Coming Soon

Distinctive demises and bizarre burials of the Southern states.



Inspired by actual newspaper articles, these disturbing and bizarre accounts explore the macabre, and sometimes humorous, instances of death and dying.

The tragedy of death and burial is eclipsed by graveyard gossip and unbelievable stories of mishaps. Some demises were distinctive in their ridiculousness, some in their atrocity, and some in their stupidity. Egregious murders and suicides highlight the barbaric nature of humanity—husbands killing wives, children killing children, and people killing themselves—and yet the horror of these crimes equally matches the absurdity of the acts. 

From failed hangings to lynch mobs, ghostly inhabitants to vampire cults, this collection of stories revels in these incredible historical accounts. It is indeed a ghastly grab bag of tales, both ludicrous and laughable. 

Keven McQueen teaches composition and world literature at Eastern Kentucky University, where he earned an MA in English after receiving his BA from Berea College. McQueen has written more than twelve books, spanning such genres as true crime and mystery. He has appeared on Darkness Radio, 30 Odd Minutes, Crime City Central, and The Fringe Radio Show to discuss his true-crime stories and to quench listeners’ morbid curiosities. McQueen is also the author of The Axman Came from Hell and Other Southern True Crime Stories, published by Pelican. 

A Century of Murder Upstate

Nestled in the heart of upstate New York, Steuben County’s rural scenery belies a sinister past.

Since the hanging of Robert Douglass in 1825, the county has been the center of a series of murders that resulted in controversial outcomes. Seaman Simons, part of an alleged love triangle, cheated his death sentence after killing his rival. “The Wayland Murderess” Mary Hess inexplicably shot her neighbor and brother within minutes of each other. David Dunn became the only person from the county to die in Auburn Prison’s electric chair, and Hugh Bray’s delusions about a young man breaking up his landlord’s home climaxed in a fatal scene.

R. Marcin, author of Murder and Mayhem in the Finger Lakes, presents a century of this picturesque county’s darkest history.

More than a century later, a grisly Ohio cold case murder gets new life.

The night before Easter 1905, Miranda Bricker left her sister’s house and made her way through the darkness. Her destination was her living quarters and place of employment, the Maplehurst mansion, the home of Mount Vernon, Ohio’s leading industrialist. Within sight of her destination, an attacker emerged from the darkness, rushing her from behind. Their battle cut across the Maplehurst lawn, ending in Bricker’s death before witnesses could be sure what was happening. The killer melted away into the night. The hasty investigation that followed almost resulted in an innocent Black man’s lynching before the case went cold and was forgotten.

Mark Sebastian Jordan has uncovered the roots and ripples of a story that crosses the continent and points out the possibility of a suspect 120 years later.

The state of Michigan is home to Great Lakes and greater mysteries.

What made Paige Renkoski abandon her running car on the side of the freeway in broad daylight? Who murdered Eddie Hollman while he slept at his parents’ home? Greg McRoberts died in a hit-and-run accident. Will a mysterious letter writer with knowledge of the crime ever come forward? Ten-year-old Valerie Bishop was murdered after visiting the corner store. Could untested evidence reveal the identity of her killer? Why did Connie Royce walk away from a busy nightclub never to be seen again?

Nina Innsted, host of the Already Gone podcast, leads a journey through the missing, the mysterious, and the unsolved in a quest for answers and justice.

Bucolic hamlets or festering cesspools? The fledgling towns of Jay County were touted by early newspapers as both.

As populations thrived, so did crime and disorder. Tempers flared. Romance bloomed and faded. Political and social lines were drawn and crossed. Sensational accounts of robbery, assault, and murder grabbed the headlines. Criminals were hunted by an overworked and undertrained police force. When, and if, they were caught, alleged offenders were tried not only by the judicial system but also by the press and public opinion.

Looking beyond the headlines at the impact of crime on a small community, local author Chris Kennedy Nixon examines criminals and their victims and provides a snapshot in time of social ideals about gender, politics, wealth, and poverty.