Thirty-four eclectic and spine chilling stories from the world of true crime. Serial killers, cannibals, necrophiles, celebrities with the darkest secrets, medical killers, mysterious killers who were never captured, movie production deaths, poisoners, spree killers, supernatural Victorian monsters, and many more darkly fascinating chapters in the annuals of crime. All this and more awaits in Chilling True Crime Stories - Volume 4.
Night falls and the rivers of blood flow forth once more. For what are murderers if not creatures of the dark? Hiding in plain sight as the average neighbor, co-worker or even employer, just waiting for the moment to unleash their murderous urges. Whether they are sadistic in their methods or not does not change the common trait that they all share: the presence of evil. These crimes shock us to the core, leading us to wonder just what is going on in their minds that leads them to take lives without any feeling of remorse...yet deep down we're actually intrigued by their crimes. Fascinated, even. In truth, these killers bring forth a dark curiosity that keeps us reading chapter after chapter, book after book, and once we're done we begin to reflect on how interesting the psychology behind these characters can be. It is precisely because of this wondrous fascination that we have compiled a fresh set of three True Crime Stories books, following the success of our first collection, this time with the bestselling volumes 4-6. 36 tales of bloodshed and terror, police investigation and the background of each and every killer await you, with each subject varying from serial killer to mass murderer, ruthless monster to seemingly harmless member of the community. No two killers are the same and no two murders are committed for the same reason - this much you are about to find out. Reader, you are about to embark on a road of horror, death and cruelty...are you ready to walk the blood-chilling path into the mind of a killer?
It is no secret that true crime murder stories are not for the faint of heart. They can lead you to double-check your windows and doors at night, and question everything you thought or believed about human nature. Yet they are intriguing and fascinating at the same time. What is it that makes us different from those who take the lives of others? That is a question that many ask themselves, and these true crime stories help to identify the method and psychology behind some of the most terrifying killers in modern history. This set includes three true crime books, volumes 1-3, and each is filled with a variety of true crime murder cases, including spree killers and massacres, some of which are yet to be solved. You are taken through the background of the story, the murders, and the criminal investigations that took place. Some pages will be difficult to read, due to the emotion behind them. Yet you will be unable to stop reading, turning page after page. Each true crime anthology in this collection will leave you to ponder whether the perpetrators of these crimes were really monsters. When you learn of the background of these killers, the age-old question of whether a serial killer is born to kill will be at the forefront of your mind. Explore the stories behind the murders in these True Crime volumes, the anger, the horror, and the sadism, inflicted by each killer. Feel for the victims, their families, and the investigators who had to deal with each case. And don't be surprised if you have to sleep with the light on.
NPR, One of the Best Books of the Year A “chilling but fascinating portrait” of a serial killer, and “a must-read for true crime fans” who enjoyed My Dark Places, The Stranger Beside Me, or I’ll Be Gone In the Dark (Buzzfeed) One of Argentina’s most innovative writers brings to life the story of a teenager who murdered 4 taxi drivers in 1982 Buenos Aires—without any apparent motive. Over the course of one ghastly week in September 1982, the bodies of 4 taxi drivers were found in Buenos Aires, each murder carried out with the same cold precision. The assailant: a 19–year–old boy, odd and taciturn, who gave the impression of being completely sane. But the crimes themselves were not: 4 murders, as exact as they were senseless. More than 30 years later, Argentine author Carlos Busqued began visiting Ricardo Melogno, the serial killer, in prison. Their conversations return to the nebulous era of the crimes and a story full of missing pieces. The result is a book at once hypnotic and unnerving, constructed from forensic documents, newspaper clippings, and interviews with Melogno himself. Without imposing judgment, Busqued allows for the killer to describe his way of retreating from the world and to explain his crimes as best he can. In his own words, Melogno recalls a visit from Pope Francis, grim depictions of daily life in prison, and childhood remembrances of an unloving mother who drove her son to Brazil to study witchcraft. As these conversations progress, the focus slowly shifts from the crimes themselves, to Melogno’s mistreatment and misdiagnosis while in prison, to his current fate: incarcerated in perpetuity despite having served his full sentence. Using these personal interviews, alongside forensic documents and newspaper clippings, Busqued crafted Magnetized, a captivating story about one man’s crimes, and a meditation on how one chooses to inhabit the world, or to become absent from it.
A “necessary and brilliant” (NPR) exploration of our cultural fascination with true crime told through four “enthralling” (The New York Times Book Review) narratives of obsession. In Savage Appetites, Rachel Monroe links four criminal roles—Detective, Victim, Defender, and Killer—to four true stories about women driven by obsession. From a frustrated and brilliant heiress crafting crime-scene dollhouses to a young woman who became part of a Manson victim’s family, from a landscape architect in love with a convicted murderer to a Columbine fangirl who planned her own mass shooting, these women are alternately mesmerizing, horrifying, and sympathetic. A revealing study of women’s complicated relationship with true crime and the fear and desire it can inspire, together these stories provide a window into why many women are drawn to crime narratives—even as they also recoil from them. Monroe uses these four cases to trace the history of American crime through the growth of forensic science, the evolving role of victims, the Satanic Panic, the rise of online detectives, and the long shadow of the Columbine shooting. Combining personal narrative, reportage, and a sociological examination of violence and media in the 20th and 21st centuries, Savage Appetites is a “corrective to the genre it interrogates” (The New Statesman), scrupulously exploring empathy, justice, and the persistent appeal of crime.
