Wisconsin Death Trip Revisited

“More poetry is said to come from Wisconsin than from any other state in the Union,” read a clipping from an 1885 issue of the Badger State Banner, erstwhile paper of Black River Falls, Wisconsin. Michael Lesy presented the quote in his 1973 book, Wisconsin Death Trip, a grim and otherworldly montage of text and image that would achieve cult-classic status among scholarly bohemians and discerning goths. Now 50-plus years old, the book retains its strange effect, descending into the madness of a small Midwestern town at the turn of the 20th century with a tone as dark and encompassing as Norwegian black metal.