NAVY Day October 27th

 Due to Theodore Roosevelt's efforts to modernize our Navy, his birthday, October 27th is a day set aside for honoring the U.S. Navy. The birth of the U.S. Navy though fell on October 13th of 1775, when the Continental Congress voted to send out two armed sailing vessels on a path to intercept transports bringing supplies to the British army.  The Birth of the Navy of the United States

                                                              

Theodore Roosevelt: A Life by Miller, Nathan

A comprehensive biography of Teddy Roosevelt covers the twenty-sixth president's life, from his sickly childhood to San Juan Hill, to his "Big Stick" diplomacy and "Square Deal" domestic policies.

The Second Most Powerful Man in the World: The Life of Admiral William D. Leahy, Roosevelt's Chief of Staff by O'Brien, Phillips Payson 

"The life of Franklin Roosevelt's most trusted and powerful advisor, Admiral William D. Leahy, Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief"-- Provided by publisher.

John Paul Jones: Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy by Thomas, Evan

 Traces the naval hero's modest Scottish origins, the circumstances that brought him to America under a charge of murder and a false name, his sea battle achievements, and his acclaim by such figures as Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and Franklin.

The Indispensables: The Diverse Soldier-Mariners Who Shaped the Country, Formed the Navy, and rowed Washington across the Delaware by O'Donnell, Patrick K.

 

 "On the stormy night of August 29, 1776, the Continental Army faced annihilation. After losing the Battle of Brooklyn, the British had Washington's army trapped against the East River. The fate of the Revolution rested heavily on the shoulders of the soldier-mariners from Marblehead, Massachusetts. Serving side-by-side in one of the country's first diverse units, they pulled off an "American Dunkirk" and saved the army. In the annals of the American Revolution, no group played a more consequential role than the Marbleheaders. At the right time in the right place, they repeatedly altered the course of events, and their story shines new light on our understanding of the Revolution. As acclaimed historian Patrick K. O'Donnell dramatically recounts, beginning nearly a decade before the war started, Marbleheaders such as Elbridge Gerry and Azor Orne spearheaded the break with Britain and helped shape the nascent United States by playing a crucial role governing, building alliances, seizing British ships, and forging critical supply lines that established the origins of the US Navy. The Marblehead Regiment, led by John Glover, became truly indispensable. Marbleheaders battled at Lexington and on Bunker Hill and formed the elite Guard that protected George Washington. Then, at the most crucial time in the war, the regiment conveyed 2,400 of Washington's men across the ice-filled Delaware River on Christmas night of 1776, delivering a momentum-shifting surprise attack on Trenton. Later, Marblehead doctor Nathaniel Bond inoculated the Continental Army against a deadly virus, which changed the course of history. This uniquely diverse group of white, Black, and Native American soldiers set an inclusive standard of unity the US Army would not reach again for over 170 years. The Marbleheaders' story makes The Indispensables a vital addition to the literature of the American Revolution"--. Provided by publisher.

 No Hero: The Evolution of a Navy SEAL by Owen, Mark

  Recounts definitive moments from the author's career as a Navy SEAL, discussing the missions that had the greatest personal meaning for him and explaining the lessons and values he hopes to pass on to the next generation.

 Service: a Navy SEAL at War by Luttrell, Marcus

 The author, a Navy SEAL, returned from his star-crossed mission in Afghanistan with his bones shattered and his heart broken. So many had given their lives to save him, and he would have readily done the same for them. As he recuperated, he wondered why he and others, from America's founding to today, had been willing to sacrifice everything, including themselves, for the sake of family, nation, and freedom. In this book, we follow the author to Iraq, where he returns to the battlefield as a member of SEAL Team 5 to help take on the most dangerous city in the world, Ramadi, the capital of war-torn Al Anbar Province. There, in six months of high-intensity urban combat, he would be part of what has been called the greatest victory in the history of U.S. Special Operations forces. We also return to Afghanistan and Operation Redwing, where he offers powerful new details about his miraculous rescue. Throughout, he reflects on what it really means to take on a higher calling, about the men he's seen lose their lives for their country, and the legacy of those who came and bled before.

Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man by Vincent, Lynn

 Just after midnight on July 30, 1945, days after delivering the components of the atomic bomb from California to the Pacific Islands in the most highly classified naval mission of the war, the USS Indianapolis is sailing alone in the center of the Philippine Sea when she is struck by two Japanese torpedoes. The ship is instantly transformed into a fiery cauldron and sinks within minutes. Some 300 men go down with the ship. Nearly 900 make it into the water alive. For the next five nights and four days, almost three hundred miles from the nearest land, the men battle injuries, sharks, dehydration, insanity, and eventually each other. Only 316 will survive. For the better part of a century, the story of USS Indianapolis has been understood as a sinking tale. The reality, however, is far more complicated. Following a decade of original research and interviews with 107 survivors and eyewitnesses, Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic tell the complete story of the ship, her crew, and their final mission to save one of their own. The survivors fight for fifty years on behalf of their skipper, Captain Charles McVay III, who is wrongly court-martialed for the sinking. The courtroom drama weaves through generations of American presidents, from Harry Truman to George W. Bush, and forever entwines the lives of three captains: McVay, whose life and career are never the same after the scandal; Mochitsura Hashimoto, the Japanese sub commander who sinks Indianapolis but later joins the battle to exonerate McVay; and William Toti, the captain of the modern-day submarine Indianapolis, who helps the survivors fight to vindicate their captain.

 

Who was Theodore Roosevelt? by Burgan, Michael

He was only 42 years old when he was sworn in as President of the United States in 1901, making him the youngest president ever. But did you know that he was also the first sitting president to win the Nobel Peace Prize? The first to ride in a car? The first to fly in an airplane? Theodore Roosevelt's achievements as a naturalist, hunter, explorer, author, and soldier are as much a part of his fame as any office he held as a politician. Find out more about The Bull Moose, the Progressive, the Rough Rider, the Trust Buster, and the Great Hunter who was our larger-than-life 26th president.

Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates: The War that Changed American History by Kilmeade, Brian

This is the little-known story of how a newly independent nation was challenged by four Muslim powers and what happened when America's third president decided to stand up to intimidation. When Thomas Jefferson became president in 1801, America faced a crisis. The new nation was deeply in debt and needed its economy to grow quickly, but its merchant ships were under attack. Pirates from North Africa's Barbary coast routinely captured American sailors and held them as slaves, demanding ransom and tribute payments far beyond what the new country could afford. Over the previous fifteen years, as a diplomat and then as secretary of state, Jefferson had tried to work with the Barbary states (Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco). Unfortunately, he found it impossible to negotiate with people who believed their religion justified the plunder and enslavement of non-Muslims. These rogue states would show no mercy -- at least not while easy money could be made by extorting America, France, England, and other powers. So President Jefferson decided to move beyond diplomacy. He sent the U.S. Navy's new warships and a detachment of marines to blockade Tripoli -- launching the Barbary Wars and beginning America's journey toward future superpower status.

Navy SEALs: Mission at the Caves by Webb, Brandon

Describes the author's teenage experiences on dive boats, why he decided to become a Navy SEAL, his training, and a mission he and his team went on to shut down a terrorist training camp in a cave network in Afghanistan in 2002.

Tombstone

30 seconds is all it took for a gunfight to transcend into a legend. On October 26, 1881, Virgil Earp, Tombstones Town Marshall, decided to confront cowboys Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, Billy Clanton, Billy Claiborne, Wes Fuller, and Ike Clanton, who had been flouting the local gun ordinance. Virgil's brothers, Wyatt and Morgan, and their friend Doc Holliday acted as backup. As Virgil approached he announced his presence and his intent to disarm the cowboys. The cowboys responded by drawing and cocking their guns. From there the story varies, according to witness accounts. What we do know, is that Wyatt Earp was the one left standing, completely unharmed.

