Though she never wanted to sit on the plank above the dunk tank for the food pantry fundraiser, Jolie never dreamed what Scoobie saw would nearly kill him. His ex-con mother arrives and there's a murder to add to the mix. Even appraising real estate is complicated by home burglars. Jolie grudgingly seeks help from her nemesis, reporter George Winters, and tries to evade a kidnapper and murderer and take charge of her world again. The police wish she'd butt out and Aunt Madge is furious that Jolie insists on talking to a couple shady characters on her own. Soon even the guests at Aunt Madge's Cozy Corner B&B are in the way. Can Jolie keep her friends safe, and will Scoobie recover enough to say what happened to him and plan another silly fundraiser?

Explores the relentless, wacky, eerie energy of old-time American summers and Carnivals through vivacious imagery.

Step right up, Ladies and Germs, and feast your eyes on the incomparable wonders of a hidden world! Be astonished! amazed! disgusted! by brazen acts of self-destruction that no natural human body should be able to withstand! Tony Gangi, professional magician, lifelong sideshow devotee, and card-carrying graduate of Coney Island's famed Sideshow School, guides you through the stupendous techniques and proud traditions of this shocking and fascinating realm of entertainment. • Learn the secrets behind Breathing Fire! Sword Swallowing! The Bed of Nails! Pounding Spikes into the Head! • Enter the mysterious worlds of the Snake Lady, the Human Blockhead, and more! • Meet sideshow greats like Melvin Burkhart and Ward Hall. • Discover today's dedicated entertainers, like Todd Robbins, Harley Newman, Tyler Fyre, Thrill Kill Jill, Donny Vomit, The Black Scorpion, and more! • See what it takes to enter this underground yet welcoming world as a performer. Features interviews with Penn Jillette and Todd Robbins and Penn Jillette's ode to the sideshow, the "10 in 1" monologue as performed by Penn & Teller Editors's Note: Not for the faint of heart, weak of stomach or easily grossed out. So go ahead, how can you resist?! Tony Gangi, a Philadelphia native, never actually intended to make his living by shoving nails up his nose. He left the corporate world to become a professional magician and proprietor of one of the few flea circuses remaining in the world ("Live fleas do, in fact, perform circus tricks," he says. They just need to be "trained the right way and treated with kindness.") He's now mastered straightjacket escapes, fire-eating, and napping on a bed of nails. He is currently working on his presentation for walking barefoot on broken glass. This is his first book. He hopes it is not his last.

L.M. Thaxton, a carnival barker, realizes that his ex-wife, a knife-thrower, will be the prime suspect when her current husband, the owner of the carnival, is found with one of her knives in his back

Welcome to Dorchester Cemetery. On this Halloween night, our dearly departed residents will guide you through a collection of original spooky poems and creepy tales, each designed to chill your spine.

In a land of jungle and mountains a magic used by a few threaten to destabilize the nation of Luitox.

Leon draws upon his experiences of adopting personas and disguises to infiltrate the various institutions of everyday life, which he chronicles in this work that is a funny, satirical, and ultimately poignant take on what it means to be an American today.

"Alex North's life and work are the focus of this book. The first part deals with his early life growing up in Chester, Pennsylvania, and Philadelphia, his studies at Juilliard in New York and in Russia and Mexico, his early experiences in modern dance, documentaries, and theater, and his major work in film.".

From the Projects to the Penthouse As the only Jewish family in the Ramona Gardens housing projects, Kenny tells the spellbinding story of being the oldest child of two small-time carnival thieves who make their living as traveling gypsies and then graduate to dealing heroin from their cockroach-infested apartment. It's an inside view of carnival life, of living in a cocaine-selling shooting gallery apartment and of surviving a gang-dominated existence in one of L.A.'s worst neighborhoods. It's also a story of the grit and determination of one small child, a child named Kenny Kahn, who saw education and hard work as the golden path and the only sure way to escape his tortured environment. Mr. Kahn has written his story in plain language in order to make it easily readable not only adults but by young people who feel trapped by their delinquent parents, and to offer hope for escaping to a better life.

Eat. Pray. Knife fight. After being diagnosed with mental illness, Keats wants nothing more than to get away. His first day in Rome he falls in love – and she steals his wallet and passport. See, this isn’t the Rome of La Dolce Vita. This is the Rome of confidence scams, warring gangs of pickpockets living in the catacombs, and Robin Hood philosopher kings. Keats falls in with this off-the-grid society and, for the first time, finds himself a part of something. The eclectic group of Misfits (with a capital M) teach him every scam they know and the group’s leader, an aging punk rocker they call the Carny, seems to be grooming Keats to be his replacement. But running from problems is never a good idea. After a series of knife fights, kidnappings, car chases, and a nude sprint across the city, Keats begins to suspect something is wrong with the Carny, something that could put his new family in serious danger. Protecting them, however, will mean a betrayal of everything he holds dear. Hey, at least he’s on vacation. Funny, romantic, and action-packed, Life on the 64 Bus is a story about how family isn’t always connected by blood, no matter how much of it gets spilled.