True Monsters

In the summer of 1969, Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel carried out horrific acts of butchery on the orders of the charismatic cult leader Charles Manson. At their murder trial the following year, lead prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi described the two so-called Manson Women as "human monsters". But to anyone who knew them growing up, they were bright, promising girls, seemingly incapable of such an unfathomable crime. Award-winning journalist Nikki Meredith began visiting Van Houten and Krenwinkel in prison to discover how they had changed during their incarceration.

Love is a dangerous game when your fated mate is a dark fae prince—so dangerous, in fact, that trust could be your deadliest enemy. Falling for him was the easy part. Staying alive? That’s where the real trouble begins. Met’s real mother—the Queen of the Underworld—wants him to walk the path of darkness, leaving me with a choice: embrace evil or perish. But evil isn't me. Meanwhile, Moros—Jax’s blood father, a demon and succubus—wants me as a lure to bring Nightmare back into his grasp. Now, I must dance between two worlds of darkness and deception, staying on my toes if I ...

When Baltimore Police Sergeant Wayne Jenkins said he had a monster, he meant he had found a big-time drug dealer - one who he wanted to rob. This is the story of Jenkins and the Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF), a super group of dirty detectives who exploited some of America’s greatest problems: guns, drugs, toxic masculinity, and hypersegregation. In the upside-down world of the GTTF, cops were robbers and drug dealers were the perfect victims, because no one believed them.

Incredible? Impossible? Too awful to imagine? But someone, somewhere at some time has sworn that each of these strange stories is true... A newspaper reports of a monster man, whose fiery breath scorched the faces of his victims; an American swears to his dying day he was kidnapped by a family of Bigfoot or ape men; and centuries old records tell of a beached sea monster so huge, a man could have drowned inside it.

In 2000, Douglas Preston and his family moved to Florence, Italy, fulfilling a long-held dream. They put their children in Italian schools and settled into a 14th century farmhouse in the green hills of Florence, where they devoted themselves to living la dolce vita while Preston wrote his best-selling suspense novels. All that changed when he discovered that the lovely olive grove in front of their house had been the scene of a double-murder.

Princess Anna's quest for a flower leads to an intriguing deal with an ice dragon and a journey into magical realms, where fate weaves its frosty tale of true love. Princess Anna, driven by curiosity, ventures too close to Frostfell's icy domain in pursuit of a rare frostbloom lily. There, she encounters the formidable ice dragon, who strikes a deal: in exchange for a single flower, she must retrieve a tome from her kingdom's library detailing the whereabouts of The Snowflake Pendant. Oblivious to the consequences, Anna agrees. Little did Princess Anna know that her innocent curiosity had ...

North America is a land rich with history and folklore, where the echoes of heroes and patriots blend with tales of the unknown. But beyond the familiar narratives lies a shadowy realm of mystery. This book unveils spine-tingling stories of legendary creatures, ghostly apparitions, UFO sightings, and unexplainable phenomena that stretch across the continent. In Legends, Myths, Monsters, & Ghosts: North American Edition, author George Lunsford takes readers on a thrilling expedition into the heart of North American folklore. With exhaustive research and vivid storytelling, Lunsford has ...

A Kiss. A Curse. An Obsession. Genevieve Castle spends her time compiling playlists, writing down the music in her head, and trying oh-so-hard not to think about the quarterback, her long-time obsession. When a gorgeous foreign exchange student moves into town, staying with the inhumanly-hot captain of the swim team, will she manage to move onto something better, or will a kiss of obsession drag her into a world more dark and dangerous than anything she imagined? Welcome to the world of Watergirl: hot guys with gills, psychotic ex-girlfriends, oh, and something in the lake. It will take ...

Summertime in Florida. Tourists flock to the subtropical paradise for its beautiful beaches, abundant sunshine, and the magical allure of Disney World. For one Midwestern mother and her two teenaged daughters, a trip to the Sunshine State seemed like a dream vacation.

In 1902, at the age of 11, Carl Panzram broke into a neighbour’s home and stole some apples, a pie, and a revolver...During his two-year detention, Carl was repeatedly beaten, humiliated, and raped by the school staff...Kill 'Em All is a chilling and gripping account of one of the most brutal and gruesome true crime stories in American history. Ryan Green’s riveting narrative draws the listener into the real-live horror experienced by the victims and has all the elements of a classic thriller.

