Marc Hartzman

"A popular history of ghosts and haunted sites around the world, featuring photographs and black-and-white illustrations"--

A Tour of Our Fascination with Spirits and the Supernatural

Chasing Ghosts

A fascinating look into the history of the American sideshow and its performers. Learn what's real, what's fake, and what's just downright bizarre. You've probably heard of Tom Thumb. The Elephant Man. Chang and Eng, the original Siamese twins. But what about Eli Bowen, the legless acrobat? Myrtle Corbin, the four-legged woman? Or Prince Randian, the human torso? All these and more were stars during the heyday of the American sideshow, from 1840 to 1950. American Sideshow chronicles the lives of truly amazing performers, examining these brave and extraordinary curiosities, not just as sideshow attractions, but as people, delving into the lives they led and how they were able to triumph over their abnormalities. American Sideshow discusses the rise and fall of the original sideshows and their subsequent replacement by today's self-made freaks. With the progress of modern medicine, the physical abnormalities are disappearing, either through treatment or prevention; and, ironically, those same technological advancements now make it possible to change our bodies at will. It's amazing how easy it is to have your tongue forked, horns surgically implanted, or your earlobes removed. There are also modern-day giants, fire-eaters, fire-breathers, sword-swallowers, glass-eaters, human blockheads, and, oh, so much more. These fascinating personalities are celebrated through intimate biographies paired with stunning photographs. Approximately 200 performers from the past 160 years are featured, giving readers a comprehensive and sometimes astonishing view of the history of the American sideshow.

An Encyclopedia of History's Most Wondrous and Curiously Strange Performers

American Sideshow

Oliver Cromwell led the charge in the beheading of England's King Charles I in 1649. But little did he know that his own head would soon roll. And roll and roll-for the next three hundred years across the Commonwealth. The execution of Charles I ended the monarchy, and Cromwell became the Lord Protector of England until his own death from natural causes in 1658. His body was embalmed and buried in Westminster Abbey, only to be exhumed by King Charles II three years later. The new king had restored the monarchy and wished to avenge his father's death by hanging Cromwell and beheading him posthumously. Now, for the first time, the memoirs of Oliver Cromwell's embalmed head have surfaced, making it the first account of any world leader-or any human being for that matter-chronicling the afterlife. This remarkable memoir recounts its journey through the centuries, beginning with Cromwell's decapitation and the head's impalement on a post at Westminster Hall, where it stayed for more than twenty years before being freed by a heavy storm. Over the centuries, the head enjoyed a series of unexpected adventures, encountering a host of bizarre and well-known characters-from its many owners, curious anatomists and misled but obsessed phrenologists to other preserved decapitated heads and impostor Cromwell heads. These escapades came to an end only after the head was donated to Cromwell's alma mater, Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge, where it was eventually buried for good in 1960.

A Memoir

The Embalmed Head of Oliver Cromwell

"A fully illustrated pop history of Earthlings' long relationship with Mars"--

From Ancient Egypt to the Martian, a Deep-Space Dive Into Our Obsession with the Red Planet

The Big Book of Mars

Have you ever gone to a yard sale and marvelled at the dubious treasures on display? Imagine seeing a homemade deer-poop paperweight for ten dollars, a lonely left boot, a belt with a glass eye embedded in its buckle. It would never be possible to find such fantastic oddities all in one thrift shop or garage. But, all these objects do exist and have been sold on eBay. Now these items and many, many more like them are collected for your viewing pleasure in this hilarious "museum" of priceless eBay artifacts. With thirty million registered users, eBay is one dotcom that has thrived, becoming the most popular shopping website on the net. The suspense of bidding online inspires fanatic obsession, and all kinds of people from grandmothers to teenagers come to eBay to buy and sell just about everything. If you're searching for a rare deal on a hard-to-find gift, eBay is the place. But, when it comes to the unusual, buyers can easily get more than they bargained for. The author has collected one hundred of these gimcracks and photographed them as if they were jewels. Here are a trucker's prayer plaque in its shining newness, a real frog coin purse that looks like it's about to hop off the page, and a strand of Abraham Lincoln's hair shot as a historical gem. Accompanying each image are the seller's original sales pitch and goofy email correspondence about the objects' possible but improbable uses. This pocket-size catalog of curiosities makes for a delightful novelty gift for the eBayer in anyone's family.

