First Book on Rockford, Illinois Cemeteries Released

First Book on Rockford, Illinois Cemeteries Released
Greenwood cemetery

ROCKFORD, Ill: The first book in a new series on Rockford, Illinois cemeteries was released on April 9th. It focuses on  two of Rockford's oldest remaining cemeteries, Greenwood and Cedar Bluff. The book is by Gary Hill with contributions from Ernie Fuhr. It is a photo-heavy book, with extensive galleries of each cemetery. Those galleries are rounded out by historical information on the two cemeteries along with some bios of some of the notable burials. The whole thing is finished with an article by Ernie Fuhr titled "The Ghouls of Greenwood."

This is just the first book in a new series focusing on Rockford cemeteries. Originally scheduled for March, lingering snow in the area slowed the process because it created a snag with getting the photographs taken. Poplar Grove based Tales of Wonder and Dread Publishing will be releasing the book series titled "Rockford's Final Resting Places." The series will focus on cemeteries in Rockford. Each book will feature a limited number of cemeteries. In addition to large photo galleries of each place, there will be historical information, notable facts, information about famous people buried there and more when available. The second book will follow two weeks later (April 23rd - which is World Book Day) and feature Guilford Turner and Guilford Union Cemeteries.

Founded in 2018, Poplar Grove based Tales of Wonder and Dread Publishing has released seven books to date:. "Life Blood: A Collection of Vampire Tales," "Spooky Rockford: Creepy Tales in the Greater Forest City Area" and "Strange Realities: Collected Short Stories and More by Gary Hill - Expanded and Revised Edition" were all released on September 4th. "Spirited Classics: A Collection of Timeless Ghost Stories" was published one month later. "Original Superheroes: Classic Tales of Superhuman Beings" was published on November 6th.  "Interstellar Journeys: A Collection of Space Travel Stories"  and "Temporal Journeys: A Collection of Time Travel Stories"  were both released on February 5th.

"Life Blood: A Collection of Vampire Tales" features modern vampire related contributions from Heath D. Alberts, Erynn Crittenden, Gary Hill, Dustin Urness and Dessie R. Voigt along with historical tales in the rich tradition of vampiric fiction, including some poetry. "Spooky Rockford: Creepy Tales in the Greater Forest City Area" includes non-fiction, fictionalized non-fiction and fiction stories with contributions from Heath D. Alberts, Ernie Fuhr, Diane Hill, Gary Hill and Kathi Kresol along with two photo galleries.  "Strange Realities: Collected Short Stories and More by Gary Hill - Expanded and Revised Edition" is a reissue with five newer fiction tales (along with two non-fiction and some blog posts) not included in the  original collection of short stories.

"Spirited Classics: A Collection of Timeless Ghost Stories" is a collection of classic ghost stories from Algernon Blackwood, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Rudyard Kipling, Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson and H.G. Wells. "Original Superheroes: Classic Tales of Superhuman Beings," is a collection of mythology tales with some illustrations under the assumption that mythological tales were the original superheroes. "Interstellar Journeys: A Collection of Space Travel Stories" features stories from Heath D. Alberts, Eric Danhoff, Gary Hill, Ian Christopher LeBlanc, John Michael Oró and Katrina Cooper-Hinton along with a classic tale from Edgar Allan Poe.  "Temporal Journeys: A Collection of Time Travel Stories" includes new tales from Heath D. Albert, Abby Goldsmith and Gary Hill along with several classic tales.

All of the books will be available in paperback and hardcover edition.