I love research. I frequently pause in mid-sentence to google-check whatever I'm about to write. I spend hours wandering the labyrinth of search results, and I maintain a library of printed research materials. Joy.
To me, the weirdness comes with the mix of topics. I sure hope it will all support a seamless and believable whole in the final story, but my research topics lists do sort of raise the question of what the hell I'm doing.
For my WIP alone, I've researched (extensive study and quick checks combined):
Slavic folklore
New England vampire history
Fashions and daily life in New England in the 1840s, Vermont and Massachusetts
Images of 1840s Massachusetts towns and waterfront districts
Luxury car rentals
Vermont hotels
Rural police forces in Vermont - inter-departmental cooperation, hiring/staffing, emergency response procedures
What happens when a person gets arrested in a small town in Vermont
Maps of regions around Amherst and Cape Cod, MA
Maps/plans of selected towns in Vermont (setting models)
Cults, books, and monsters from HP Lovecraft's works
Common 19th century New England given names and surnames, by county
Modern New England demographics, by surnames
Symptoms of TB as reported in 19th century outbreaks
Plant poisons that cause similar symptoms, especially bleeding
Styles of occultism
19th century rag dolls
Utilitarian tunnel systems under Vermont towns, history of
How hydroelectric power plants work
19th century letter writing styles
Mediumship and ghost phenomena
Acquiring historic documents via an estate sale
Academic rivalries
Child Protective Services and foster care systems, NY and VT
NYPD Academy training
Modern police equipment and uniforms (I so need the pink for breast cancer awareness pepper spray/cuffs/baton set)
Next up:
Plant poisons that could have been used to keep a person docile and disoriented in the 1840s
What happens when a person falls off a bridge into a river
How to rob graves discreetly in a modern cemetery