeal to the male middle-school student. Recommended for those public and school libraries located in the state covered by the title and an optional purchase for all others.-John McCormick, Plymouth State Univ., NH Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.