Reddit reviews Wildmen, Wobblies & Whistle Punks: Stewart Holbrook's Lowbrow Northwest (Northwest Reprints)

> So aside from the goofy title which makes this look like a cheap trashy book

I always feel slightly apologetic when I recommend Psycho USA by Harold Schechter because, despite the horrible title and the cover art that makes it look like a Five Finger Death Punch album, it's actually a very well-written examination of why some crimes loom large in the public consciousness, while others are mostly forgotten. I highly recommend Schechter's other books as well. He writes very informative, yet entertaining, books about historical crimes and the public fascination with violence. One of my favorite aspects of his writing is the way he debunks the myth that people were more civilized and less obsessed with the sensational and the lurid back in "the good old days."

If you're interested in reading a book that covers some of the same territory as "Occult America" but from a scientific/skeptical viewpoint, I recommend Martin Gardner's Fads and Fallacies In The Name of Science. As the title suggests, it's more concerned with pseudoscience, but it does cover things like spiritualism, hollow earth societies, faith healing, and the early days of Scientology.

Weird history is kinda my jam.

If you want weird, obscure history with a focus on horrific crimes and the occasional supernatural occurrence, check out Keven McQueen. He's an English professor at a small college in Kentucky, who apparently spends all of his spare time combing old newspapers looking for weird stories to put in his books.


Although his books are mostly PNW-specific, I think anyone who is interested in weird history would dig Stewart Holbrook's Wildmen, Wobblies, and Whistlepunks and Murder Out Yonder.

Add this book to round it out.

Wildmen, Wobblies and Whistlepunks is a great collection and can be gotten used for the price of shipping ($4).

http://www.amazon.com/Wildmen-Wobblies-Whistle-Punks-Holbrooks/dp/0870713833