The author of Horror in the Heartland delves deep into the dark and sordid annals of the region where Hoosier history began. Prepare to take a tour of some dark, strange moments of southern Indiana’s history. From the scheming wife who wanted her dull husband out of the way to make room for a young love affair and the husband who stomped his wife to death because she wouldn’t stop singing an irritating song, to the man who murdered an entire family to pay off some farming equipment and the case of a mistaken-identity murder, author Keven McQueen relates the sinister (or not so) motives and gruesome details of nine murders that occurred in southern Indiana between 1880 and 1912. With a detailed, if macabre, look at each story as well as the ambiguities surrounding the criminals and punishments, McQueen illuminates the darker side of Hoosier history. Includes photos!

Author Keven McQueen recalls a time when skunk farms, which allegedly produced a cure for rheumatism, were speckled throughout the countryside and a miserable woman tied her husband to a fence post, coated him with salt and intended to let the cows "lick him to death." Meet the King of the Ghouls, an accomplished grave robber and notorious murderer, and a man so convinced he was an ox that he often joined neighborhood cattle for a bite of grass, and discover ghosts, monsters, giant skeletons and more in this collection of outlandish tales from the Hoosier State.

“Lovers of true crime will be thrilled to find a book devoted to Louisville’s more iniquitous side . . . and McQueen captures it all with obvious glee” (The Courier-Journal). Life in Louisville in the years following the Civil War, and through the turn of the century, was as exciting as it was dangerous. The city continued to grow as important urban hub of culture and commerce, connecting the South with the Midwest and Northern states. As Keven McQueen proves in this collection of morbid tales of crime and depravity, life in Louisville certainly had a darker side. Journey back to a time when Louisville’s streets were filled with rail cars, its alleys populated by thieves, and its brothels hummed with activity. Whether it’s the tale of the marriage of a convicted murderer to a notorious prostitute, or the exploits the criminal duo dubbed Louisville’s Bonnie and Clyde, this is a true crime collection that is truly hard to believe. Includes photos!

Indiana often calls itself the Crossroads of the Nation. It's not also perhaps the very nexus of US weirdness. Armed with Oddball Indiana, you'll soon discover the strange underbelly of the Hoosier State, from brain sandwiches to square donuts. Indiana has monuments to Michael Jackson, the comic strip character Joe Palooka, and the World's Largest Egg. It's where Alka-Seltzer and Wonder Bread were invented, where A Christmas Story actually took place, and where the good but angry citizens of Plainfield conspired to dump President Martin Van Buren in a mud puddle. Along with humorous histories and offbeat observations, Oddball Indiana provides addresses, websites, hours, fees, and driving directions for each of its 350+ entries.

The dramatic story of a devastating natural disaster in nineteenth-century Kentucky. On March 27, 1890, a devastating storm moved over the Ohio River Valley, spawning dozens of deadly tornados. The most powerful of these twisters touched down in Louisville, carving a path of unprecedented destruction from Main Street to the end of town. In the aftermath, nearly eight hundred buildings in the city were destroyed, and over one hundred people perished. In all, the storm produced over twenty-five tornados that day, and it remains the twenty-fifth deadliest storm in US history. This book chronicles Louisville’s most violent natural disaster, with tales of harrowing rescues and rebuilding.

Welcome to heartland America circa right about now, when the union jobs and family farms that kept the white on the picket fences have given way to meth labs, backwoods gunrunners, and bare-knuckle brawling. Bill's people are pressed to the brink--and beyond.

August 8, 2001, Vincennes, Indiana: A small town is shocked and stunned as a young married couple, just sitting back watching TV and following their nightly routine, are suddenly and viciously murdered - by one of their own relation for no apparent reason; May 31, 2000, Bloomington, Indiana: A pretty young woman, popular, happy, and carefree and looking forward to the future suddenly vanishes into thin air, only to be found later dead, a possible victim of murder by jealous classmates; December 1, 1971, Indianapolis, Indiana: Three men known for throwing lavish parties, popular within their social circle, are found slaughtered in their home, possibly the victims of a life insurance scam gone horribly wrong; February 14, 1977, Hollandsburg, Indiana: A woman and her four sons are shot in the back of the head execution style - because one of their killers thought it would be "fun" to see how a human being died: April 7, 1989, Indianapolis, Indiana: A young woman is brutally stabbed to death in broad daylight in the laundry room of her apartment complex, and stuffed into a closet like trash, her killer still remaining at large to this day. These crimes - and many more - are profiled in MURDER & MAYHEM IN THE HOOSIER HEARTLAND: MYSTERIOUS DIAPPEARANCES & BIZARRE MURDER CASES IN INDIANA. In this book, the second volume in a trilogy of books by author David Boyer, these crimes are examined with a fresher, up to date perspective. Why weren't these crimes given more exposure, which may have lead to an arrest much sooner? How could someone just disappear without a trace, with so much critical evidence already present? Why would someone suddenly commit a terrible crime with NO apparent motive or reason? Although at times stunning, shocking, and graphic in nature, this book will hopefully spark a memory or an idea that will shed a light on unsolved cases and bring the perpetrators to justice. More true crime books by David Boyer: Small Town Murder: True Crime Stories From Knox County, Indiana Murder In the Hoosier Heartland: Infamous Indiana Murderers & Fledgling Serial KillersCriminal Activity In the Hoosier Heartland: Small Town Crime StoriesThe Blitz: A Rape Victim's StoryThe Long Journey Home