A carful of teenagers from out of town find themselves stranded in a rural town somewhere south of Dixie just before nightfall. The townspeople welcome them, eager to share their native traditions and rituals, complete with Confederate flags and “yeehaws.” When the teens feel uneasy and try to leave, the town becomes a veritable nightmare.

There are two versions of Florida. One consists of picturesque sunsets, sugar-sanded beaches, theme parks and tranquil suburban retirement promulgated by tourism bureaus and commercial advertisers.

The other is a near-apocalyptic mix of savage wildlife, ruthless grifters, con artists, disastrous weather and more historical trivia per square mile than you can wave a .44 magnum at.

In 1539, Spanish conquistador Hernando De Soto thought he had struck gold. Arriving on the shores of what is now Old Tampa Bay, the explorer found what he thought was the legendary Fountain of Youth, a series of five nearby mineral springs. Though native Tocobaga Indian mounds close by suggest that the spring waters at the north end of Tampa Bay have been inhabited by one group or another for thousands of years, De Soto believed that he was the first to “discover” them. He could not even believe that his adventurous, rambling predecessor, Ponce De Leon, the Fountain Story’s most emphatic believer, did not find it. On his way to further exploring the American Southeast, De Soto named the area Espiritu Santo Springs, or “Springs of the Holy Spirit.”

Few possessions seem to imbibe their previous owner’s personality more than used books. Habits, traits and wear can reveal a wealth of information about readers long after these books change hands.

It should come as no surprise, then, that Old Tampa Book Company — a repository of used and rare books spanning thousands of volumes downtown — should have its own story to tell.