Since announcing the upcoming release of a new edition on Friday, the Facebook page for the book Tales of Coles County, Illinois has gone viral, garnering over 900 new likes in five days. That is an average of 180 new likes per day. The first in a series of antique ‘postcards’ promoting the book, uploaded on Monday, has been shared 175 times and viewed by nearly 9,000 people.
First released in 2004, Tales of Coles County, Illinois follows the journey of four students from Eastern Illinois University who are stranded in an old cabin during a storm. The elderly couple who live there tell the students four stories, each related to Coles County history: a battle with Indians near Blakeman’s Mill, the Charleston Riot, the Coles County Poor Farm, and the body found at Airtight Bridge. After one night, these students will never look at Coles County the same way.
The 10th Anniversary Edition of Tales of Coles County will also feature a section on the legends and lore of Coles County. With everything from haunted houses, to the Mad Gasser of Mattoon, ghost towns, and buried treasure, this book will leave no stone unturned. The new edition will include four new places not appearing in any previous edition, as well as nearly a dozen photos.
M.A. Kleen 