Fascinating stories from the man behind the Lore podcast

Back in my youth I loved to peruse selections in the monthly Scholastic Books catalogue at school, and a particular favorite selection was the Ripley’s Believe It or Not book. Quirky stories that made a child with a vivid imagination wonder, “How did THAT happen?!”.  If you were like me in that regard, or are just someone who is intrigued at the thought of odd happenings throughout the past and into the present, then this book will be right up your alley. Author Aaron Mahnke has compiled all manner of interesting snippets of history,  what he calls, “A Historical Tour of the Unbelievable, the Unsettling, and the Bizarre” into this book. Sorted into general categories, each tale is but a few pages long, so the reader can choose to indulge in little bits or big chunks as they prefer.  Some are just odd things about which to puzzle, others are decidedly more in the macabre vein; some may be familiar, others could be virgin territory.  I found that the storytelling drew me in; like the old potato chip ad I couldn’t stop at just one story. Listeners to Mahnke’-connected podcasts (Lore, Cabinet of Curiosities, and Grim & Mild) should gobble up this collection, as should readers of the Ridley books of my youth and viewers of shows like Unsolved Mysteries.  My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me early access to this unique and mildly addictive read.