David Bickel

Intriguing title. Intriguing premise. These are some things that David Bickel finds creepy - albeit they are unintentionally creepy. So ghosts, demons, vampires - that sort of thing is out.

I did find a few of these funny and I did agree with some of these. Especially Disneyland's "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln". When he compared that with Westworld, I had to laugh out loud. Also true to the mark was his assessment of Glinda the Good Witch and and Hairless Cats.

Of course, I had to disagree with the statement that People Who Drive Really Old Cars are creepy. That's probably because as I write this, I've got a 1920's car in my driveway and a 1930's car in my garage, all ready to be driven at a moment's notice. I did find that the things that applied to me are not in the least bit creepy but other people's hobbies can definitely be creepy.

That being said, I started looking around my house for the items that are unintentionally creepy. I found a ram skull that came from a long deceased junkyard guard sheep. Okay, that creeped out a house guest who didn't want to be in the same room with it and it did give me nightmares for a month. What else? The forgotten Christmas decoration in the window (or is that just cute?), a stack of never watched VHS tapes in the original packaging (creepy, or just the mark of a hoarder?), animal habitats in the dining room (believe it or not, this actually bothers some people).

So, although the book was cute and easy to read, the real charm comes in looking around your own living room, realizing that you are the reason these books are written.… (altro)

If he would have taken out some of the cruder examples, this book would have been a 5 star read. I cannot remember the last time I laughed so much. A very quick read - I think I finished the whole thing in under a half hour - the book includes a series of two-page spreads showing a photo with a description of what makes it creepy. From the benign (clowns) to the bizarre (grandma's candy dish), the entries range from overly obvious to brilliantly insightful. It did require some editing before I allowed my 12 year old to see it, but it's simply a fun read - and exactly what I needed after a rough week on the road… (altro)