A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Heaven: (Or, How I Made Peace with the Paranormal and Stigmatized Zealots and Cynics in the Process)

Corey Taylor is a very good writer. I love his writing style. It's fun to read. His experiences with the paranormal are very interesting and scary. So, this book is very good.

This, like his last book, is written in a stream of consciousness writing style. It can be difficult to read if you are not into that kind of rambling writing style. I like that kind of writing style so I could easily over look that little issue.I'll also admit I did skim through a couple sections. I was in this for the ghost stories and stories about hauntings. I could see the issues with trying to balance the ghost thing with the atheism thing which for a little bit was interesting. I always tend to call these books the atheist testimony. But really I'm here for the ghosts. Not the science from wikipedia. Not the testimony. I'm here for the spooky stories.So once I skimmed through the other stuff that I wasn't as interested in I was interested in the rest of the book. I kind of enjoyed the ghost stories. I kind of enjoyed the documentation of a period of life where there was some upheaval and change. There were some interesting interpersonal tidbits in here.Also there was another part of me that was hoping Iowa in general would be discussed. Having spent a lot of time in Des Moines most all that stuff made me laugh. Especially about that original house he bought. That neighborhood was a wet dream even when I was messing around there. So that (more than the ghost) cracked me up more than anything.

Corey Taylor's book was one I really enjoyed reading the one story that gave me the chills was with his son and the shadow man. This book did make me laugh I liked his sense of humor about life.

