A beautiful skyline, majestic Mt. Hood, a scenic coast, and a laid back vibe . . . Oregon is a place that delights residents and visitors alike. But you may not realize that the Beaver State has a weird history that began long ago with the world’s oldest running shoes, found in a desert cave that had once been an inland ocean.

Authors Al Eufrasio and Jeff Davis are avid documenters of Pacific Northwest weirdness, traversing Oregon to uncover odd tales of far-out beasts, spooky haunts, eerie cemeteries, peculiar folks, and much more. Now they want to share some of what they’ve discovered with you on a most unusual tour of this quirky corner of the United States.

If the video game Polybius actually existed, you probably wouldn’t have wanted to earn bonus points playing it. Speculation abounded that Polybius was really a sinister mind-control device secretly tested in a few arcades in the early 1980s. Don’t blink while visiting Mill Ends Park, or you might miss this fabled place. It’s a two-foot dirt patch in the middle of a crosswalk, officially confirmed to be the world’s smallest park by the Guinness Book of World Records.

Then there are other sites like the Bull Run Reservoir, which may or may not be hiding an underwater town beneath its surface. Where does one find ghosts? Check out Old Town Pizza, once a hotel that was home to those in the “world’s oldest profession.” Stories persist that the spirit of one of the working girls who lived there remains behind, sensed on occasion by Old Town Pizza employees and customers: a cold spot, a sudden twinge of unease, a shadow seen indirectly.

Weird Oregon is packed with all the great stuff your history teacher wouldn’t teach you. So join Al and Jeff as they continue their oddyssey into the colorful history and unique legends of the Pacific Northwest region.