101 Genuinely Bizarre Items from the World's Online Yard Sale

Found on EBay

During the height of Spiritualism mediums were busy delivering a cornucopia of messages from the dead, including many from some of world's greatest luminaries. Hear all about the afterlife straight from William Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, Washington Irving, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, and other spirits living it up in death in this most unusual collection of writing.

A Collection of Messages from Beyond the Veil, 1850s to 1920s

The Talking Dead

Remember when you couldn't care less about what people from high school were eating for dinner? Or where a friend of a friend of a friend is hanging out? These were the simpler days before social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare swallowed the Internet and nearly a billion people. Now there's a place where people can return to the days of not sharing everything. When thoughts were still private. When immediate attention for every act wasn't so craved. It's not online. It's in a book called The Anti-Social Network: A Place For All The Thoughts, Ideas and Plans You Don't Want To Share. Inside are 200 pages waiting to be filled by you. It's a journal of memories, a sketchbook of ideas, a sanctuary of thought. And privacy is only an issue if you lose it.

A Place for All the Thoughts, Ideas and Plans You Don't Want to Share

The Anti-Social Network

Does God, in His infinite wisdom, convince people to get rid of their car insurance? Does He encourage cannibalism? Does the God of more than six billion people actually have time to root for the Minnesota Vikings? According to some, yes. How do they know? God told them. Luckily, God also told Marc Hartzman to write this book, a collection of the most shocking, absurd, and hilarious things people have ever claimed God asked them to do, and to present them for your pure reading enjoyment. Including: The man that God told to perform surgery on himself God's generous offer to miraculously fill his believer's gas tank The fateful day God (assumedly feeling nostalgic for his teen years) asked a man to TP a police station The woman God instructed to direct traffic—topless And, sadly, many more

True Stories of the Worst Advice the Lord Has Ever Given His Followers

God Made Me Do It

This deluxe edition is limited to 50 hard copies and was printed and bound in Lincoln, Nebraska.Oliver Cromwell led the charge in the beheading of England's King Charles I in 1649. But little did he know that his own head would soon roll. And roll and roll-for the next three hundred years across the Commonwealth. The execution of Charles I ended the monarchy, and Cromwell became the Lord Protector of England until his own death from natural causes in 1658. His body was embalmed and buried in Westminster Abbey, only to be exhumed by King Charles II three years later. The new king had restored the monarchy and wished to avenge his father's death by hanging Cromwell and beheading him posthumously. Now, for the first time, the memoirs of Oliver Cromwell's embalmed head have surfaced, making it the first account of any world leader-or any human being for that matter-chronicling the afterlife. This remarkable memoir recounts its journey through the centuries, beginning with Cromwell's decapitation and the head's impalement on a post at Westminster Hall, where it stayed for more than twenty years before being freed by a heavy storm. Over the centuries, the head enjoyed a series of unexpected adventures, encountering a host of bizarre and well-known characters-from its many owners, curious anatomists and misled but obsessed phrenologists to other preserved decapitated heads and impostor Cromwell heads. These escapades came to an end only after the head was donated to Cromwell's alma mater, Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge, where it was eventually buried for good in 1960.

The Complete History of the Head of the Ruler of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, with Accounts from Early Per: a Memoir

Oliver Cromwell led the charge in the beheading of England's King Charles I in 1649. But little did he know that his own head would soon roll. And roll and roll-for the next three hundred years across the Commonwealth. This memoir recounts its journey through the centuries (1661-1960), all told from the head's perspective.

A Memoir: The Complete History of the Head of the Ruler of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland With Accounts from Early Periods of Death and Impalement And Subsequent Journeys Through the Centuries With

Filled with entertaining history, archival images, pop culture ephemera, and interviews with NASA scientists, The Big Book of Mars is the most comprehensive look at our relationship with Mars—yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Mars has been a source of fascination and speculation ever since the Ancient Sumerians observed its blood-red hue and named it for their god of war and plague. But it wasn't until 1877, when "canals" were observed on the surface of the Red Planet, suggesting the presence of water, that scientists, novelists, filmmakers, and entrepreneurs became obsessed with the question of whether there's life on Mars. In The War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells suggested that we wouldn't need to make contact with Martians—they'd come for us—while, many years later, Nikola Tesla claimed that he did make contact. Since then, Mars has fully invaded pop culture. It has its own day of the week (Tuesday, or martis in Latin), candy bar, and iconic Looney Tunes character. It has been the subject of novels and movies, from Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles to Mars Attacks! to The Martian. And it has sparked a space-race feud between Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, who both hope to send a manned mission to Mars in the near future.

Marc Hartzman

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