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Join Bielawa as he navigates a precarious path through the unforgettably macabre and scandalous misdeeds of Bridgeport.

Beneath the smokestacks of the gritty cityscape of Bridgeport, Connecticut is the shocking criminal underbelly of this New England community. Sin and vice have long had a home on the shores of the Long Island Sound, and Bridgeport's sinister past is littered with tales of pirates, mobsters, bizarre Victorian murders, and even rumors of a doctor's attempts to reanimate the dead. Historian Michael J. Bielawa investigates such bizarre crimes as the unsolved murder of philanthropist James Beardsley, and the grisly discovery in Yellow Mill Pond during the 19th century, which helped legitimize forensic science. Join Bielawa as he navigates a precarious path through the unforgettably macabre and scandalous misdeeds of Bridgeport.

Atlanta is the only American city to have been destroyed by fire as an act of war, and it has its share of salacious stories. Wealthy felons hosted elaborate parties inside the federal penitentiary.

Billionaire bootleggers and murderous rich boys practiced corruption that reached all the way to the White House. Fast and fearless drivers, complete with glamorous reputations and criminal careers, gave rise to auto racing. Join author Laurel-Ann Dooley as she navigates the underworld of Atlanta's past filled with kidnapping, bribery, wives hiring hit men and all sorts of criminal debauchery.

Filled with tales of infamous duels, cheating congressmen, and much more, Wicked Lexington, Kentucky offers the first collection the city's rowdy and ruckus history .

Despite its illustrious beginnings as the "Athens of the west," Lexington has always had a darker side lurking just beneath its glossy sheen. It didn't take long for the first intellectual hub west of the Alleghenies to quickly morph into a city with the same scandalous inclinations as neighboring Louisville and Cincinnati. From Belle Brezing's infamous brothel of the late 1800s, frequented by some of the city's most prominent businessmen, and once pardoned by the governor, to historic sports scandals of the 1900s, local author Fiona Young-Brown tracks Lexington's penchant for misdeeds from founding to modern times.

Wicked Charleston: The Dark Side of the Holy City, by local resident and tour guide Mark R. Jones, explores the dark alleys and seedy characters not often associated with the Charleston of today.

A beautiful Southern city distinguished by its opulent homes, towering church steeples and hospitality, Charleston, South Carolina, has long been associated with the genteel side of Southern living. However, beyond the outward appearances that most people associate with Charleston, there is another side that most visitors and residents would dare not believe is part of the very fabric from which the city's history was woven. From the sexual escapades of an original Lord Proprietor and the comings and goings of the most notorious pirates, to secret brothels and nightclubs, Jones leads the reader back to a time when "drinking, eating and whoring with more than fifty wenches" was perhaps more common in the Holy City than one may imagine.

These are the abhorrent, the grim, the can't-look-away misdeeds and miscreants of this city's past, when bicycle messenger boys peddled through the night to link prostitutes with johns and when the bigoted masses tightened their grip on the city behind mayor and Klansman John Duvall. From the unseemly to the deviant to the disastrous, Hoosier Andrew E. Stoner brings you lives as out of control as the worst wreck at the Indy 500 with a history as regrettable as it is riveting.

Join author Tim Younkman for a wild ride into Bay City's wicked side.

From unscrupulous lumber barons to Hell's Half Mile, Bay City history casts a sinister shadow. Pope Leo XIII was forced to intervene when rioting Catholic immigrants seized St. Stanislaus Catholic Church and battled one another in the city's streets. The police discovered prostitute Lou Hall nearly beaten to death in the Block of Blazes. And respected publishing mogul Edwin T. Bennett's secret life led to the death of a young woman in a Bay City hotel room.

Malice in a Mining Mecca

Pernicious activity tends to follow prosperity, and the heyday of the Cripple Creek mining district was no exception. Cripple Creek’s first murder spilled out from a saloon in 1892. The 1894 heist at the Victor Hotel took place mere months after opening. Railroad superintendent Richard Newell was gunned down over a construction right of way dispute—a contentious, nationwide issue to this day. By 1893, the area was home to dancehall girls and prostitutes, including the harlot who burned down Cripple Creek in 1896 and the vixen who torched Victor in 1899. From body snatcher “Pretty Jack” McEachern to conman-turned-Roosevelt confidante Ben Daniels, the district played host to a cast of capricious characters. Join author Jan MacKell Collins as she recounts the colorful camps and raucous ruffians that defined the oft-described Wild West. 

A rowdy red-light district, secret tunnels, and scathing newspaper editorials. 

Once home to sheep herders and ranchers, the railroad brought a new breed of pioneer to Flagstaff. Entrepreneurs and outlaws alike flocked to the growing town, some finding success and others finding their end at Greenwood Cemetery. When saloons and bawdy houses rebelled against new blue laws, quick-thinking mayor Thomas E. Pollock found a compromise that appeased most locals. Incorrigible characters like Commodore Perry Owens and Ben Doney could be found in town at the Parlor Saloon, while Dutch May Prescott kept the red-light district in the black. 

Author Susan Johnson uncovers the weird and wicked side of Flagstaff. 

The rugged scenery of the New Mexico Territory formed a dramatic backdrop for get-rich-quick schemes and brazen acts of violence. The cast included serial killers, cattle thieves, train robbers and other evildoers who simply did not know when to quit. Roving bandits like the Black-Jack Ketchum Gang disturbed the peace along with outlaw lawmen like Albuquerque’s Milton Yarberry. Donna Blake Birchell recounts the incredible exploits and fantastic tales of New Mexico’s shamelessly dangerous characters.

Authors Josh Foreman and Ryan Starrett lead readers on a descent into the darkest depths of Mississippi. From embezzler Edward Cates and his effort to avoid prosecution by faking his own death, to the hoop-skirted damsels of the antebellum South and a three-generation struggle for social supremacy, Mississippi knows its way around the seven deadly sins. The Black Knight of Mississippi Alexander McClung finally meets the duelist he can’t defeat—himself. Kiah Lincecum hunts for the easy dollar. Nellie Jackson’s Natchez bordello caters to a community’s base interests. John Law concocts America’s first Ponzi scheme with the Mississippi Bubble. The Magnolia State’s foremost food critic settles in for a famously gluttonous 31-course meal. And a wrathful scene unfolds at the Carrol County courthouse.