On the early morning of March 6, 1993, an intense fire broke out in a tiny nursery. Sixteen minutes later, firefighters had extinguished the blaze, only to reveal a room burned so severely, everything was virtually unrecognizable. Then, they were told to look for a baby. What they discovered looked more like a monster from a horror film. The small skull had been incinerated, and the legs and arms were nothing more than charred stumps. The only … [Read more...]
TERROR TOWN, USA
During the early morning hours of July 17, 1983, fatigue became a factor for the young couple from central Illinois who spent their day under the hot sun at Marriott’s Great America amusement park north of Chicago. On their drive home, the tired teenagers pulled to the shoulder of Interstate 55 to get a restful sleep. As the teens slept inside their car under the moon and the stars, a dangerous force of evil lurked in the shadows, parking … [Read more...]
Paula May’s True Crime Saga Continues With RAGING ON
From the author of FIRST DEGREE RAGE: The True Story of ‘The Assassin,’ An Obsession, and Murder comes the ongoing and chilling true crime saga of L. C. Underwood, the obsessively jealous police officer from North Carolina. Underwood shocked an entire city with his reign of terror in the lives of his ex-fiancé Kay Weden, a woman he refused to let go, her son Jason whom he despised, and her mother Catherine Miller who got in his way. … [Read more...]
GRILLING DAHMER: The Horrifying Interrogation Of The Notorious Serial Killer
Find out more about author Robyn Maharaj here No detective could have been prepared for what they witnessed that fateful night when they rolled out to the call of a potential murder scene. In the late hours of July 22, 1991, Detective Patrick "Pat" Kennedy of the Milwaukee Police Department was asked to respond to a possible homicide. Little did he know that he would soon be delving into the dark mind of one of America's most notorious serial … [Read more...]
THE ‘PEYTON PLACE’ MURDER: The True Story Behind The Best-Selling Novel
Mallett shines a new light on the inspiration behind the shocking best-selling novel and explores what happens when true crime and literature meet. Grace Metalious, born and raised in Manchester, New Hampshire, came from humble beginnings. A former mill worker, mother of three, and school principal's wife, she would shock the nation in 1956 with the publication of Peyton Place, her first novel about a murder in a small town. Quickly becoming the … [Read more...]
COLD BLOODED: A True Crime Story of a Murderous Teenage Vampire Cult
Investigators and Central Florida residents were horrified when 16-year-old vampire cult leader Rod Ferrell was arrested and charged with bludgeoning a cult member's parents. When they realized the slain couple's 15-year-old daughter was missing, they feared she was a victim, too. Detectives and journalists swarming over three states soon uncovered a web of blood-drinking occult rituals, illicit sex, wildly dysfunctional families and spiritual … [Read more...]
COLD BLOODED Author Frank Stanfield: Why Are Vampires So Popular?
Why are vampires so popular in pop culture? I mean, sure, Count Dracula wore nice clothes -- black tie for dinner and all -- and he lived in a castle, but he was so creepy. Bela Lugosi launched a career scaring the heck out of moviegoers in 1931’s Dracula. I watched it as a kid on late night “Creature Feature” TV shows in the1960s. Deep psychological messages escaped me at the time. Perhaps I was too busy bonking my little brother over … [Read more...]
Should a Serial Killer Be Set Free?
I knew the stakes when I wrote KILLING WOMEN: The True Story of Serial Killer Don Miller's Reign of Terror. I also know that absent a change in the law, serial killer Don Miller is going to be released from prison in 2031. How could that be? A convicted serial killer, now having been in prison for forty-plus years, released to an unsuspecting public? It's important to understand that Michigan serial killer Don Miller is not in prison for murder. … [Read more...]
Speculation, Avoid it Like The Plague
I’ve been writing books for 26 years. I’m a nonfiction writer and my world has always been one of finding the truth where possible, and that drive for accuracy has been with me the whole time. Getting to the truth should be the cardinal rule for all writers. But whenever the truth we’re seeking has not, or cannot be obtained, speculation will raise its head to take its place. And it is here where the nonfiction writer must be very … [Read more...]
The Allure of Human Monsters
Have you ever considered why people read true crime? I am not surprised if you haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about it, but if you enjoyed the tales of monsters as a child (Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolfman, etc), there's likely a connection. We all share a common bond on some level as to why we do it. I discovered my “why” when I was just a ten-year-old kid, when I read my first true crime book. Here I found stories of murder, all kinds … [Read more...]
