Forgotten Tales of Illinois

Forgotten Tales

by Bryan W. Alaspa, Kyle McQueen (Illustrator)

Dig up the men who tried to dig up Lincoln. Mull over the Mad Gasser of Mattoon and the 1977 thunderbird infestation, from a safe distance. Watch in horror as one of the greatest maritime disasters in U.S. history occurs twenty feet from the banks of the Chicago River or follow the course of the blimp crash that convinced a downtown bank employee that it was raining hell. Try not to blink as towns washed away by floods and shrines covered over by condominiums are dragged back from the margins of history into the center of the page, where they belong. After all, reasons author Bryan Alaspa, if the pope was eager to stop by the House of Crosses during his visit to Chicago, surely it is worth a look. Just beware: a quick glance into this book and you might not look up until you've read the whole gripping and grin-inspiring collection.

144 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2009

About the author

I was born in the fine year of 1971 in Park Ridge, IL. I am a life long Chicago resident and I love the city. I spent a few years in St. Louis, as well. I knew I wanted to write from the time I sat down at my mom's electric typewriter in the 3rd grade. Now I do write. I write freelance and articles for online news sources. I write horror, thrillers and detective novels. I also write non-fiction in true crime and history genres. I publish my fiction myself as an indie publisher and write and have found an audience for my work among ebook fans. I publish for Kindle, Nook and other tablets and devices at Smashwords.com. My non-fiction is usually published in print, but that may soon change as ebooks become more and more of the norm.

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this Kindle book from my library:
https://alliance.overdrive.com/allian...

It is a nice, short book with interesting tales of odd events in Illinois history. If you live here, you'll like it.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting stories but not all are necessarily of great interest. A short and easy read, and the author has done a great job of researching the stories as evidenced by the sources listed at the books end.

[Brooke Kouri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and easy read that tells the interesting history of Illinois. I’m not usually one to read history books, but the stories in this were told in such an interesting and entertaining way that I didn’t mind it. Cool to pick up one and shouldn’t take more than a couple hours to get through.

[Marilyn Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascination look at little mentioned incidents in Illinois history.

[Daniel Cheely · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting tidbits about Illinois history. Well written.