  

 https://crimereads.com/how-wyatt-earp-went-from-lawman-to-legend/

Tombstone: The Earp Brothers, Doc Holliday, and the Vendetta Ride from Hell by Clavin, Thomas

 

"The true story of the Earp brothers, Doc Holliday, and the famous Battle at the OK Corral, by the New York Times bestselling author of Dodge City and Wild Bill. On the afternoon of October 26, 1881, nine men clashed in what would be known as the most famous shootout in American frontier history. Thirty bullets were exchanged in thirty seconds, killing three men and wounding three others. The fight sprang forth from a tense, hot summer. Cattle rustlers had been terrorizing the backcountry of Mexico and selling the livestock they stole to corrupt ranchers. The Mexican government built forts along the border to try to thwart American outlaws, while Arizona citizens became increasingly agitated. Rustlers, who became known as the cowboys, began to kill each other as well as innocent citizens. That October, tensions boiled over with Ike and Billy Clanton, Tom and Frank McLaury, and Billy Claiborne confronting the Tombstone marshal, Virgil Earp, and the suddenly deputized Wyatt and Morgan Earp and shotgun-toting Doc Holliday. Bestselling author Tom Clavin peers behind decades of legend surrounding the story of Tombstone to reveal the true story of the drama and violence that made it famous. Tombstone also digs deep into the vendetta ride that followed the tragic gunfight, when Wyatt and Warren Earp and Holliday went vigilante to track down the likes of Johnny Ringo, Curly Bill Brocius, and other cowboys who had cowardly gunned down his brothers. That "vendetta ride" would make the myth of Wyatt Earp complete and punctuate the struggle for power in the American frontier's last boom town"-- Provided by publisher.

 

 Inventing Wyatt Earp: His Life and Many Legends by Barra, Allen

  A complete history of the life of Wyatt Earp, which is derived from the accounts of his contemporaries, and includes a consideration of the Hollywood legend which grew around the stories of his exploits.

 

 Doc Holliday by Myers, John Myers

Chronicles the career of Doc Holliday in an attempt to learn the truth about the Southern dentist-turned Western adventurer whose association with Wyatt Earp and other escapades in the frontier has inspired books, songs, and legends.

 

 Dodge City: Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and the Wickedest Town in the American West by Clavin, Thomas

 "Dodge City, Kansas, is a place of legend. The town that started as a small military site exploded with the coming of the railroad, cattle drives, eager miners, settlers, and various entrepreneurs passing through to populate the expanding West. Before long, Dodge City's streets were lined with saloons and brothels and its populace was thick with gunmen, horse thieves, and desperadoes of every sort. By the 1870s, Dodge City was known as the most violent and turbulent town in the West. Enter Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson. Young and largely self-trained men, the lawmen led the effort that established frontier justice and the rule of law in the American West, and did it in the wickedest place in the United States. When they moved on, Wyatt to Tombstone and Bat to Colorado, a tamed Dodge was left in the hands of Jim Masterson. But before long Wyatt and Bat, each having had a lawman brother killed, returned to that threatened western Kansas town to team up to restore order again in what became known as the Dodge City War before riding off into the sunset. The true story of their friendship, romances, gunfights, and adventures, along with the remarkable cast of characters they encountered along the way (including Wild Bill Hickock, Jesse James, Doc Holliday, Buffalo Bill Cody, John Wesley Hardin, Billy the Kid, and Theodore Roosevelt) has gone largely untold--lost in the haze of Hollywood films and western fiction, until now"-- Provided by publisher.

 

The Last Gunfight: The Real Story of the Shootout at the O.K. Corral and How it Changed the American West by Guinn, Jeff 

 

A revisionist history of the Old West battle challenges popular depictions of such figures as the Earps and Doc Holliday, tracing the influence of a love triangle, renegade Apaches, and the citizens of Tombstone.

 

 

Lady at the O.K. Corral: The True Story of Josephine Marcus Earp by Kirschner, Ann

For nearly fifty years, she was the common-law wife of Wyatt Earp: hero of the O.K. Corral and the most famous lawman of the Old West. Yet Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp has nearly been erased from Western lore. In this fascinating biography, Ann Kirschner, author of the acclaimed Sala's Gift, brings Josephine out of the shadows of history to tell her tale: a spirited and colorful tale of ambition, adventure, self-invention, and devotion. Reflective of America itself, her story brings us from the post-Civil War years to World War II, and from New York to the Arizona Territory to old Hollywood.
 