Edgar Award Finalist: The true story of a serial killer who terrorized a midwestern town in the era of free love—by the coauthor of The French Connection. In 1967, during the time of peace, free love, and hitchhiking, nineteen-year-old Mary Terese Fleszar was last seen alive walking home to her apartment in Ypsilanti, Michigan. One month later, her naked body—stabbed over thirty times and missing both feet and a forearm—was discovered, partially buried, on an abandoned farm. A year later, the body of twenty-year-old Joan Schell was found, similarly violated. Southeastern Michigan was terrorized by something it had never experienced before: a serial killer. Over the next two years, five more bodies were uncovered around Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, Michigan. All the victims were tortured and mutilated. All were female students. After multiple failed investigations, a chance sighting finally led to a suspect. On the surface, John Norman Collins was an all-American boy—a fraternity member studying elementary education at Eastern Michigan University. But Collins wasn’t all that he seemed. His female friends described him as aggressive and short tempered. And in August 1970, Collins, the “Ypsilanti Ripper,” was arrested, found guilty, and sentenced to life in prison without chance of parole. Written by the coauthor of The French Connection, The Michigan Murders delivers a harrowing depiction of the savage murders that tormented a small midwestern town.
A powerful collection of chilling crime with new, modern stories and classic tales reaching back into ancient, medieval, Elizabethan and Victorian fiction: from Oedipus Rex and Thomas More's story of the Princes in the Tower to Scheherazade's 'The Three Apples' and the chilling crime fiction of Dickens, Poe, Henry James, Baroness Orczy, Wilkie Collins and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The new, contemporary and notable writers featured are: Jeremy Bates, Jesse Bethea, Allan Burd, Laura J. Campbell, Ramsey Campbell, D.R. Cartwright, Robert Ford, Tyler Jones, Theresa Konwinski, Alexes Lester, Robert Lopresti, Tom Mead, Marshall J. Moore, Jane Nightshade, Christi Nogle, Michael Penncavage, Zandra Renwick, Dan Stout, and Steve Toase. The Flame Tree Gothic Fantasy, Classic Stories and Epic Tales collections bring together the entire range of myth, folklore and modern short fiction. Highlighting the roots of suspense, supernatural, science fiction and mystery stories, the books in Flame Tree Collections series are beautifully presented, perfect as a gift and offer a lifetime of reading pleasure.
Despite the fact that Juarez is a Mexican border city just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, most Americans are unaware that for more than twelve years this city has been the center of an epidemic of horrific crimes against women and girls, consisting of kidnappings, rape, mutilation, and murder, with most of the victims conforming to a specific profile: young, slender, and poor, fueling the premise that the murders are not random. Indeed, there has been much speculation that the killer or killers are American citizens. While some leading members of the American media have reported on the situation, prompting the U.S. government to send in top criminal profilers from the FBI, little real information about this international atrocity has emerged. According to Amnesty International, as of 2006 more than 400 bodies have been recovered, with hundreds still missing. As for who is behind the murders themselves, the answer remains unknown, although many have argued that the killings have become a sort of blood sport, due to the lawlessness of the city itself. Among the theories being considered are illegal trafficking in human organs, ritualistic satanic sacrifices, copycat killers, and a conspiracy between members of the powerful Juárez drug cartel and some corrupt Mexican officials who have turned a blind eye to the felonies, all the while lining their pockets with money drenched in blood. Despite numerous arrests over the last ten years, the murders continue to occur, with the killers growing bolder, dumping bodies in the city itself rather than on the outskirts of town, as was initially the case, indicating a possible growing and most alarming alliance of silence and cover-up by Mexican politicians. The Daughters of Juárez promises to be the first eye-opening, authoritative nonfiction work of its kind to examine the brutal killings and draw attention to these atrocities on the border. The end result will shock readers and become required reading on the subject for years to come.
"Cleverly blending the real and imagined worlds until the reader can't differentiate the two, Knox has created a twisty, turny thriller that cuts through the heart of the modern true crime fascination, all while keeping us enraptured by it."—BuzzFeed THE #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER! For fans of true crime documentaries and Only Murders in the Building comes the chilling story of a university student's sudden disappearance, the woman who became obsessed with her case, and the crime writer who uncovered the truth about what happened... What happens to all the girls who go missing? In 2011, Zoe Nolan walked out of her dormitory in Manchester and was never seen or heard from again. Her case went cold. Her story was sad, certainly, but hardly sensational, crime writer Joseph Knox thought. He wouldn't have given her any more thought were it not for his friend, Evelyn Mitchell. Another writer struggling to come up with a new idea, Evelyn was wondering just what happens to all the girls who go missing. What happens to the Zoe Nolans of the world? Evelyn began investigating herself, interviewing Zoe's family and friends, and emailing Joseph with chapters of the book she was writing with her findings. Uneasy with the corkscrew twists and turns, Joseph Knox embedded himself in the case, ultimately discovering a truth more tragic and shocking than he could have possibly imagined... Just remember: Everything you read is fiction. Praise for True Crime Story: "Stunningly unique...For fans of stories with a little something extra, this book is set up like an oral history, complete with emails, newspaper clippings and photos that propel the story all the way to a shocking and satisfying conclusion." —Newsweek "Mr. Knox is a fantastic writer. His ambitious fourth novel satirises and celebrates the true-crime genre with glee. True Crime Story, by turns horrific and hilarious, is scandalously entertaining." —The Times (UK) "The gifted Joseph Knox continues his upwards trajectory with True Crime Story forging something original and innovative." —Financial Times (UK) "This is one of the most engaging cold-case novels I have read." —Literary Review (UK)
Thirty-five eclectic and chilling stories from the world of true crime. Serial killers young and old, celebrity deaths, cannibals, necrophiles, mysterious cults, online killers, and other darkly fascinating chapters in the annuals of crime. All this and more awaits in Chilling True Crime Stories - Volume 2.
