'Forgotten Tales of Alabama' is full of entertaining legends and lore

If you enjoy reading about ghosts, UFOs, Bigfoot and the Bermuda Triangle, then I invite you to check out a great book called “Forgotten Tales of Alabama” by Kelly Kazek.

Published in September 2010 by The History Press, this 190-page book includes more than a few bizarre and entertaining “tales that have existed only in rumor, anecdote, legend and lore.” The book is illustrated by Kyle McQueen.

Kazek’s name may sound familiar to many of you. A few weeks ago, around Christmas time, you may have seen a review in this space of her recently published book, “Christmas Tales of Alabama.” That book was really good and so was “Forgotten Tales of Alabama.”

Kazek lives in Madison and serves as the managing editor of The News-Courier newspaper in Athens. In more than 20 years as a journalist, she’s won more than 130 national and state press awards.

Stories in “Forgotten Tales of Alabama” feature an entertaining mix of tales, and are divided into five categories – Colorful Characters, Strange Sites, Intriguing Incidents, Tombstone Tales and Curious Creatures and Odd Occurrences.

I especially liked the chapter in which Kazek details a number of famous UFO reports from over the years and from across the state. These reports include a famous Feb. 11, 1989 case in which more than 50 Fyffe residents, including several police officers, reported seeing UFOs. The mysterious triangle or crescent-shaped objects were seen flying overhead, and reportedly didn’t make any sounds. Others say the UFOs were shaped like bananas, while others said they were lined with green lights.

The story was eventually reported by hundreds of news outlets around the world, and the incident was never fully explained. Fyffe’s residents took it all in stride, and they now hold an annual event called the Fyffe UFO Days, which features a hot air balloon festival.

I also liked the portions of Kazek’s book that discussed mysterious creatures like the Coaling Bigfoot, the Red-Eyed Gargoyle of Selma, Huggin’ Molly, the Alabama White Thing and the Wolf Woman of Mobile.

The most intriguing and unusual of these is the story of the Alabama White Thing, sightings of which have been reported since the 1940s in Morgan, Etowah and Jefferson counties. Witnesses say that this creature is seven feet tall and covered in solid, white hair. It’s sometimes described as having no eyes or ears. Other says that it moves extremely quickly and makes an eerie screech like a woman screaming or a panther.

In the end, I really enjoyed Kazek’s book, and I highly recommend it to anyone in the reading audience who’s interested in reading farfetched and unusual tales from within Alabama’s borders. If you like books like “13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey” by Kathryn Tucker Windham, you’re sure to enjoy “Forgotten Tales of Alabama.”

You might also want to check out some of Kazek’s other books. They include “Christmas Tales of Alabama,” “Fairly Odd Mother: Musings of a Slightly Off Southern Mom,” “Hidden History of Auburn,” “Forgotten Tales of Alabama,” “Forgotten Tales of Tennessee,” “A History of Alabama’s Deadliest Tornadoes: Disaster in Dixie,” and “Images of America: Athens and Limestone County.”