 

https://truewestmagazine.com/lady-at-the-ok-corral-the-true-story-of-josephine-marcus-earp/https://truewestmagazine.com/lady-at-the-ok-corral-the-true-story-of-josephine-marcus-earp/ 

 

 

Adobe Moon : Wyatt Earp, an American odyssey by Warren, Mark

"It is 1862. With his older brothers fighting in the war, Wyatt Earp - at fourteen - is left to manage the family's Iowa farm under his father's iron rule. These years of labor inculcate into him an ambition to seek his fortunes by his wits rather than the sweat of his back. The open territory to the west, he knows, offers that opportunity. When his family treks to California he makes the passing acquaintance of a beguiling Mexican girl, whose philosophy of success and failure will haunt Wyatt for years to come. It is the prophecy of the "adobe moon," a rusty-hued orb that reminds a man: If you do not achieve your dreams, you must settle for what you have. Though rejecting this creed, Wyatt feels the notion dog him like a ghost. After stints as coach driver, freight-hauler, and grader for the railroad, Wyatt takes his first "respectable" job as constable in a small Missouri town. There he meets the woman who teaches him the value of settling down with family. When she dies with child, Wyatt sinks into a depression where the lines of ethics blur. Wanted by the law he loses himself in the waterfront slums of Peoria working in brothels. Fed up with his self-made squalor, he returns to the West for a second chance at a proper life. In a Kansas cattle town he comes face to face with his salvation . . . and his destiny as a lawman with his own iron rule" -- Provided by publisher.

 

Doc : a novel by Russell, Mary Doria 

 

 The year is 1878, peak of the Texas cattle trade. The place is Dodge City, Kansas, a saloon-filled cow town jammed with liquored-up adolescent cowboys and young Irish hookers. Violence is random and routine, but when the burned body of a mixed-blood boy named Johnnie Sanders is discovered, his death shocks a part-time policeman named Wyatt Earp. And it is a matter of strangely personal importance to Doc Holliday, the frail twenty-six-year-old dentist who has just opened an office at No. 24, Dodge House.

 

 

 

Epitaph: A Novel of the O.K. Corral by Russell, Mary Doria
 

 A sequel to Doc is based on the true events of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral and Wyatt Earp's survival against a backdrop of volatile politics in 1881 America

 

 

 A sequel to Doc is based on the true events of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral and Wyatt Earp's survival against a backdrop of volatile politics in 1881 America.

 

 

Tombstone

 

You Know My Name

Carrie Fisher

October 21st marks what would have been Carrie Fishers 65th birthday.  As strange, and perhaps to some, as "sacrilegious" as it sounds I don't always automatically think of Star Wars when I hear Carrie Fisher, I tend to remember her in the movie The Burbs, you know the one where Tom Hanks and his neighbors are convinced the new neighbors are serial killers, Corey Feldman is waiting on the "Pizza Dude" and Carrie is just 100% done with what seems to be nonsense.  This is a movie where she was sober but saw that Feldman was spiraling, and did her best to help him. (That Time Carrie Fisher Helped Corey Feldman With His Drug Problem When They Were Filming Together - Eric Eisenberg) Despite Star Wars not being my immediate go-to, Princess Leia reigns supreme as my favorite of any princess, and that is all down to my respect for Carrie's honesty, advocacy, and how she was able to take her intense hatred for that famous gold bikini out on Jabba the Hutt.  (Carrie Fisher Opens Up About 'Star Wars,' The Gold Bikini And Her On-Set Affair).

Carrie Fisher: A Life on the Edge by Weller, Sheila

Sourced by friends, colleagues, and witnesses to all stages of Fisher's life, this work is an affectionate and even-handed portrayal of a woman whose unsurpassed honesty is a reminder of how things should be.

Wishful Drinking by Fisher, Carrie

Finally, after four hit novels, Carrie Fisher comes clean with the crazy truth that is her life in her first-ever memoir. In this book, adapted from her one-woman stage show, Fisher reveals what it was really like to grow up a product of "Hollywood inbreeding," come of age on the set of a little movie called Star Wars, and become a cultural icon and bestselling action figure at the age of nineteen. The child of Hollywood royalty--Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, home-wrecked by Elizabeth Taylor--married (then divorced, then dated) Paul Simon, had her likeness merchandised on everything from Princess Leia shampoo to PEZ dispensers, learned the father of her daughter forgot to tell her he was gay, and ultimately woke up one morning and found a friend dead beside her in bed. This is Carrie Fisher at her best--revealing her worst.--From publisher description.