Told in her own words, this is the story of serial killer Aileen Wuornos, who was portrayed in an Oscar-winning performance by Charlize Theron in the film Monster. There have been few female serial killers, but Aileen Wuornos, who was executed in 2002, was a remarkable example of this rare breed of death row inmate. All too often, female prostitutes have been the victims of male serial killers - Wuornos’ killings were the inverse of this pattern.

Jillian Lauren had no idea what she was getting into when she wrote her first letter to prolific serial killer Samuel Little. All she knew was her research had led her to believe he was good for far more murders than the three for which he had been convicted. While the two exchanged dozens of letters and embarked on hundreds of hours of interviews, Lauren gained the trust of a monster. After maintaining his innocence for decades, Little confessed to the murders of ninety-three women, often drawing his victims in haunting detail as he spoke.

Ambitious, attractive, and full of potential, five young college students prepared for the new semester. They dreamed of beginning careers and starting families. They had a lifetime of experiences in front of them. But death came without warning in the dark of the night. Brutally ending five promising lives, leaving behind three gruesome crime scenes, the Gainesville Ripper terrorized the University of Florida, casting an ominous shadow across a frightened college town.

One mystery, one romance, and an owl god. In Song, the undercity of Singsong City, The Queen Heir of fairies, otherwise known as Princess Sparkles is on a mission: save the werewolves from the rebel member of her court who wants to poison them, and save her own people from another werewolf invasion of fairyland. But when it comes out that she's already been tangled up in a plot with the werewolf alpha, a secret traitor, and a juvenile delinquent, she'll have to trust in the real magic of friendship and love before she can save her people or herself. Will she find the traitor and her fated ...

Every year across the United States, there are individuals whose passions defy simple description. Some call them researchers, others investigators, but their relentless pursuit of the unknown ignites imaginations and leaves many bewildered. Could monsters truly exist? Are the creatures that lurk in our nightmares and darkest fears roaming the earth—perhaps even living closer than we dare to believe? In this thrilling journey, renowned cryptopunkologist Kenney W. Irish, author of American Cryptids: In Pursuit of the Elusive Creatures and International Cryptids and Legends, once again ...

Prostitutes and animals could no longer satisfy Peter Kürten’s sexual deviancy. During a burglary of a local tavern, he stumbled upon a nine-year-old girl asleep in her bed. He strangled her, slashed her throat with a pocket knife, and orgasmed upon hearing her blood drip to the floor. His crimes were halted by World War I and an eight-year prison sentence but he unleashed his urges with a spate of brutal murders in 1929 earning him the nickname "The Düsseldorf Monster."

For more than a century, reports of a strange beast known as the Fouke Monster have circulated among the locals in southern Arkansas. Described as a large hairy man-like creature, it's said to haunt the vast Sulphur River Bottoms as it travels the secluded waterway known as Boggy Creek. Over the years, the creature has been seen by numerous witnesses including respected citizens, experienced hunters, famous musicians, and even a police officer. The encounters were often so shocking, they served as inspiration for the classic horror film, The Legend of Boggy Creek, by Charles B. Pierce.

“Sharks are as timid as rabbits,” says a superintendent of the Coast Guard, dismissing the possibility that a shark could be the culprit in an unprecedented fatal attack at the Jersey Shore. It’s July, and swimming in the sea is a popular new pastime, but people up and down the East Coast are shocked and mystified by the swimmer’s death. A prominent surgeon at the shore, Dr. Edwin Halsey is the one who examines the victim, and the only one who believes the perpetrator was a shark—and that it will strike again.

Deep in the woods of Ohio, something walks among us. From the legendary Minerva Monster to chilling recent encounters in Salt Fork and Wayne National Forest, Bigfoot in Ohio uncovers fourteen immersive, true narrative accounts of unexplained sightings across the state. Drawing on local witness testimony, public records, and eerie firsthand details, author Ethan Blackwood brings each story to life with suspense, atmosphere, and emotional realism. Whether it’s a hiker hearing guttural growls at dusk or a family terrorized near their cabin, these tales aren’t fiction — they’re part of ...

When all appears lost, the miraculous power of the atonement of Jesus Christ can heal in the most unlikely places and in the most unlikely ways. In a world where addiction has become the epidemic of despair, Between Monsters and Mercy is the incredible true story of author Kelly Thompson's struggle to overcome drug abuse, escape from her life as a prostitute, and leave behind the loneliness and isolation that accompany them.