Almost anyone who reads Neil Gaiman’s 2001 novel American Gods dreams of hitting the road following the route Shadow takes through the Midwest.

Last week marked the ten-year anniversary of the book’s first publication. Here are six essential locations to seek out so you can live Shadow’s journey.

I have obscured the location of several of the places in this book: the town of Lakeside, for example, and the farm with the ash tree an hour south of Blacksburg. You may look for them if you wish. You might even find them.”  —Neil Gaiman American Gods 

1. House on the Rock, Spring Green, WI. The first major stop in American Gods—the stop that solidified to the reader that Shadow is caught between two worlds—is House on the Rock, outside of Spring Green. This dizzying roadside attraction makes it easy to believe there are multiple realities layered atop one another, with dioramas, music machines, and architecture jumbled and smashed together. Continue reading “American Gods Roadtrip”