 

The Princess Diarist by Fisher, Carrie

"When Carrie Fisher recently discovered the journals she had kept during the filming of the first Star Wars movie, she was astonished to see what they had preserved--plaintive love poems, unbridled musings with youthful naiveté, and a vulnerability that she barely recognized. Today her fame as an author, actress, and pop-culture icon is indisputable, but in 1976, Carrie Fisher was just a teenager with an all-consuming crush on her costar. With these excerpts from her handwritten notebooks, The Princess Diariest is Fisher's intimate and revealing recollection of what happened on one of the most famous film sets of all time--and what developed behind the scenes ... Fisher also ponders the joys and insanity of celebrity as well as the absurdity of a life spawned by Hollywood royalty whose lofty status has ultimately been surpassed by her own outer-space royalty"--Jacket.

 

 Shockaholic by Fisher, Carrie

 

Told with the same intimate style, brutal honesty, and uproarious wisdom that locked Wishful Drinking on the New York Times bestseller list for months, Shockaholic is the juicy account of Carrie Fisher's life. Covering a broad range of topics--from never-before-heard tales of Hollywood gossip to outrageous moments of celebrity desperation; from alcoholism to illegal drug use; from the familial relationships of Hollywood royalty to scandalous run-ins with noteworthy politicians; from shock therapy to talk therapy--Carrie Fisher gives an intimate portrait of herself, and she's one of the most indelible and powerful forces in culture at large today. Just as she has said of playing Princess Leia--"It isn't all sweetness and light sabers"--Fisher takes readers on a no-holds-barred narrative adventure, both laugh-out-loud funny and poignant

 

My Girls: A Lifetime with Carrie and Debbie by Fisher, Todd 

 

In December 2016, the world was shaken by the sudden deaths of Carrie Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds, occurring less than 24 hours apart. Debbie’s only remaining child, Todd Fisher, somehow retained his grace and composure under the glare of the media spotlight as he struggled with his own overwhelming grief. In My girls, Todd shares his heart and his memories of Debbie and Carrie with deeply personal stories from his earliest years to those last unfathomable days.

 

 Growing up Fisher: musings, memories, and misadventures by Fisher, Joely

 

A memoir by the half-sister of the late Carrie Fisher describes their upbringing in Hollywood, her personal struggles with identity, her experiences as a mother to five children, and how she became motivated to pursue a creative life in the wake of Carrie's death.

 

 

Carrie Fisher's second life as a writer Jocelyn McClurg

 

 Postcards from the Edge by Fisher, Carrie

Just as Fisher's first film role--the precocious teenager in Shampoo--echoed her own Beverly Hills upbringing, her first book is set within the world she knows better than anyone else: Hollywood. This stunning literary debut chronicles Suzanne's vivid, excruciatingly funny experiences inside the clinic and as she comes to terms with life in the outside world. Postcards from the Edge is more than a book about stardom and drugs. It is a revealing look at the dangers--and delights--of all our addictions, from money and success to sex and insecurity.

 

 Surrender the Pink by Fisher, Carrie

 

Dinah Kaufman writes scripts for a living & it fits: her life is full of bad lines. Particularly with men. They are all losers. Worse, they turn her down. Imagine her feelings when she finds a real man, Rudy Gendler, polished & successful, who loves her & wants to get married. Alas, he is not what he seems & the marriage ends just short of a disaster. Dinah pulls herself together & finds .that she still loves Rudy! How can she win him back?

 Delusions of Grandma by Fisher, Carrie

 

Hollywood screenwriter Cora Sharpe has what one of the endless intimates she thinks of as her "Committee" calls "a big, loud life." Her confidant and writing partner, Bud, has been on a manic-depressive roller coaster. Her dear friend William, AIDS-ridden, has finally taken leave of his live. And in the vacuum that follows his departure, Cora's romance with quiet gentle Ray has flickered and expired.

Then Cora finds out she's pregnant, and even the Committee can't steer her through this one. Enter Cora's mother, Viv, with her "delusions of grandma" and a madcap scheme to kidnap Cora's grandpa from his nursing home. All she needs is a little help from Cora and Bud, who are only too happy to take their troubled act on the road...

