They are the creators of the Weird series, the big bang of American weirdosity. Beginning over a decade ago with a home grown magazine titled, Weird NJ, Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman have been on a quest to track down and document anything and everything weird about America.

Presenting offbeat America in such an extensive manner was no easy task. For these gurus of weirdology, it meant traveling the highways and back roads of every state to root out weird subjects and then bringing together the nation's best writers and researchers of strangeness.

Following the success of their first hardback, Weird NJ, Your Travel Guide to New Jersey's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets, released in 2003, the Marks knew they were onto something great. America was hungry for weird stuff, not just unexplained phenomena, but everything offbeat from roadside oddities to elusive man-beasts. It was time to spread out beyond the Garden State. In October 2004, Weird US [ Barnes & Noble] was released and became an instant hit with readers across the country. The

best seller contained hidden secrets, local legends, and roadside oddities not found in conventional publications. Although it was a one of a kind book, there was only so much space and the Marks knew there was a lot more craziness to be discovered.

Letters and emails flowed in from readers wanting more. Some fans wanted to tell their stories about weird things. The Marks responded with a massive undertaking that resulted in a series of books covering every weird nook and cranny of the nation. From the Jersey Devil to Florida's Coral Castle to California's bizarre Winchester House to Wisconsin's man-beasts, the Marks have presented it all. In 2005, the Marks then carried America's weirdness to the airwaves of the History Channel in the popular Weird US show.

Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman have taken us down roads less traveled to offbeat places and people that are as much a part of our mixed-up American culture as apple pie and moonshine. Now that the Weird US series has exposed millions of readers to America's twisted tales, abandoned insane asylums and other crazy places, it is indeed an honor for the Grand Order of Weird Writers to proclaim Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman, Doctors Emeriti of Weirdosity.

Visit Weird US at http://www.weirdus.com/stories/_stories.asp