Wicked Decatur

Wicked Decatur
Author: Troy Taylor
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 136
Release: 2011-04-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 1625841167

In 1854, Decatur was nicknamed "Hell's Half Acre."? By the 1910s and 1920s, the town was referred to as the "Second Most Corrupt City in Illinois, "? gaining notoriety as a place where murder, bootlegging, prostitution, kidnapping, gambling and political corruption were common. Members of the Decatur police force, like Troy Taylor's great-grandfather, were hard-pressed to bar the door against crime in a town that seemed determined to remain wide-open. Wicked Decatur presents a rogue's gallery of those who have slipped through the cracks of legality over the past century and a half.

Wicked Atlanta

Wicked Atlanta
Author: Laurel-Ann Dooley
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 122
Release: 2015-11-16
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 1625845588

This true crime history reveals Atlanta’s frontier brothels, daredevil bootleggers, killer politicians, Reconstruction Era rogues, and much more. Over the centuries, Atlanta has seen its share of sordid and salacious stories. Wealthy felons once hosted elaborate parties inside the federal penitentiary. Billionaire bootleggers and murderous socialites practiced corruption that reached all the way to the White House. The city’s fast and fearless drivers, complete with glamorous reputations and criminal careers, gave rise to auto racing. In Wicked Atlanta, author and local historian Laurel-Ann Dooley digs up some of the most shocking and fascinating true tales from Atlanta’s infamous history. She reveals a colorful past of murder, kidnapping, bribery, wives hiring hit men and all sorts of criminal debauchery.

Wicked Washington

Wicked Washington
Author: Troy Taylor
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 150
Release: 2007-11-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1614235295

America’s seat of power is also the seat of corruption, killings, and salacious scandals—from the author of Haunted New Orleans. An addictive and fascinating read that traces the criminal history of our nation’s capital, from the bloody site of the city’s most famous murder to dark deeds involving politicians from both sides of the aisle. Includes a look at the mysteries surrounding the Lincoln assassination, death by duels, the infamous “Washington Vampire,” presidential mysteries and scandals and the strange tale of the first murderer to be found guilty by reason of insanity—a man who went on to lead troops during the Civil War. Includes photos!

Wicked Northern Illinois

Wicked Northern Illinois
Author: Troy Taylor
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 183
Release: 2010-09-24
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 1614232202

From the secrets of Joliet Penitentiary to the ferocious gunfights between the Ku Klux Klan and the Shelton Gang, Troy Taylor takes the measure of the dishonest sweat and innocent blood poured into the prairies of Northern Illinois. Meet the "fallen angels" of Decatur's red-light district, the Springfield counterfeiters who bungled stealing Lincoln's bones and the Aurora man who propped up his porch with the heads of his wife and brother-in-law. And if you dare, eavesdrop on the chilling confession of a man who left a dancer's corpse to the mercy of the railroad tracks: "So, I pat them on the cheek, call them sweet names, and kill them."

Wicked North Alabama

Wicked North Alabama
Author: Jacquelyn Procter Reeves
Publisher: Wicked
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2009
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781596297531

Thoughts of Alabama invite images of Confederate jasmine and fertile cotton fields, sweet iced tea and Southern hospitality. But even in paradise, evil sometimes creeps in. Some of the stories captured within the pages of this book are well known to the good folks of North Alabama; others are less familiar. The scandals of Lincoln's brother-in-law, the reign of terror created by Huntsville's Southwest Molester, the Decatur man who buried his wife's dismembered body under the fish pond and the beautiful Black Widow of Hazel Green--all of these stories are well researched and masterfully written by Huntsville author Jacquelyn Procter Reeves. True-crime fans will appreciate this treasury of stories spanning nearly two hundred years of North Alabama history.

Haunted New York City

Haunted New York City
Author: Cheri Farnsworth
Publisher: Stackpole Books
Total Pages: 130
Release: 2008-01-14
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 0811740730

America's most populated city is also home to bizarre ghosts and frightening creatures of the night.

Wicked New Orleans

Wicked New Orleans
Author: Troy Taylor
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 175
Release: 2010-06-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 1614230110

The author of Haunted New Orleans digs up NOLA’s long and lawless history—from pirates and prostitutes to mobsters and murderers. Since as early as the 1700s, New Orleans has been a city filled with sin and vice. Those first pioneering citizens of the Big Easy were thieves, vagabonds, and criminals of all kinds. By the time Louisiana fell under American control, New Orleans had become a city of debauchery and corruption camouflaged by decadence. It was also considered one of the country’s most dangerous cities, with a reputation of crime and loose morals. Rampant gambling and prostitution were the norm in nineteenth-century New Orleans, and over one-third of today’s French Quarter was considered a hotbed of sin. Tales in this volume include that of the notorious Axeman who plagued the streets of the Crescent City in the early 1900s and Kate Townsend, a prostitute who was murdered by her own lover, a man who later was awarded her inheritance. Troy Taylor takes a look back at New Orleans’s early wicked days and historic crimes. Includes photos

GHOSTS OF THE PRAIRIE

GHOSTS OF THE PRAIRIE
Author: Troy Taylor
Publisher: Whitechapel Productions
Total Pages: 366
Release: 2016-09-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781892523075

Ghost Stories, Hauntings and Tales of the Unexplained from the fields, forests, farms, cities and small towns that are found on the windswept prairie of Central Illinois.

The Big Book of New York Ghost Stories

The Big Book of New York Ghost Stories
Author: Cheri Farnsworth
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2019-07-17
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1493043870

Hauntings lurk and spirits linger in the Empire State Reader, beware! Turn these pages and enter the world of the paranormal, where ghosts and ghouls alike creep just out of sight. Author Cheri Farnsworthshines a light in the dark corners of New York and scares those spirits out of hiding in this thrilling collection. From apparitions and objects that fly off of tables at the Manhattan Bistro, to a specter that stalks Pulpit Rock in Lake Placid, there’s no shortage of bone-chilling tales to keep you up at night. Around the campfire or tucked away on a dark and stormy night, this big book of ghost stories is a hauntingly good read.

Resurrection Bay

Resurrection Bay
Author: Wayne McDaniel
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide
Total Pages: 278
Release: 2014-06-08
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0738741604

From Edgar Award-winning author Steven Womack and Wayne McDaniel comes a force of evil on par with Hannibal Lector in a heart-pounding page-turner you can't put down. Decatur Kaiser seems like an ordinary family man with a passion for hunting and a wall full of trophies to prove it. Every June, Decatur sends his wife and kids to visit the grandparents so he can start his summer project. Fueled by cocaine and a complete disregard for human life, Decatur kidnaps a young woman and flies to a deserted island in the middle of Resurrection Bay. There he abuses and tortures her, then turns his victim loose and hunts her like big game through the Alaskan wilderness. Summer after summer, Decatur collects his trophies. Inspired by the real-life story of Alaska's most famous serial killer, Resurrection Bay is a classic study of evil: where it comes from, how it operates, and what it takes to bring it down. Praise: "Fast-paced, exciting, and ever so gruesome, count Resurrection Bay at the top of your summer reading list, and Wayne McDaniel and Steven Womack as two authors to watch." —SUSPENSE MAGAZINE