Adam Selzer

Living in the post-human era when the undead are part of everyday life, high schooler Alley breaks her no-dating rule when Doug catches her eye, but classmate Will demands to turn her into a vampire and her zombie boyfriend may be unable to stop him.

I Kissed a Zombie, and I Liked It

H.H. Holmes

A detailed historical account of the serial killer calls on never before examined primary documents to reveal how he managed to take advantage of the crowds drawn by the 1893 World's Fair to create his own castle of horrors.

the true history of the White City Devil

H. H. Holmes

After taking a summer job with a Chicago ghost tour company, eighteen-year-old Megan is interrogated for murder when the reports of "real" ghost sightings increase--along with the number of missing tourists.

Just Kill Me

A promising and popular student in middle school, Leon Harris has become a committed "slacker" but with graduation approaching and his middle school girlfriend possibly returning to town, Leon's best friend Stan, who claims to be Satan, helps him get back on the right track--for a price.

Play Me Backwards

The Murder Castle of HH Holmes

The Three Confessions of HH Holmes

Abraham Lincoln is one of the most haunted—and haunting—presidents in US history. Sightings of Lincoln’s ghost, as well as the ghost of his assassin, have been reported for more than 150 years. Visited by eerie premonitions, morbid dreams, and unusual events that seem too bizarre to be coincidence, Lincoln has become the source of dozens of myths and paranormal mysteries. Investigating everything from obscure séance transcripts and nearly forgotten newspaper articles to the most peculiar paranormal claims, Ghosts of Lincoln digs deep into the annals of history and reveals the fascinating true stories behind the tales, rumors, and lore. Praise: "A fascinating read."—NEXUS Magazine

Discovering His Paranormal Legacy

Ghosts of Lincoln

Behind the crumbling walls, under the ancient bricks and the nearly forgotten streetcar tracks, the ghosts of Chicago live on. From Resurrection Mary and Al Capone to the Murder Castle of H. H. Holmes and the funeral train of Abraham Lincoln, the spine-tingling sights and sounds of Chicago's yesteryear are still with us...and so are its ghosts. Seeking to find out what we really know about the ghastly past of this famously haunted metropolis, professional ghost hunter and historian Adam Selzer pieces together the truth behind Chicago's ghosts, and brings to light dozens of never-before-told firsthand accounts. Take a historical tour of the famous and not-so-famous haunts around town, from the Alley of Death and Mutilation to Satan's Mile and beyond. Sometimes the real story is far different from the urban legend—and most of the time it's even gorier.

The Windy City's Most Famous Haunts

The Ghosts of Chicago

The Smart Aleck's Guide to Naughty Playground Songs and Children's Folklore

William Griffith

A delightfully wicked look at the badly behaved characters who shaped the history of the Windy City through their deeds and misdeeds. Speaking Ill of the Dead: Jerks in Chicago History features twenty-five short profiles of notorious bad guys, perpetrators of mischief, visionary if misunderstood thinkers, and other colorful antiheroes from the history of the Windy City. It reveals the dark side of some well-known and even revered characters from Chicago's past—both part-time Jerks and others who were Jerks through and through.

Speaking Ill of the Dead: Jerks in Chicago History

Smart Aleck's Guide to Halloween Specials

Do ghosts really exist, or is "ghostly phenomena" just strange stuff that gets blamed on dead people? Giving you the real story, professional ghostbuster and skeptic Adam Selzer of Weird Chicago Tours delves into a mysterious death at a former funeral parlor, nightly ghost sightings at Hull House, and more. Proving that not all ghost hunters are kooks (some are just geeks gone wild), Selzer showcases true spooky tales worldwide, a history of hauntings, the art of ghost hunting, and cool evidence of paranormal phenomena and the supernatural. These ghost stories will make you want to investigate that cemetery down the road to see if it's haunted—or just dark and creepy.

True Tales of an Accidental Ghost Hunter

Your Neighborhood Gives Me the Creeps

A lighthearted primer for young history enthusiasts shares tips for bolstering one's knowledge base while clarifying common historical misconceptions routinely taught in classrooms. Simultaneous.

The Smart Aleck's Guide to American History

Fourteen-year-old Jennifer sets the record straight after a best-selling book, ostensibly written about her, declares that her life was improved by her fairy godparent, who is actually a creepy, unkempt drunk with greasy hair.

