The third installment in Troy Taylor's travel guide to the weird side of Route 66

WEIRD HIGHWAY: MISSOURI ROUTE 66 HISTORY & HAUNTINGS, LEGENDS & LORE BY TROY TAYLOR "GETTING YOUR KICKS" ON MISSOURI'S ROUTE 66! There is no greater highway in American History than Route 66 - the legendary "Mother Road" - which began in downtown Chicago and stretched all of the way to the Pacific Ocean. For millions of people, it represents a treasure trove of memories and a link to the days of two-lane highways, family vacations, and roadside diners that vanished decades ago. For many, it conjures up images of souvenir shops, tourist traps, cozy motor courts, flickering neon signs, and roadside attractions that have blown away in the wind. To others, the highway holds stories of ghosts, haunted hotels, roadside spirits, mysterious vanishings, and bewildering anomalies from America's past. In the second books in the "Weird Highway" series, author Troy Taylor takes readers on a virtual road trip and journey back in time to one of his favorite eras in our history. Part travel guide, part crime thriller, part ghost book, this volume reveals everything from lost restaurants to outlaws like Bonnie and Clyde, forgotten towns, abandoned motels, haunted places, and restless spirits that still linger from the heyday of Route 66. This is not just another book about the Mother Road, but an entertaining trip along parts of the road that many have never heard about, or have forgotten altogether. Hope in, buckle up, and let us take you on a ride you'll never forget! Some of the stories in this volume include: * Spirits of St. Louis * Mystery at the Coral Court Motel * Times Beach: Modern-day Ghost Town * Legends of "Zombie Road" * Diamonds & the Tri-County Truck Stop * Meramec Caverns * The Man Who Would be "Jesse James" * "Mammoth Cave of Missouri" * Tribute to the "Trail of Tears" * Murder at Devil's Elbow * Ghosts of Fort Leonard Wood * Munger Moss Motel * The Story of "Nelsonville" * Spectral Soldiers at Wilson's Creek * Haunts of Pythian Castle * Ghosts of the "Brookline Massacre" * Hiding out with Bonnie & Clyde * Billy Cook's Unmarked Grave * The Hornet Spook Light * Kansas on Route 66 - and much more!

Pack your bags, hop in the car, and head out on a haunted adventure across legendary Route 66 Embrace the spirit of adventure and freedom with an exciting journey of spine-tingling paranormal activity and American history along Route 66. This travel companion transports you from Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica, California, exploring over one hundred ghostly hot spots filled with fascinating facts and lingering spirits. From ghost hunters to avid fans of the Mother Road, everyone can take their own haunted road trip on Route 66 with this essential, easy-to-read guide. Explore the famous highway through historic locations and gripping ghost stories about the St. Valentine's Day massacre in Chicago, the restless spirit of Charlie Chaplin that still haunts the Venice Beach Boardwalk in Los Angeles, and many more. This one-of-a-kind collection, with chapters organized by state, paves the way for your grand tour into the unknown.

When you open Strange 66, take a look beyond the all-American sheen to the seedy, creepy, and just plain weird stories behind America's Mother Road. Route 66 conjures images of an innocent golden age of car travel: shiny V8s powering down hot, two-lane blacktop, sucking 20-cent-a-gallon gasoline, and periodically depositing their occupants at mom-n-pop greasy spoons, neon-lit motels, and tourist traps. But America’s Mother Road wasn’t all about ruddy-cheeked, summer vacationers. Route 66 and the regions it traverses have a side more seldom seen, rich with weird tales (mimetic architecture, paranormal phenomena, and even cryptozoology) to the downright sordid and seedy (murder, mistreatment, and other assorted mayhem). In Strange 66, bestselling Route 66 authority Michael Witzel explores the flip side of Route 66 to offer details on infamous Route 66 locations that once served as hideouts for the James Gang (Meramec Caverns), Bonnie and Clyde (Baxter Springs, Kansas), and Al Capone (Cicero, Illinois). There are the stories of unspeakable crimes committed along 66, such as the Stafflebeck “murder bordello” in Galena, Kansas, and Arizona’s “Orphan Maker of Route 66.” Witzel also explores the people that passed through the region, including the Dust Bowl exodus and the Trail of Tears tribute in Jerome, Missouri. Then there are the lighter, though still strange stories, such as the Route 66 Great Transcontinental Footrace and the origins of various roadside colossi, like the Blue Whale of Catoosa and Giganticus Headicus in Walapai, Arizona. And speaking of heads, what about steak? Eat one as big as your head at the Big Texan in Amarillo—and it’s free! All of these stories culminate in a look at Route 66 unlike any other, completely illustrated with modern and archival photography and written by an acknowledged authority on the Mother Road.

There’s no detour from terror on this creepy thrill ride down part of America’s historic highway—from the author of Haunted Ozarks. Route 66 is no longer the main thoroughfare between Chicago and St. Louis, but if local lore is to be believed, ghostly traffic along the Mother Road continues unabated. Janice Tremeear chases down accounts of a man executed for witchcraft, the demon baby of Hull House, and the secrets of H. H. Holmes’s “Murder Castle.” Native American legends place the piasa bird in the skies above the highway’s southern stretch with the same insistence that characterize contemporary UFO sightings in the North. In between, spirits such as Resurrection Mary join the throng of hapless souls wandering the roadside of the Prairie State’s most famous byway.