True Crime Serial

The best of this year's true crime writing from master true crime authors RJ Parker, Peter Vronsky, JJ Slate, Sylvia Perrini, and Michael Newton, who give us nine new shocking case accounts of serial killers.

Paul Bernado and Karla Homolka were so perfectly iconic as a newlywed couple that they were dubbed "Ken and Barbie". But their marriage had a dark side involving sex, death, and videotape. The "perfect couple" first raped and murdered Karla's little sister then kidnapped teenage schoolgirls whom they enslaved, raped, tortured, and killed while gleefully recording themselves on video doing it.

Examining murder from an insider’s perspective, Matt Murphy—a former senior deputy district attorney and current ABC News legal analyst—discusses cases from his career, how they strained his personal life, and how he found peace seeking justice for victims and their families. Part taxonomy of murder, part prosecutor’s handbook, and part personal memoir, The Book of Murder goes through a dozen cases and his recollections of his 26 years in the Orange County DA’s office (17 in the Homicide Unit).

The Horrors of Fox Hollow Farm provides detailed insights from the original criminal investigation as well as the perspectives of the man who survived Herb's attempt on his life. This chilling book also features actual supernatural evidence - from EVPs and psychic confirmations to first-hand accounts of the disembodied hands and voices that regularly manifest on the estate.

Prepare yourself for a relentless plunge into the bloodiest corners of true crime. True Crime Gore Stories is a brutal collection of 15 immersive tales inspired by real events—each one more disturbing than the last. From shocking murders and twisted obsessions to scenes that defy belief, these stories don’t just recount the crimes—they drag you into them. Logan Carter strips away the filters, retelling these harrowing cases with chilling intensity. Though names and select details have been changed for privacy, the core of each story remains true—and unforgettable. If you're drawn to...

As the country's top forensic pathologist, Dr Richard Shepherd has spent a lifetime uncovering the secrets of the dead. When death is sudden or unexplained, it falls to Shepherd to establish the cause. Each post-mortem is a detective story in its own right - and Shepherd has performed over 23,000 of them. Through his skill, dedication and insight, Dr Shepherd solves the puzzle to answer our most pressing question: how did this person die?

Call them anything but closed cases. Who killed attorneys Margaret Coon and Donna Bahm? Why would someone butcher a 26-year-old bank teller? Did the mafia assassinate Senator Huey Long? What happened to the Grinch who stole shotguns? Louisiana's foremost expert on true-crime, and a thirty-year veteran investigative journalist, HL Arledge revisits those tantalizing questions, meeting the state's most colorful characters along the way. From voodoo practitioners, mobsters, and train robbers to cult leaders, psychopaths, and crooked politicians, Bayou Justice, Arledge's twice-weekly newspaper ...

When Chris Bryson was discovered nude and severely beaten stumbling down Charlotte Street in Kansas City in 1988, police had no idea they were about to discover the den of one of the most sadistic American serial killers in recent history. This is the true story of Robert Berdella, nicknamed by the media the Kansas City Butcher, who from between 1984 and 1988 brutally raped, tortured, and ultimately dismembered six young male prostitutes in his unassuming home on a quiet street in Kansas City.

Providing a chilling glimpse into the twisted psychology of the infamous serial killer Carl Panzram, this disturbing true-crime book offers an unparalleled look at what makes a murderer. Expertly recounting Panzram’s gruesome killing spree and the cruel ideas that drove his grisly murders, this story sheds light on his tragic upbringing and adolescence, his frequent clashes with the law, and the daring escape attempts he made in countless prisons.

We tend to think of serial killers as a modern phenomenon. They are not. The first known serial killers in the United States were the Harpe brothers. Active in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the Harpe brothers spread a path of terror across more than half a dozen American states. Along their way, they murdered between 39 and 50 men, women, and children. Their crimes, which often included grotesque mutilations, were so vicious that they made other murderers cringe with disgust. This is a true story, and it is as gruesome as any horror tale ever told. This fully documented story ...