Bipolar Disorder: The Ultimate Guide by Owen, Sarah

"The shocking truth is that one in fifty of us will have Bipolar Disorder at some point in our lives. If you, a friend or a family member, is diagnosed with Bipolar, or if you suspect that someone you know may have Bipolar, this book is a fantastic first port of call for advice and support. Written in a highly accessible question and answer format, this comprehensive and compassionate guide draws on a broad range of expert opinions, the very latest research, and personal experience to explain what Bipolar Disorder is. Including numerous real-life case studies, a full list of support organizations and online resources, this book is designed to answer all your questions, from how to recognize the symptoms to how to explain to a child that their parent has been diagnosed." -- Provided by publisher.

 

 https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/January-2017/What-I-Learned-from-Carrie-Fisher

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/07/26/carrie-fisher-champion-mental-health-awareness-column/1820161001/

Halloween

The Haunted History of Halloween DVD begins by telling us that the history begins 3,000 years ago.  This seems to imply that the documentary is longer than it actually is, of course, I'm just the type of weirdo who would have happily sat there for several hours, completely enraptured. 

 At one point the video states that apple-bobbing stemmed from an Ancient Roman Festival of Pomona, goddess of fruit trees, gardens, and orchards but that seems to be a point debated upon. Some sources claim the festival did not exist ( Trick or treat: a history of Halloween by Morton, Lisa), while other sources say that apple bobbing wasn't in practice until the 14th century and involved trying not to burn your face with a candle, ( https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/508393/fiery-halloween-tradition-gave-us-bobbing-apples). Other sources say that the Ancient Roman connection to Halloween is nothing, but the festival of Lemuria might come close:  

https://youtu.be/EEiI1lOasEg

 Halloween and Fall have always been favorites of mine. Not only do I long for colder cardigan weather, but I also enjoy the return of Frankenberry, Count Chocula, and Boo Berry cereals. Halloween though, it's a nostalgic love; memories of damp leaves, struggling to breathe through the plastic masks, struggling not to sweat to death in the cheap plastic bag that passed for a costume and the sweatsuit that my mom had me wear underneath.  

 

What I loved the most, the teenagers.  This was before Trick or Treat had mandated hours. After we had exhausted ourselves scouring the neighborhood for treats, running from the old lady with the broom, yelling out "I HAVE NO CANDY!" and trying to sneak past the house that was rumored to own a pack of bloodthirsty dogs, we would arrive home to have our candy checked out for tampering, (aka: having our candy stolen by our parents....).  That's when the teenagers came. A myriad of Freddy Kruegers, Micheal Myers, and Cyndi Laupers, all begging for candy; I loved it and I honestly hate when people try to claim that kids can be "too old" for trick or treat.

 

 

 Halloween: Customs, Recipes, Spells by RavenWolf, Silver

 

  Offers a witch's perspective on Halloween and shares recipes, spells, Halloween superstitions, and rituals to honor the dead.

 

 Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween by Morton, Lisa

 

"Halloween has spread around the world, yet its associations with death and the supernatural as well as its inevitable commercialization has made it one of our most puzzling holidays. How did it become what it is today? This book examines the origins and history of Halloween and explores in depth its current global popularity. The author reveals how holidays like the Celtic Samhain and Catholic All Souls' Day have blended to produce the modern Halloween, and she shows how the holiday has been reborn in America, where costumes and trick-or-treat rituals are new customs. She takes into account the influence of related but independent holidays, especially Mexico's Day of the Dead, as well as the explosion in popularity of haunted attractions and the impact of events such as 9/11 and the global economic recession. It also examines the effect Halloween has had on popular culture through literary works by Washington Irving and Ray Bradbury, films such as John Carpenter's Halloween and Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas and television series, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Simpsons. This book takes us on a journey from the spectacular to the macabre, allowing us to peep behind the mask to see the real past and present of this ever more popular holiday."--Publisher's description.

 

 A Short History of Halloween by Lee, Sally

 

Young readers learn about the early traditions which have led to our present-day celebration of Halloween.

