Burbank is known as a haven from the craziness of nearby Hollywood, but the city has a dark underbelly.

Nellie May Madison shot her husband to death at their home in 1934 and became the first woman to be condemned to death in California. The brutal 1953 murder of Mable Monohan inspired an Oscar-winning movie, but that didn’t save Barbara Graham and her killer collaborators from the gallows. In the decades that followed, infamous and violent offenders such as the “Dating Game Killer,” the “Toolbox Killers,” and “Night Stalker” Richard Ramirez hunted for victims in the area, while slayings of detectives, private eyes, bookies, and secret gamblers piled up in the cold case files of the police department.

Award-winning author and journalist James T. Bartlett explores the sinister side of Burbank history.

Reflections, Musings, and Withdrawals

In hunting, “buck fever” strikes when excitement for a big deer makes it hard to shoot straight. For upland hunters, that same surge of adrenaline comes with the thunderous flush of a grouse. But “grouse fever” is more than a fleeting rush—it’s a lasting fixation on all things grouse: the birds, the dogs, the coverts, the literature, and the camaraderie of trusted hunting companions. Author Andrew Marshall Wayment calls Idaho home, where he has spent twenty-five years pursuing five species of grouse: ruffed, dusky, sage, sharp-tailed, and Franklin’s.

Through recollections, essays, and artwork, Andy explores this enduring affliction and affirms his long-held adage: “I never met a grouse I didn’t like.”

Savor the unexpected and altogether delectable history of Chinese food in the Queen City

While a smattering of chop suey houses were sprinkled around Cincinnati around the turn of the twentieth century, Wong Yie was the first to present the cuisine to non-Chinese Cincinnatians as a new, exotic, and upscale dining experience with his Gold Dragon in 1911. Despite challenges from the Chinese Exclusion Act, which exacerbated the already massive difficulties faced by Chinese immigrants, Yie’s restaurant spawned more than eighty Chinese restaurants in the city, famed spots such as the Canton, the Wah Mee, and the Fortune Kookie. Proprietors like Mike Wong of Oriental Wok and Johnny Chu of KungFood Chu’s AmerAsia keep our local Chinese food culture alive and evolving. 

Author and food etymologist Dann Woellert delves into the fascinating and mouthwatering history of Chinese food in Cincinnati.

The dark side of the Palmetto State.

With a rich history dating back to 1788 and beyond—including pirates, war, secession, death, debauchery, and disease—South Carolina is home to many legends. Read about the ghost of a small child that wanders a historic home in York. Witness the strange occurrences that have happened for years at the Newberry Opera House. Learn about the site of a massacre in Long Canes that still holds the remnants of its victims. See a train depot in Belton that’s called the most haunted place in the state. Author John G. Clark Jr. walks readers down a tightrope between the world as it exists today and the dark past and side of South Carolina.

Celebrate fifty defining moments in Pennsylvania sports history.

Few states in the nation can boast as vibrant and fascinating a sports heritage as Pennsylvania. With the Immaculate Reception, Franco Harris transformed a struggling Steelers franchise into a legendary one. On the other side of the state, the Philadelphia Flyers once struck a symbolic blow during the Cold War by overwhelming CSKA Moscow. The origins of pro football possibly lie in Greensburg, and an NFL title was “stolen” in Pottsville. The greatest college football team no one’s ever heard of hails from Carlisle, and college football’s oldest rivalry still rages between Lafayette and Lehigh. The most dominant performance ever in professional basketball took place in Hershey, where the great Wilt Chamberlain poured in one hundred points in a single game.

Historians David Finoli and Tom Rooney bring these stories—and many more—to life in this thrilling ride through all things sports in the Keystone State.

Two centuries of Oregon’s homegrown music history are explored and documented in this new retrospective. 

Rare photographs evoke bygone days, digging deep into the area’s rich folk and country roots; old-timey 1890s brass bands; Roaring Twenties dance orchestras; 1950s jazzniks, rockabilly cats, and doo-wop groups; 1960s “Louie Louie”– fueled garage rockers and psychedelic hippie bands; 1970s blues dudes and punk pioneers; 1980s New Wave artistes, metalheads, hip-hop heroes, and pop stars; and Oregon’s quirky post-grunge, alt-rock, and Americana movements. 

Discover how a scrappy backwoods region built a fiercely independent music scene that has produced scores of beloved musicians along with gold and platinum record award-winning stars.

Readers who enjoy the peacefulness of cemeteries and those who are interested in the history of California alike will enjoy this insightfully crafted guide to the cemeteries of Sacramento County. 

Beneath the oak canopies and sun-drenched fields of Sacramento County lie silent witnesses to more than a century of local history. Sacramento County Cemeteries takes readers on a visual journey through the region’s burial grounds, from early family plots to expansive memorial parks, capturing the evolving story of the community through the places where its people rest. Guided by compelling imagery and thoughtful context, this book explores the cultural legacy of Sacramento through its cemeteries. Each site reveals a piece of the past—stories of native peoples, performers, civic leaders, immigrants, and even a few beloved animal companions—preserved in stone and landscape. More than a pictorial archive, this book is a tribute to the lives, memories, and past that continue to shape the region.

Colette Kavanaugh is a resident and business owner in Arden-Arcade, Sacramento. She is a member of the Old City Cemetery Committee and performs annually in the Lantern Tours at the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery. She has also published a book celebrating the Arden-Arcade community. Photographs in this book come from the Sacramento Room at the Sacramento Public Library, the Center for Sacramento History, the California State Library, and local historical societies.