Before reading this review, you should know that I have never heard Slipkknot's music or any of Corey's other musical projects. My guitar-oriented metal musical interests started around 1980 and didn't survive past the early 1990s. I am also a fellow atheist, non-believer, free-thinker, or whatever name you wish to apply. It's actually not so much that I don't believe in a god (which I don't) but that I don't believe in prophecy and believe that, if anything, nature is god (unthinking in its actions). I found out about this book watching That Metal Show (good show but they should dump Eddie). Now on to this book. Corey has his moments where the writing is really good and the story is interesting enough to keep you turning the page. But all too often he goes off on these rants and loses focus. It's cute the first couple of times, then it just gets in the way. He states that some may find it hypocritical of him to believe in ghosts yet not believe in god. Actually, I'm in the same boat. I have had some strange experiences myself that I can't explain (I will detail these below for those who wish to read them). To my way of thinking, ideas are mutually exclusive. There can be a god and no afterlife. There can be an afterlife and no god. There can be no god and still be ghostly spirits. Who can say? But the idea that there is a personal god who wants you to pray to it and who created the universe and who wants you to cut the skin off the end of your pecker, well that's just silly. I could go on, but enough on that. So anyhow, I am okay with Corey's approach. I know where he is coming from. The problem is that his stories are hardly scientific in their approach. For instance, in chapter 4 he, with a few others, spends part of a night in a spooky old and abandoned school. They hear strange noises, perhaps even quickly glimpse a few strange things. But I have to wonder how much is self-fulfilling prophecy. Also, as I learned reading this book, people actually rent out these allegedly haunted houses for people to spend the night. Who's to say that these houses have not been tampered with in any way so that people do indeed hear strange sounds? I don't know, but it's certainly a possibility. Other stories include details that I can't explain away or offer an explanation. Of course, I can only go by what Corey has related and so may not be aware of all the details. On one or two occasions he mentioned having proof of what he is saying, such as a photograph, but then he fails to print the photo in the book. Having read the entire book, my feeling is that Corey had enough material for half a book; the other half felt like padding. One line that stuck in my head (in a positive way) was: "All plans are made to fail if you never allow room for the unexpected." (p. 211 if you're looking.) I know first hand how hard it is to write a book so I know that Corey worked really hard on this one. And Corey, when it comes to Ouiji boards, you got that one wrong. I can't explain it, as you can't explain your stories, but I was there, and it was real. Neither I nor my girlfriend moved the stylus. Even if we had, what are the odds that what we made up would have turned out to be a real address and within a few miles of us? Plus, like I explain in story #4 below, there was more than one incident with the board. Corey seems like he would be a cool guy to hang out with and b.s. about this stuff. My review is not meant to be nasty in any way. I never read his first book and think this one could have been better. But the makings of a really good writer are there, just not fully utilized. Lastly, some of his ideas were certainly interesting (I don't know if his various theories would hold up in the scientific community, but I was impressed with some of his ideas). Lastly, Corey and I have the same birthday, but I am born in 1966.Now for my stories (okay, so I am indulging; no one is making you read it):1) When I was a kid, probably between 7-11 years old, one night I couldn't sleep and for some reason sat up in my bed. I didn't have a door to my room back then and we kept a night-light on in the bathroom which was just outside of my room. So with this light I was not in total darkness. Well, again, I sat up and my attention was immediately drawn to the floor. There was the shadow of man walking into my room and carrying out the shadows of various things, such as my globe and TV. I was not afraid but really curious. This kept repeating. Finally I got up and followed the shadow down the hallway all the way to my parents room and woke them to tell what had happened. It was so long ago I don't know just what I said. I must have sounded crazy. They obviously didn't take much stock in what I was saying and told me to go back to bed. But this happened as sure as I am sitting here typing this. It was not a dream. I can't explain it.2) Some years later (maybe 3-5 years) I had another experience with a shadow, only this time it got physical and was quite scary. At this time I had a digital clock (from Radio Shack) on the other side of the room from my bed. One night, about 10:30 pm, I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep. I looked toward my clock and closed my eyes. I was drifting off. Suddenly there was something on me. I felt it and it was real. I opened my eyes and there was this entirely black figure on top of me holding me down. No face, just all black. I couldn't talk, I couldn't scream, I couldn't move. It was also blocking the clock, but I could see the light from the clock around the figure. So it was blocking the light. I felt it holding down my arms, up near my shoulders. On top of me. I tried to move and was frozen. This went on for a few minutes. As I recall, I tried to calm myself down and finally the shadow disappeared and instantly I could see the time on the clock. It was now in full view. From being blocked to being in my sight immediately. The shadow was gone and I could move and breathe easy again. It was about 4-5 minutes past the time when I last looked at it. Some people will call this sleep paralysis. Maybe. Maybe not. But if it was, how come I couldn't see the clock? My eyes were open. It was so real. Really, really scary at the time.3) My family used to go to the country in upstate NY from our home in the city every summer. On the same country street with us was another family also from the city. They had a boy perhaps 2 years younger than me. We used to have such a great time every summer hiking in the woods, building a clubhouse, etc. Anyhow, one night (we were both in our teens at the time) I was hanging out in his house. We were sitting in his room with the door open. If you stood in his doorway and looked out, directly ahead would be the living room. To the left was the front door and to the right, just outside of his room, was the bathroom. So we were sitting there in his room and heard someone come in. We heard the screen door open and close. We naturally looked toward the doorway of his room to see who it was. A man, no, a strange ghostly man, walked right by his door and into the bathroom. We had never seen this man before. We both saw him! We looked at each other in disbelief. "Hey, who was that?" We had no idea. We got up and looked out. No one was there. The house was empty. Real creepy. And again, we each confirmed the incident. Not later, but right there when it happened. A bona fide ghost if you ask me.4) This last story that happened to me was also posted under the Ouija board reviews on Amazon. I am going to copy and paste the story from there:First off, a Ouija board is not a toy! I have not really used one seriously since around 1989. I can tell you that several absolutely unexplainable things happened of which I will not go into too much detail in this particular forum. While all of the things that happened were freaky, one in particular involved driving to a location that the board spelled out for myself and my girlfriend (at the time). We didn't know if the address actually existed but thought we'd go there since it wasn't too far away if it really did exist (this was before the days of the Internet when I could have looked it up on Yahoo or Mapquest). When we got there, we could not believe that the address was real, but neither of us was willing to get out of the car and knock on the door (looking back, I almost wish we had). When we got back to her place, the first thing the board spelled out was, "I saw you outside my window." This is not a joke. This happened and it is one of several incidents. My girlfriend got scared and didn't want to play anymore and I've not really touched the board since. I can't explain the things that happened. I only know that several unexplainable things occurred and that I am telling the truth. The unknown is fun and exciting, but it can also be scary and dangerous! Play at your own risk!So there you have it. These stories are true (or true to me, if you wish).Update August 15: Due to Andrew D. and his ilk, I felt compelled to change my review from 3 stars to 2. Ignorant brown-nosed fans, so funny and sad.