Haunted Illinois: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Prairie State by Taylor, Troy

The mysterious and often violent history of Illinois has made the state a haven for restless spirits. This volume explores the supernatural side of the Prairie State, with stories on the horrors of an old slave house, the numerous spirits of Alton's McPike Mansion, the cemetery where the dead walk, the Spring Valley Vampire, the ghosts of the Bartonville Asylum, Chicago's famous Resurrection Mary, and the spirit world of Abraham Lincoln.

Haunting Illinois: A Tourist's Guide to the Weird and Wild Places of the Prairie State by Kleen, Michael

For over a decade, Michael Kleen, author of Paranormal Illinois and Tales of Coles County, has researched and traveled to mystery spots all over the Prairie State. Now, he has created an organized and comprehensive guide to haunted and legendary places in Illinois. Haunting Illinois is that guide. This new edition of Haunting Illinois contains a listing of 260 mystery sites, with more than 120 photos and illustrations. Divided into eight distinct regions and listed by county and town or neighborhood, each location features a description, directions, and sources drawn from a wide variety of books, articles, and websites. In his introduction, Michael traces the history of legend tripping in Illinois, from the boys who chased after the Diamond Island Phantom in 1885, to the paranormal investigation teams and tours of today. Haunting Illinois challenges you to get off the couch and start exploring our wonderful state of Illinois. You might be surprised at what you discover!

 

 Ghost Stories of Illinois by Christensen, Jo-Anne

 

Enjoy 75 accounts of ghostly visitations--among them spirits from the Great Chicago Fire, the curse of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, a spectral steamboat on Fulton County's Spoon River and the wandering ghost of Abe Lincoln.

 

 

Legends & Lore of Illinois by Kleen, Michael

 

 Bloody Illinois: history & hauntings of Illinois crime & mystery by Taylor, Troy

 

Join author Troy Taylor as his -Dead Men Do Tell Tales- Series continues with a terrifying and blood-soaked look at Illinois crime, mystery and tales of hauntings from all over the state - many of which have never appeared in any book before In this volume, Taylor unlocks files of rare, seldom-told and favorite stories from both the cities and rural areas of the Prairie State, revealing true accounts of violence, murder, bloodshed and ghosts. Journey back into Illinois' past and discover tales of bandits, thieves, pirates and killers from the early days of the state; haunted prisons, jails and police stations; bloody vendettas; Illinois hangings; unsolved murders; ruthless murderesses; Charlie Birger, the Shelton Gang and War in Illinois; Pat Quinlan, the Devil's Apprentice; the Herrin Massacre; the Hundley Murders; the famous Coliseum Ballroom; the Battle of Barrington; Hell Hollow; the Lake Club; Fred Vannuci's -One-way Ride-; the Starved Rock Murders; Ghosts of the old Cook County Jail & the Joliet Penitentiary; and dozens more You don't want to miss this collection of uncut and uncensored tales from the pen of Troy Taylor. It's a chilling book that is not for the faint of heart

 

 

Where the Tour Buses Don't Go: Chicago's hidden sites of the mysterious, macabre, ghostly & glamorous by Lekas, Gerry

 "This isn't your average travel book--and these aren't your average tourist destinations! Take a wild ride through hidden Windy City history--often dark, sometimes inexplicable, and occasionally glamorous. Meet the gangsters, ghosts, serial killers, and celebrities that only Chicago could produce. This journey into eclectic Chicago lore includes 19 spine-tingling creepy sites (Resurrection Mary, Lonely Ghost of Lake Forest, St. Rita's and so many more); all things Al Capone (seven notable Scarface sites and the St. Valentine's Day Massacre); other Outfit bigshot hangouts, graves, and hit locations; Monsters of the Midway like Holmes, Gacy, Speck and more; murder and mayhem featuring 12 killers; and literally dozens of celebrity homes and hangouts from downtown to the suburbs and beyond!" --. Provided by publisher.

 

Haunted Lake Michigan by Stonehouse, Frederick

 

The hauntings have reached Lake Michigan! A continuation of the Haunted Lakes series, Haunted Lake Michigan features the research of Great Lakes historian (and accidental ghost-chaser) Frederick Stonehouse. In this volume, he relates the tales of lost maritime spirits and cursed ships, sea monsters, UFOs, ghostly echoes of Prohibition-era murders and a deliciously horrible host of other hauntings in, on and around Lake Michigan.