Richmond, Virginia. On the morning of October 19, 1979, parolee James Briley stood before a judge and vowed to quit the criminal life. That same day James met with his brothers, Linwood and Anthony, and 16-year-old neighbor Duncan Meekins. What they planned - and carried out - would make them American serial killer legends and reveal to police investigators a seven-month rampage of rape, robbery, and murder exceeding in brutality already documented cases of psychopaths, sociopaths, and sex criminals.

Born on a dying farm and soon abandoned by his father, Carl Panzram's life was bleak from the start. While other children played and went to school, he toiled away on his family's land, the threat of brutal punishment always looming over his head. Yet, instead of shaping him into the meek, obedient boy his family wanted, Panzram grew meaner with each passing year. His first arrest happened before he had even turned 10.

Edward Rulloff was a brilliant yet utterly amoral murderer—some have called him a “Victorian-era Hannibal Lecter”—whose crimes spanned decades and whose victims were chosen out of revenge, out of envy, and sometimes out of necessity.

18 Baffling True Crime Cold Cases - Solved! including; The Last Detective: A cheating husband; a missing wife. The case looks like it will go unsolved. Enter a detective who won’t let it go. Jukebox Hero: Kevin was working his dream job in the music industry. Then he uncovered a grift and decided to speak up. Dangerous move, very dangerous. One Night in Elkhart: An ambush at a traffic light; a teenager abducted. What awaits is a night of pure terror... at the hands of a particularly sick individual. The Truth About My Murder: The body of a young woman is found in the trunk of her car. ...

Reverend Willie Maxwell was a rural preacher accused of murdering five of his family members for insurance money in the 1970s. With the help of a savvy lawyer, he escaped justice for years until a relative shot him dead at the funeral of his last victim. Despite hundreds of witnesses, Maxwell's murderer was acquitted—thanks to the same attorney who had previously defended the reverend. Casey Cep brings this story to life, from the shocking murders to the courtroom drama to the racial politics of the Deep South.

After his December 2003 arrest, registered nurse Charlie Cullen was quickly dubbed "The Angel of Death" by the media. But Cullen was no mercy killer, nor was he a simple monster. He was a favorite son, husband, beloved father, best friend, and celebrated caregiver. Implicated in the deaths of as many as 300 patients, he was also perhaps the most prolific serial killer in American history.

In the annals of historical serial killers, Cary Stayner's story stands out, because for months he made one of the most beautiful places on earth a nightmare for women when California's majestic Yosemite National Park became his own devil's playground. The case of serial killer Cary Stayner and his psychopathic crime spree is chilling because as far as the outside world was concerned, he was a fairly normal guy who found himself uncontrollably compelled to kill.

Ann Rule was working on the biggest story of her career, tracking the trail of victims left by a brutal serial killer. Little did this future best-selling author know that the savage slayer she was hunting was the young man she counted among her closest friends. Everyone's picture of a natural winner, Ted Bundy was a bright, charming, and handsome man with a promising future as an attorney. But on January 24, 1989 Bundy was executed for the murders of three young women - and had confessed to taking the lives of at least thirty-five more women from coast to coast.

Portland author Trevor Church dives into one of the most shocking crimes in Oregon history - the disappearance and murder of one of his former schoolmates and her friend. Ashley Pond left for school early one morning, running a few minutes late as always, she hurried up the hill outside of her apartments to the school bus. She was never seen again. News crews gathered at the bus stop, outside of the apartments, and the school. For weeks they interviewed everyone on camera, alongside the private interviews conducted by investigators. One of the girls interviewed on the morning news at the ...

In an area of Houston known as the Heights, boys had been going missing for years, but it was the peace-and-love 1970s, so police just called them runaways. When the truth was uncovered, and police - and the rest of Houston - realized the boys had become victims of notorious American serial killer Dean Corll, Houston recoiled in horrified shock. Residents realized that they had not only become the site of the most grisly mass murder in Texas history, but the worst mass murder in all of US history.