Book Review: Into the Shadows-American Unsolved Mysteries

Troy Taylor is author of Into the Shadows: American Unsolved Mysteries and Tales of the Unexplained.  So far Troy has written about 40-something books on ghosts and hauntings.  This book diverges a bit because it focuses on mysteries.  From the treasure of Superstition Mountain to the possible involvement of Edgar Alan Poe in the murder of Mary Rogers to the discovery of the abandoned Mary Celeste, he's pulled together quite a collection.  Not that Troy doesn't bring in the occasional paranormal story, because they are good mysteries too.  Especially the one about the two brothers who held seances at their small Vermont town in 1874, producing anywhere up to a dozen spirit figures speaking in foreign languages and wearing period costumes...all while not collecting a dime from the attendees.  As their biographer later said, it was financially as well as phsyically impossible to produce costumed actors who entered the room secretly and disappeared as mysteriously.  Troy also relates the story of Patience Worth who wrote numerous books and short stories dictated to a woman in the early 20th century who lived hundreds of years after she died; spook lights like that near Hornet, Missouri;  the reports of frogs and fish and other things falling from the sky; so-called bottomless pits; the story of writer Ambrose Bierce who disappeared in Mexico; how Billy the Kid may really have died; and more.  Good book.  Troy continues to amaze me with his output.  For a taste of his writings, sign up for his free Bump in the Night newsletter which plugs his new books and tours but also includes an article on ghosts or the paranormal in almost every issue at www.prairieghosts.com. There's also a bunch of material on his website, as well.