The True Story of My Fairy Godparent, Who Almost Killed Me, and Certainly Never Made Me a Princess

Extraordinary*

Join Chicago paranormal authority Adam Selzer as he lifts the veil of myth around three of Chicago’s most terrifying ghost stories. Jane Addams’s Hull House became the center of a rumored Devil Baby—an infant born with horns, hooves, and claws . . . and a habit of using profane language to ministers. H. H. Holmes has gone down in history as America’s first—and possibly most prolific—serial killer. Popularized in bestselling book The Devil in the White City, Holmes built a three-story building down the street from the World’s Fair site in Chicago in the early 1890s to use as his killing castle. But how many people did he kill? Chicago’s Resurrection Mary is one of the oldest and most enduring vanishing hitchhiker stories. An expert on the Resurrection Mary stories, Selzer shares dozens of stories and anecdotes he’s collected and sifts through his personal database of facts surrounding Archer Avenue’s most famous apparition. This e-book includes an excerpt from Adam Selzer's popular book Your Neighborhood Gives Me the Creeps.

Devil Babies, Murder Castle, Resurrection Mary

Three Terrifying Tales from Chicago

From Chicago historian Adam Selzer, expert on all of the Windy City’s quirks and oddities, comes a compelling heavily researched anthology of the stories behind its most fascinating unsolved mysteries. To create this unique volume, Selzer has collected forty unsolved mysteries from the 1800s to modern day. He has poured through all newspaper, magazine, and book references to them, and consulted expert historians. Topics covered include who really started the great Chicago fire, who was the first “automobile murderer,” and even if there was actually a vampire slaying at Rose Hill cemetery. The result is both a colorful read to get lost in, a window to a world of curiosity and wonder, as well as a volume that separates fact from fiction—true crime from urban legend. Complementing the gripping stories Selzer presents are original images of the crime and its suspects as developed by its original investigators. Readers will marvel at how each character and crime were presented, and happily journey with Selzer as he presents all facts and theories presented at the time of the “crime” and uses modern hindsight to assemble the pieces.

History at Its Coolest

Mysterious Chicago

From the author of Play Me Backwards and I Kissed a Zombie and I Liked It comes a “narrative brimming with delightfully macabre irreverence” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) about one teen’s unusual summer job as a ghost tour guide in Chicago. Megan Henske isn’t one to heed warnings… When the last letters in her alphabet cereal are D, I, and E, she doesn’t crawl right back into bed. When her online girlfriend won’t text a photo, she just sends more of herself. And when she realizes that Cynthia, her boss at a Chicago ghost tour company, isn’t joking about making stops more haunted by euthanizing people there, she doesn’t quit her job—she may even help. But soon she learns people in the murdermonger industry are being murdered, and doesn’t know who it is doing it. Could it be the head of the rival tour company? Or could it be someone near and dear to Megan? After she realizes she has an uncanny resemblance to a flapper who disappeared in 1922, Megan receives a warning she can’t ignore: the next ghost on the tour might be her…

Discover the fascinating history of Chicago—home to Barack Obama, Al Capone, the Chicago Cubs, politicians, mobsters, and more—told through 24 dramatic true stories. Known as an expert on Chicago's folklore and crime stories, Adam Selzer takes readers through Chicago's history from the 1800s to the present with tales of the politicians, eccentrics, and the famous and infamous who shaped the city. Essays explore historic events from the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 to the beginnings of the film era (Chicago was home to film long before Hollywood) and the historical contributions to the birth of rock 'n' roll. Also included are guided walking tours around many of the sites mentioned, illustrated with color photographs and maps.

Exploring the History and Lore of the Windy City

Chronicles of Old Chicago

From Resurrection Mary and Al Capone to the funeral train of Abraham Lincoln, the spine-tingling sights and sounds of Chicago's yesteryear are still with us-- and so are its ghosts. Selzer pieces together the truth behind Chicago's ghosts, and brings to light dozens of never-before-told firsthand accounts. Take a historical tour of the famous and not-so-famous haunts around town. Sometimes the real story is far different from the urban legend ... and most of the time it's even gorier ...

Adam Selzer

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