I'm reading this for the second time. Even gave one to my niece as a Christmas '19 gift. I think she was finished before New Years. Her and I agree this book is written as though he was talking it in person. He doesn't care if you dislike his cursing – it's just himself, uncut. He actually made me laugh so many times, basically because of how he kicks establishment in the ass, but does it in such an unsophisticated, sometimes arrogant, but always honest intelligence that upends his pompous blow hard, stage angst. I literally applauded his insight and experiences as it's so consistent to my own awareness, but man does he put it into words I've been unable to exploit. Highly recommend this book.

I ordered this book off of Amazon and within two days of receiving it, I had finished it. Corey Taylor's latest dive into the world of writing is a fun, quick and very interesting read. Warning: If you don't like Corey Taylor, ghosts, or long rants about completely useless yet interesting information, then this is not the book for you. Taylor talks about not only some of his past run-ins with the paranormal, but also his theory behind the science of the paranormal. While some chapters can seem to drag on with his scientific 'mumbo-jumbo', others are scintillating with his ghost stories. He also writes with a style that can seem to many that he is condescending and doesn't really care what the reader thinks, however it seems, to me at least, that this is just the way Taylor tells his story, as if he was talking to any other individual. It may not be a 'professional' way of writing, but it very easily makes it feel like he is talking right to the reader.

Loved this book! I think Corey is awesome at speaking his mind and telling the truth for exactly how it is. I'm also interested in the paranormal and I never knew Corey was also as interested by it. I don't think he has ever lived in a house which was not haunted! As he suggests, perhaps spirits are attracted to his own energy and either follow him around or make their presence known wherever he goes! He has some wonderful experiences throughout his life of spirit and paranormal activity, right from his childhood days, through to recording with Slipknot, and even in his current home. He makes his experiences fun and exciting with the language that only Corey knows! He does go into alot of scientific theory about the existence of spirits, and tries to come up with new hypothesis about how life and death can exist. I'm sure there are some people that don't really want to hear about theories on fringe science, but actually I enjoyed reading his theories and actually agree with everything he said, as I've had my own experiences and come up with the same kind of ideas. Good work Corey!

Well, where do I start?This is my first of Corey's books, and it definitely won't be my last. He has an amazing story to tell and I can't wait to hear more.His raw narrative and his edge isn't Definitely all here for anyone to see. Given what the book dives into you feel like you're talking to a friend who's seeking comfort in you and trusting you with their secrets. Nothing here is rigid or faked it's all heart on the sleeve, profanity filled real!

I am a huge Corey Taylor fan (Slipknot is one of my all-time favourite bands) but I don't think Corey Taylor is a particularly good writer.This book had an interesting debate on the nature of ghosts and some interesting, creepy anecdotes (including some good ones that happened during the recording of Subliminal Verses) but I found it pretty dull overall. I don't really believe in ghosts so I suppose I was never going to be swayed by his arguments that they exist.It's worth reading if you are interested in ghosts, Corey Taylor/Slipknot but I think the clunky writing and meandering passages might put you off.

Not as good as his previous book 'The Seven Deadly Sins: Settling the Argument between Born Bad and Damaged Good' but still thoroughly entertaining. With his trademark in your face unforgiving humour he takes us on a journey of supernatural experiences he, his friends and other people through history have recounted. Sometimes I am left wary with an inherent scepticism due to his intelligently placed sarcasm here and there in this and his previous book but sowing a seed of doubt on both fronts of the equation is how makes your brain work. Great book

Big Corey Taylor fan. He's a great story teller. Read his first book before purchasing this one and I enjoyed it. I found this one a bit boring. Especially when he's analyzing all his theories like it's a science. I found myself skipping through 1/3 of the book. The only thing I enjoyed was when he's describing certain paranormal experiences he has had. It took me months to finish the book as I wasn't into it and couldn't bother reading it.