Curious Encounters: Phantom Trains, Spooky Spots and Other Mysterious Wonders
Loren Coleman is a disciple of Charles Fort, the tireless collector of weird newspaper clippings. Curious Encounters , a companion to his earlier Mysterious America ( LJ 11/1/83), covers the late 1970s and early 1980s. Included are accounts of sea serpents, pterodactyls, phantom trains, haunted houses, and inexplicable stone structures. An appendix lists sites in each state where strange events have been reported, such as the Casa Bodega Liquor Store, Camarillo State Hospital, and the Massachusetts Turnpike Information Center. Coleman admits that the primary mission of a Fortean is to collect data, not to analyze it, so those who expect a rigorous debunking will have to look elsewhere. However, most readers will find this book provocative and entertaining. Edward B. St. John, Loyola Marymount Univ. Lib., Los AngelesCopyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.