Diabolical and prolific serial killers existed early in America at a time when police were still devising investigative methods to link related murders. Newspapers reported the gory details of their crimes to a terrified, yet fascinated public.
It was the result of pure serendipity—a deadly assassin impeded by casual effects. Ordinary items that were unintentionally but strategically placed by the victim in a breast pocket that blocked the course of an otherwise lethal bullet.
This year May the Fourth, a day to revel in all things Star Wars, coincides with Free Comic Book Day, an annual celebration of comic books! And on this May the Fourth, we’re particularly remembering Chewbacca actor Peter Mayhew who died on April 30, 2019. He made Chewbacca one of the best-loved Star Wars characters. […]
Don’t take candy from strangers. Little Charley Ross, the first missing child to make national headlines, made that mistake. During the summer of 1874, two men in a horse-drawn buggy pulled into an affluent neighborhood in Philadelphia and befriended two little boys who were playing in front of their stately home. For five days in […]
On the last day of his life, millionaire Jim Fisk was embroiled in attempted blackmail, ongoing legal battles, and a contentious love triangle, all involving his mistress and his one-time closest friend. Little did he know that the drama would climax with his murder. Jim Fisk was the Gilded Age robber baron personified. He gained […]
Inspired by the true detective and mystery pulp fiction magazines from the early 20th century, such as Black Mask, Detective Story, and G-Men, crime comics were one of the most popular genres of the Golden Age during the 1940s and 1950s. But public fascination with crime dates back even earlier with publications such as The […]
Dead outlaw, will travel. In life, Elmer McCurdy was a hard-drinking drifter. In death, he crisscrossed the country touring the carnival circuit, hit the Hollywood scene, and even made it to TV! The bizarre tale of Elmer’s journey from varmint to traveling corpse started in Oklahoma when he and his gang of bandits robbed the […]
It takes a thief to catch a thief. That was how imprisoned mob boss Al Capone proposed to bring the kidnapped Lindbergh baby home safely. On March 2, 1932, from his cell in Cook County Jail in Chicago, one day after the son of famous aviator Charles Lindbergh had been kidnapped, “Scarface” Al Capone offered […]