The true story of a little-known series of murders that shaped the lives of scores of people in the early twentieth century and a real-life monster that prowled the darkness of Louisiana and Texas between 1909 and 1912, claiming the lives of men, women, and children alike.
HAUNTED ALTON THE HISTORY AND MYSTERY OF ONE OF THE MOST HAUNTED SMALL TOWNS IN AMERICA BY TROY TAYLOR For more than two centuries, the Mississippi River town of Alton, Illinois, has gained a reputation for its dark side. Author Mark Twain called it "a dismal little river town," and today, it's known as "one of the most haunted small towns in America" - all thanks to its long and bloody history of death, violence, disease, disaster, and, of course, its ghosts. Author Troy Taylor returns to the streets of Alton for a new, updated, and revised look at the town's weird history with more history and more hauntings than ever before. Filled with chilling tales, you'll find many within these pages that have never appeared in print before, plus new stories and details from places like the Mineral Springs Hotel, Enos Sanitorium, Powder Mills Road, Alton Penitentiary, McPike Mansion, Illinois Glass Works, First Unitarian Church, Lewis and Clark College, and more! This is the original book of Alton's ghost stories in a new, revised edition and serves as the inspiration for the award-winning Alton Hauntings Tours. Discover the true story of how Alton became so haunted and how it's earned its moniker of one of the country's most spirited small towns!
There are very few among those with a love for the supernatural who don't also have a passion for Edgar Allan Poe. Poe wasn't simply a melancholy author who wrote about premature burials, sinister black cats, and talking ravens; he was much more. If you've ever read a modern mystery or horror novel, you can thank Poe. If you've ever read a book like this one - or any of author Troy Taylor's books of true stories of the unexplained -- the influence of Poe is undeniable. Poe invented the modern mystery story, mostly invented science fiction, and was the first writer to take the horror stories of the Gothic era and set them in modern times, starting a trend that continues today
Delve into the shadowy world of unsolved disappearances and people who have vanished without a trace, never to be seen again. Such strange and chilling tales run the gamut of the terrifying and the bizarre and include crime victims, lost explorers, ships vanished at sea, outdoor disappearances, and supernatural mysteries that defy all explanation.
From the backwoods of Kentucky and Illinois to the White House steps, the life of Abraham Lincoln has become one of America's greatest legends. But there is much more to Lincoln's life than you'll find in any mainstream history book. Visited by eerie premonitions of death, omens and portents, and prophetic dreams, Lincoln embraced the supernatural from when he was a young boy to just days before his assassination. He had an innate faith in destiny and the ability of the dead to communicate with the living. Forget everything you think you know about Abraham Lincoln and take a trip back in time to discover the true story of our country's most haunted president
Lurking below the Loop, behind the industry-driven energy of Chicago, lies the mysterious criminal underworld of the South Side. Recounting criminal exploits of legends like Alphonse Capone, as well as lesser-known stories like the Car Barn Bandits, Troy Taylor captures the intricacies of the most infamous stories of Chicago's South Side. From the gruesome murders committed by the unassuming H.H. Holmes to the mysterious death of Marshall Field Jr., join Taylor as he revisits the South Side's prosperous middle-class days and vividly depicts the strange and horrific crimes that have cast new light on the character of these too often overlooked neighborhoods.
In 1929, Chicago gangster Al Capone arranged a special St. Valentine's Day delivery for his favorite arch enemies: a massacre. Seven North Side mobsters were left dead. Yet random killings and bizarre murders were not unfamiliar in Chicago. Tales of the city's most violent and puzzling murders make this gripping work truly hair-raising: a deranged stalker kills his love object and then himself; a sausage maker uses the tools of his trade to rid himself of his wife; and a meticulous serial killer cleans his dead victim's wounds before taping them closed. Through accounts dripping with mystery, gory details and suspense, Troy Taylor brilliantly tells the twisted history of Chicago's North Side's worst.
A wild mix of American cults, true crime, and the supernatural, delving into a search for the divine that has, far too often, sent seekers in regrettable directions - and to places from which they never returned.