J. W. Ocker is the Edgar Award-winning author of Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe. He runs the website OTIS: Odd Things I've Seen, where he chronicles his visits to various oddities of culture, art, nature, and history. His first two books, The New England Grimpendium and The New York Grimpendium are personal travelogues of his visits to deathly sites in those regions. Both books won Lowell Thomas Awards from the Society of American Travel Writers. His work has appeared in Rue Morgue Magazine, The Boston Globe, CNN, The Atlantic, and other places. He's from Maryland, but has lived in New Hampshire since 2008.