Books like Dead and Gone by Manly Wade Wellman

Shirley Jackson’s classic psychological horror, *The Haunting of Hill House*, follows a lonely woman drawn into an abandoned mansion whose malevolent presence ultimately consumes her.

A haunting examination of a woman's descent into madness, set against the backdrop of post‑partum mental illness and early feminist thought.

A collection of eerie American short stories where a cursed play, cults of otherworldly power, and time‑shifting tragedies intertwine, crafting a haunting early classic of fantasy and horror.

16 tales of the macabre.

A true crime investigation into the political machinations of a transnational power bloc known as The Octopus.

There is no scientist in the world like Dr. Bill Bass. A pioneer in forensic anthropology, Bass created the world's first laboratory dedicated to the study of human decomposition—three acres of land on a hillside in Tennessee where human bodies are left to the elements. His research at "the Body Farm" has revolutionized forensic science, helping police crack cold cases and pinpoint time of death. But during a forensics career that spans half a century, Bass and his work have ranged far beyond the gates of the Body Farm. In this riveting book, the bone sleuth explores the rise of modern forensic science, using fascinating cases from his career to take readers into the real world of C.S.I. Some of Bill Bass's cases rely on the simplest of tools and techniques, such as reassembling—from battered torsos and a stack of severed limbs—eleven people hurled skyward by an explosion at an illegal fireworks factory. Other cases hinge on sophisticated techniques Bass could not have imagined when he began his career: harnessing scanning electron microscopy to detect trace elements in knife wounds; and extracting DNA from a long-buried corpse, only to find that the female murder victim may have been mistakenly identified a quarter-century before. In Beyond the Body Farm, readers will follow Bass as he explores the depths of an East Tennessee lake with a twenty-first-century sonar system, in a quest for an airplane that disappeared with two people on board thirty-five years ago; see Bass exhume fifties pop star "the Big Bopper" to determine what injuries he suffered in the plane crash that killed three rock and roll legends on "the day the music died"; and join Bass as he works to decipher an ancient Persian death scene nearly three thousand years old. Witty and engaging, Bass dissects the methods used by homicide investigators every day, leading readers on an extraordinary journey into the high-tech science that it takes to crack a case.

Set in nineteenth‑century West Virginia, the novel follows James P.D. Gardner, the state’s first black attorney, as he defends a white man accused of murdering his young wife—an infamous case tied to the legendary Greenbrier Ghost.

A true‑crime chronicle of Missouri’s most notorious murders and criminal incidents, spanning from the pre‑Civil War era to the gangster‑infested 1920s and 1930s.

Guitar‑picking wanderer Silver John visits a remote community to uncover whispers of devil worship and Satanic rites.

Harold Schechter investigates the 1937 Beekman Place triple‑murder in Manhattan, uncovering the twisted mind of sculptor Robert Irwin and his fixation with model Veronica Gedeon in this true‑crime portrait of American psychopathology.

True crime chronicle of a flamboyant smuggling family whose alleged assassination of a Federal judge triggered the most expensive FBI investigation in U.S. history.

A nonfiction guide that explores how Hollywood has turned notorious American criminals—such as Ma Barker, Al Capone, John Wesley Hardin, and Charles Starkweather—into legends or villains, blending film, music, and true‑crime facts.

Eric Konigsberg’s gripping family history unfolds the lurid rise of his notorious ‘Uncle Heshy,’ the legendary Mafia enforcer who spent decades on the run.

A true crime account of homicide and attempted murder cases in the United States.

A comprehensive, investigative account of the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, examining the gunman Adam Lanza’s mental state, preparation, and the broader social and political impact of the tragedy.