Ohio history can get pretty strange! Meet Ashtabula's famed Headless Chicken, who lived without his noggin for 38 days. Was Ohio really bombed by the Japanese in WWII? Introducing the inventor of disposable diapers . . . For anyone who enjoys history with a twist, here are 75 tales of the Buckeye State's most unusual people, places, and events.

Turn on a night light, lock your door, and close the window blinds . . . Join investigative reporter James Renner as he looks into 13 tales of mysterious, creepy, and unexplained events in the Buckeye State, including: - The giant, spark-emitting Loveland Frog - The bloodthirsty Melon Heads of Kirtland - The lumber-wielding Werewolf of Defiance - The Mothman of the Ohio River - The UFO that inspired "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" - and more!

The Buckeye State has no shortage of strange, silly, goofy, quirky, eccentric, and just plain weird places, people, and things--if you know where to look. Discover the World's Largest Cuckoo Clock, the nation's only vacuum cleaner museum, Balto the Wonder Dog, the "bottomless" Blue Hole of Casalia, and lots more hard-to-believe stuff!

The definitive collection of Ohio's odd, wacky, and most offbeat people, places, and things, for Ohio residents and anyone else who enjoys local humor and trivia with a twist.

"Neil Zurcher deftly observes things most of us would overlook, and that is what make his stories so enticing." --- Robin Swoboda "Neil's writing skills, wry wit, and calm, warm demeanor allowed him to move effortlessly from award-winning hard news reporter to Cleveland's king of travel." - Tim Taylor He met Prince Charles in a bathroom, and tripped and Tell on President Gerald Ford. He raced on an elephant, piloted a glider, and hung from a trapez. He survived a hotel fire, a tornado, and countless stunts for the camera. As a news reporter and host of the long-running "One Tank Trips" travel segment on Channel 8 in Cleveland, Neil visited every corner of Ohio (and beyond), met hundreds of unusual people, and took part in history-making events. He was tear-gassed at an anti-war protest and almost trapped inside the Ohio Penitentiary during a riot. He drove in a day-long high-speed police chase from Cleveland to Kentucky, and got lost in the middle of Lake Erie. He rode in jet boats, jet fighters, sternwheelers, a World War II tank, and almost every other kind of vehicle imaginable (most frequently his trademark red and white 1959 Nash Metropolitan). He was ordained as a minister in the Free Spirit Association Church and even officiated at a few weddings... He would do almost anything and go almost anywhere for a godo story. And in the process he became one of the most popular personalities on Cleveland TV. In this book, with his familiar folksy style, Neil shares dozens of his favorite personal stories from a lifetime in Cleveland television. Many will cause a chuckle, some will surprise, and all recall in era of television and of Northeast Olno that was full of color and characters.

Tragedy and courage walk hand-in-hand in these gripping true tales from Ohio’s past… These ten disasters from Ohio’s past are worth remembering for both their tragic lessons and their inspiring examples of heroism. Includes: • The horribly destructive Xenia tornado, part of the most violent “super outbreak” ever recorded, which wiped out entire neighborhoods … • The sudden and shocking Silver Bridge collapse, during rush hour, into the Ohio River near Gallipolis … • An ill-fated group parachute jump over Lake Erie that landed in watery disaster near Huron … • The Golden Age Nursing Home fire in Fitchville, one of the deadliest such fires in U.S. history … • Cleveland’s great balloon launch fiasco, which earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records—and infamy … • The Blizzard of ‘78—a roaring “White Hurricane” that swept across Ohio and buried the state … • The panicked demise of trained animals during the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus fire in Cleveland … • The Roger Blough inferno—a giant, 833-foot-long Great Lakes freighter engulfed in flames while dry-docked in Lorain … • The frenzied and deadly Who concert stampede at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Coliseum … • The bizarre exotic animal escape in Zanesville, where dangerous beasts including lions, tigers, and bears stalked the community. Veteran journalist Neil Zurcher reported many of these news stories firsthand, and for this book interviewed survivors, heroes, and other eyewitness.

Unearth the history behind northern Ohio's best treasure tales, from sunken ships to misplaced spoils of war. Perfect for fans of historical mysteries and legends. Encounter a cast of characters as rich as any secret hoard, such as the notorious gangster John Dillinger, who left a trail of robbed banks, dead bodies and buried loot across the northwest stretch of the state. Read about the disaster that befell the G.P. Griffith, the tragic massacre of a family for money and the Ohio counterfeiters who plagued the nation. But tread cautiously in your treasure hunt--Mad Anthony Wayne's gold is said to be jealously guarded by a dark, ghostly figure. Author Wendy Koile is a lifelong resident of Ohio. In 2012 she published her first book, Geneva on the Lake: A History of Ohio's First Summer Resort. When not writing or traveling, Koile teaches at Zane State College. Koile founded her own treasure hunting club, First Glass Gals.

Pull up a chair or gather round the campfire and get ready for twenty-five creepy tales of ghostly hauntings, eerie happenings, and other strange occurrences in this all-new addition to the best-selling Spooky series. Set in the Buckeye State’s big cities and rural communities, along the shores of Lake Erie in the north to the Appalachian Mountains in the south, the stories in this entertaining and compelling collection will have readers looking over their shoulders again and again. Ohio’s folklore is kept alive in these expert retellings by master storyteller S. E. Schlosser and in artist Paul Hoffman’s evocative illustrations. Readers will see the mystery of the missing postmaster’s cousin solved, relive the long night a ghost captain saved a sinking ship, laugh along with a prankster who capitalizes on a barber’s ghost, and feel an icy wind on the back of their necks on a warm Ohio evening. Whether read around the campfire on a dark and stormy night or from the backseat of the family van on the way to Grandma’s, this is a collection to treasure.