Recent Posts
Smoke Poured From Pittsburgh’s Western Penitentiary Windows
Shortly before one o’clock in the afternoon, emergency calls rang out from Western Penitentiary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The first reports were alarming enough: prisoners had…
Was Edgar Allan Poe’s Dark Reputation Partly His Brother’s?
Edgar Allan Poe has always been difficult to separate from his legend. To many readers, Poe is remembered as the haunted genius of American literature….
The Collapse of America’s Stage Queens
In 1902, newspapers reported what they called an “epidemic” of sudden illness and nervous collapse among some of the most celebrated actresses of the day. …
Headless Body Mystery Baffles Missouri Officers
Near Patton, not far from Cape Girardeau, the headless body of 30-year-old John Zoubeck was found in December 1926. At first, the circumstances raised more…
A Lonely Georgia Highway, A Murdered Educator, and the Swift Execution That Shocked Milledgeville
It started as a simple act of kindness on a lonely Georgia highway. In March 1925, Professor William C. Wright pulled his car over to…
Newark Judge Fines Couple for Kissing in Park
In 1902, a few kisses in a Newark park were enough to land one couple before Judge Herman Schalk and cost them $10. The story…
Mystery Light Over Washington Revealed
For a time, Washington, D.C., had a mystery hanging over it. In the western sky, residents saw a strange light that seemed to take the…
Headless Bodies Found in Pennsylvania’s Murder Marsh
They called it “murder marsh,” and by October of 1925, the name seemed horribly earned. In the swampy ground between Newcastle Junction and West Pittsburgh,…
Landgraff Flood Aftermath Reveals Two Bodies
In Landgraff, West Virginia, the work of recovery after a flood was still underway when two bodies were found caught in a drift pile, tangled…
Lake Sailor Found Dead in Binghamton Box Car
A freight car can feel like a forgotten place, a dark wooden box shunted from one track to another, carrying no one’s attention with it….
