Library to host 'Bizarre Bluegrass' author

Aug. 6—The Daviess County Public Library will host Kentucky author Keven McQueen for an event around his 2020 book "Bizarre Bluegrass: Strange But True Kentucky Tales" at 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6.

Known for books such as "Kentucky Book of the Dead," "Gothic and Strange: True Tales of the South" and "Murder in Old Kentucky: True Crime Stories from the Bluegrass," McQueen is looking forward to coming back to the library and Owensboro for his third visit.

For "Bizarre Bluegrass," McQueen said it came from his own independent investigations.

"What it really comes from was just from years and years of research going through old newspapers," he said. "And I would find going through the old newspapers, for example — stories about Abraham Lincoln that I'd never seen anywhere else. So I thought, 'Well. I can collect these.' "

McQueen said one chapter is dedicated to not-known stories about Lincoln, while other parts of the book dive into topics like ghost towns in the commonwealth.

His material has covered topics such as biography, folklore, history, historical true crime, natural disasters and ghostlore.

And when it comes to the content that is found in his works, McQueen said there wasn't any key influence or inspiration to follow on this path of writing.

"These are just strange topics that I've always been interested in and was very glad when I could do research and find new information; things that are not generally known about (the) topic," he said.

He said he read a lot of "so-called true ghost stories" when he was a kid, and that may have "planted the seed."

While McQueen enjoyed writing in his youth, he is surprised at the type of content he's pursued professionally.

"Strangely enough, when I was a child I liked writing, but I liked writing fiction (and) just making up stories," he said. "...The older I got, I lost that ability, and I found I couldn't really do it .... I was more interested in history and nonfiction, and that kind of took over."

McQueen said the library event will be a general discussion about how he finds stories, along with focused discussions on "Bizarre Bluegrass" and his next project.

Copies of his book, which he will sign, will be for sale.

There will also be a question-and-answer session towards the end of the event to make sure the crowd "walks away satisfied."

For more information about the event, visit facebook.com/events/558269082459186.

For more information on McQueen, visit kevenmcqueenstories.com.