Book Review: Jeff Belanger- Wicked Strange: Your Guide to Ghosts, Monsters, Oddities & Urban Legends from New England.
Photography By: Frank Grace
Go legend hunting in New England with explorer of the unexplained Jeff Belanger in his new book, WICKED STRANGE (Sept. 2025)
WICKED STRANGE: Your Guide to Ghosts, Monsters, Oddities, and Urban Legends from New England(Sept. 2025) byJeffBelanger, with photography by Frank Grace, for review or feature consideration.
This travel guide takes readers on a journey to the strange and frequently unseen world that is often right under their noses. Covering numerous haunted places, environs where mysterious creatures have been spotted, areas where unusual events have happened, eccentric locals, and roadside oddities to explore, noted expert of the strangeJeffBelangeris your guide to all that’s local and strange. Haunted locations from all over New England are covered:
- The Haunting of Conimicut Lighthouse—Warwick, Rhode Island
- Maine’s Sistine Chapel—South Solon, Maine
- Edith Wharton’s Haunted Mansion, The Mount—Lenox, Massachusetts
- Emily’s Haunted Bridge—Stowe, Vermont
- The Sleeping Giant—Hamden, Connecticut
- The Haunted Mt. Washington Hotel—Bretton Woods, New Hampshire
Review:
Jeff Belanger is an adventurer, author, storyteller, and podcaster. Jeff has written more than a dozen books. He is an Emmy-nominated host, writer, and producer. Jeff has been the writer and researcher for every single episode of Ghost Adventures on the Discovery Network. Jeff has a 25-plus year career, and he keeps things interesting with his various passions. The newest book, Wicked Strange, Frank Grace is the photographer for the book. Frank’s photos are just stunning. I was able to see his work in Salem at the Salem Art Gallery, and it took my breath away.
Wicked Strange is a fascinating book. It is not just this tourist type book that sort of guides you to places you would love to visit. It tells the beautiful, and macabre tales of places like, Maine’s Sistine Chapel located in South Solon, Maine. Mark Twain’s Haunted Mansion located in Hartford, CT. Jeff takes you on a journey, and shares history, and stories about the places. The stories are accompanied by stunning photos taken by Frank Grace.
It is a must-have for paranormal collectors, for history lovers, for people who like to investigate and visit spooky places. There are some intriguing stories including The Battle of the Frogs in Willimantic, CT. New England has a lot of history, and tales to be told. The beautifully colorful photography makes this book so intense.
You feel as if you were along for the journey. Tales about mermaids, and sea serpents, travelers passing through, people describing various creatures they saw. The books touches on a little bit of everything. There is an amazing story about The UFO Crash at Bantam Lake in Morris, Connecticut. It’s not fluff… It is not just, oh, here we are. This spooky thing happened… or it didn’t happen. This creepy tale took place. The book takes us to cemeteries, battle grounds, and even talks about haunted stoves.
We are also taken all over Connecticut. Jeff does a great job of mixing things up, and this is a book that you would want to read again, and even keep it on the coffee table. I loved The Glawackus story from Glastonbury, Connecticut. You get Ghost ships, animals, creatures. There isn’t anything that Jeff or Frank shy away from. Gungywamp in Groton, Connecticut is an interesting story. You must read the book.
The beautiful images, the stories, the various locations, the creatures, Ghost ships, pianos, knights, forklore… Yes, I said, Forklore. The Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, Massachusetts. Shall we sing the song,
“Lizzie Borden took an axe
And gave her mother forty whacks.
When she saw what she had done.
She gave her father forty-one.”
There is a hauntingly macabre photo of the home in the book, and Jeff shares the story of Lizzie Borden, and the now infamous bed and breakfast. Guests can stay and see if they catch a glimpse of feel Lizzie Borden’s presence around. They cover so much in the book, you stayed invested when reading the book. Jeff took a lot of time, and the photography by Frank adds to the storytelling. It gives a perfect visual.
Make sure to check out the book, and the links are below to pick up a copy.
https://redwheelweiser.com/book/wicked-strange-9781637480212/