What is it about the way a story reveals hidden secrets about an area? Is it the initial shock, or possibly, the fact there's something darker hiding under the surface? In this book, Author Tony Lavorgne presents you with a set of Astonishing Tales, tales that suspend both reason and defy belief. Tales of the supernatural thrive in Pennsylvania. Stories of properties haunted by specters whose demeanor is unknown, to small towns that have been plagued with tragedies and misfortunes, to sightings of strange creatures from beyond. Join Tony Lavorgne as he goes in search of the truths behind these Astonishing Tales.

This collection is the first in a proposed series of strange and incredible stories. The events described and recounted in these stories occurred in Fayette County, Pennsylvania . Author Victoria Dutko Leonelli has selected an assortment of tales and stories ranging from a long ago Shawnee tribe legend to a young child's encounter with ghosts in the 1980s. The original artwork and rare images are truly remarkable. These stories are being presented to you for your enjoyment. These tales will pique the imaginations of those who have a thirst for the eerie, the mysterious and the utterly inexplicable. But readers beware! Some of these stories may simply tickle your funny bone, but others will certainly tingle your spine.

What do you really know about the Keystone State? William Penn, the Revolutionary figures of Philadelphia, and the strength of Pittsburgh's steel all loom large in Pennsylvania's history, but author Thomas White brings together a collection of tales that have been cast in the shadows of these giant icons. From the 1869 storm that pelted Chester County with snails to the bloody end of the Cooley gang, White selects events with an eye for the humorous and strange. Mostly true accounts of cannibalistic feats, goat-rescuing lawmen, heroic goldfish, the funeral of a gypsy queen, and a Pittsburgh canine whose obituary was featured in the New York Times all leap from the lost pages of history.

What stories do we tell about America’s once-great industries at a time when they are fading from the landscape? Pennsylvania in Public Memory attempts to answer that question, exploring the emergence of a heritage culture of industry and its loss through the lens of its most representative industrial state. Based on news coverage, interviews, and more than two hundred heritage sites, this book traces the narrative themes that shape modern public memory of coal, steel, railroading, lumber, oil, and agriculture, and that collectively tell a story about national as well as local identity in a changing social and economic world.

Pennsylvania is home to an assortment of odd creatures, and this volume features the best of the bunch. Bigfoot looms large here, trudging the wilds all throughout the state. Other cryptids featured are the gigantic Broad Top Snake, the bizarre Dogman of Westmoreland County, and Bessie, Lake Erie's resident monster. Reports of big cats, giant attacking thunderbirds, bloodsucking wolfmen, and mischievous, mine-dwelling--Tommyknockers are included.