Customer Reviews:
An Invaluable Addition to New England May 8, 2008 4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I'm from New Jersey but go to school in Mass., so when this book came out I snatched it right up--and I'm very glad I did. It is not only a great addition to the series as a whole, but also a must have companion to the Weird New England book published a few years back. Sure, the obvious stuff is covered here--Salem, Lizzy Borden and so forth--but you really couldn't do a book called Weird Massachusetts and NOT include those stories. It just wouldn't be complete. Even so,the author does a great job of retelling the few obligatory stories that are included here, and somehow manages breathe new life into them through his energetic writing style. But the real tastey meat of this book lies in the material not covered in any previous volumes: like the terrifying stories of Dudley Road, the little know odd finds buried deep in the woods like Deed Rock, and the just plain quirky entries like the story of Sheila Shea's grave (it actually reads "who the hell is Sheila Shea?" In addition to that, there are some chilling tales from some of MA's abandoned place. Sure, most people know of Danvers, but what about Worcester State, Northampton State, and Medfield State hospitals? All are explored here in their creepy and forlorn glory! If you are into Weird and want to know more about its presence in the Bay State, this book has it covered. What more can I say?
Nothing New... May 7, 2008 0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was so sad when I got this book. I love the "Weird" series and live in MA, so I could hardly wait to learn some juicy tidbits of weirdness. Unfortunately, that did not happen. I think I would've liked this better if I didn't already own "Weird New England" of which some of the info is taken from. Honestly, there really isn't anything new here. I mean, Salem? Lizzie Borden? Plymouth Rock? Between that and seeing the exact same info (sometimes the exact same pages) from "Weird New England" I was just really disappointed. Too much info that you can find elsewhere. It's still a good series of books though.
Great book April 27, 2008 3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I really liked this book, although it was a bit of disappointment to learn that there isn't really anything that spooky about Spider Gates! ha ha I learned a lot of things about my own home state that I didn't even know, this was a great book. Each story is pretty short, so you can always investigate the stories that really interest you further on your own.
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