This rather odd story was based on real postcards showing ‘peculiar’ people. These were popular early in the last century. The author, Ransom Riggs, decided to do some research when he was going to write this story. His travels in Europe are documented in this video. This is his personal book trailer.
You can find this book, the graphic novel version, and Hollow City: The Second Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children in the library.