The Fire Curse and Other True Medical Mysteries

by David Lee Drotar

Fans of Ripley's Believe It or Not will be attracted to this intriguing title about the sensational and the bizarre. -- SLJ.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802783260
• ISBN13: 9780802783264
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Walker & Company
• Length: 102 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.8" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 12 to 16 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 11

Customer Reviews

A fascinating exploration of unique medical mysteries

Imagine finding the legs of a woman, still in nylons and shoes, but with the torso totally gone -- burned to a small pile of ashes. What could possibly have caused this? It is totally illogical and defies rational explanation, yet it happened. This phenomenon, known as the fire curse or spontaneous human combustion, is just one of a number of absolutely fascinating but true medical mysteries explored by David Drotar in The "Fire Curse and Other True Medical Mysteries." According to the author, there are over 200 documented cases of this strange medical phenomenon (a number of black and white photos are included). So how does part of a human body turn into ash and leave another part not even singed? Drotar doesn't come up with any conclusive evidence, but he does present well-researched theories in this and the other cases he describes. Among the other unsolved mysteries he carefully explores are how people can walk on fire, why 140 Asian men have mysteriously died in their sleep since 1977, and why some dogs can predict epileptic seizures before they occur. This is one of those special books that are great for sharing between parents and middle school or high school aged kids -- attention getting and almost quaranteed to get some good, thought-provoking dialogue going. Definitely recommended.