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Real Life

Is a Nightmare

Go ahead—embrace the dark side. Take a walk through the deepest recesses of the minds of real-life killers, mobsters, and crooks this Halloween season. From Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy to John Gotti, there's no denying that sometimes real life is scarier than any fictional world of terror. For good measure, we've added in some "true" tales of ghosts and hauntings inside prisons, homes, nightclubs, and more. Judge for yourself whether they belong is the realm of reality or fiction.

Once you're done with the real-life tales of terror on this page, get more spine-tingling Thrills & Chills, including Sweet Scares for the kids, blood-curdling Dark Fantasy reads, and of course the forever-classic Horror.

Dead Space

Take a Walk with a Killer

Starvation Heights: A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest

Starvation Heights: A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest

from $7.49

American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century

American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century

Maureen Callahan

from $11.19

The Evil Within

The Evil Within

Darren Galsworthy

from $7.39

The Devil in the White City

The Devil in the White City

from $4.19

Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer

Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer

Katherine Ramsland

from $19.56

The Last Book on the Left: Stories of Murder and Mayhem from History's Most Notorious Serial Killers

The Last Book on the Left: Stories of Murder and Mayhem from History's Most Notorious Serial Killers

from $5.19

So Brilliantly Clever: Parker, Hulme and the Murder that Shocked the World

So Brilliantly Clever: Parker, Hulme and the Murder that Shocked the World

from $5.99

from $12.86

The Devil's Harvest

The Devil's Harvest

Jessica Garrison

from $4.79

I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer

I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer

Michelle McNamara

from $4.09

Savage Appetites: Four True Stories of Women, Crime, and Obsession

Savage Appetites: Four True Stories of Women, Crime, and Obsession

from $5.49

The Stranger Beside Me

The Stranger Beside Me

from $4.59

from $6.59

The Big Book of Serial Killers: An Encyclopedia of Serial Killers

The Big Book of Serial Killers: An Encyclopedia of Serial Killers

from $9.99

Robert Graysmith

from $4.89

Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit

Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit

John E. Douglas

from $5.09

John Wayne Gacy: Defending a Monster

John Wayne Gacy: Defending a Monster

from $6.39

My Friend Dahmer

My Friend Dahmer

from $6.99

Murder & Mayhem in Essex County (MA) (The History Press)

Murder & Mayhem in Essex County (MA) (The History Press)

from $8.59

Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men

Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men

Harold Schechter

from $12.32

from $4.69

Hit Man

Nobody Crimes Like the Mob

Killing the Mob

Killing the Mob

from $7.09

The Irishman, Gotti, and Mafia Hitmen : The Organized Crime Bundle

The Irishman, Gotti, and Mafia Hitmen : The Organized Crime Bundle

from $14.49

Gaspipe: Confessions of a Mafia Boss

Gaspipe: Confessions of a Mafia Boss

from $5.89

The Butcher: Anatomy of a Mafia Psychopath

The Butcher: Anatomy of a Mafia Psychopath

from $15.11

Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia

Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia

from $9.09

El Narco: Inside Mexico's Criminal Insurgency

El Narco: Inside Mexico's Criminal Insurgency

from $8.49

Bones: Brothers, Horses, Cartels, and the Borderland Dream

Bones: Brothers, Horses, Cartels, and the Borderland Dream

from $11.39

The Vapors: A Southern Family, the New York Mob, and the Rise and Fall of Hot Springs, America's Forgotten Capital of Vice

The Vapors: A Southern Family, the New York Mob, and the Rise and Fall of Hot Springs, America's Forgotten Capital of Vice

from $4.69

Among the Thugs

Among the Thugs

from $7.29

I Heard You Paint Houses: Frank The Irishman Sheeran & Closing the Case on Jimmy Hoffa

I Heard You Paint Houses: Frank The Irishman Sheeran & Closing the Case on Jimmy Hoffa

from $4.49

Nicholas Pileggi

from $5.69

The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth

The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth

from $4.29

Anthony M. DeStefano

from $9.99

Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires

Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires

from $11.19

Original Gangster: The Real Life Story of One of America's Most Notorious Drug Lords

Original Gangster: The Real Life Story of One of America's Most Notorious Drug Lords

from $9.19

Hollywood Godfather

Hollywood Godfather

from $8.49

from $5.09

from $5.09

from $14.39

Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A.

Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A.

Luis J. Rodríguez

from $3.69

Monster: The Autobiography Of An L.A. Gang Member

Monster: The Autobiography Of An L.A. Gang Member

from $4.19

from $3.99

Payday

No Honor Among Crooks and Thieves

The Less People Know About Us

The Less People Know About Us

Axton Betz-Hamilton

from $10.39

American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road

American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road

from $9.69

Catch Me If You Can

Catch Me If You Can

Frank W. Abagnale

from $4.69

Playing Dead: A Journey Through the World of Death Fraud

Playing Dead: A Journey Through the World of Death Fraud

Elizabeth Greenwood

from $6.79

Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World

Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World

from $4.79

Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art

Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art

from $4.79

Can You Ever Forgive Me?: Memoirs of a Literary Forger

Can You Ever Forgive Me?: Memoirs of a Literary Forger

from $4.19

Maxine: "Call Me Madam"

Maxine: "Call Me Madam"

Maxine Temple Jones

from $20.19

The Bowery: The Strange History of New York's Oldest Street

The Bowery: The Strange History of New York's Oldest Street

Stephen Paul Devillo

from $7.09

High Achiever: The Incredible True Story of One Addict's Double Life

High Achiever: The Incredible True Story of One Addict's Double Life

Tiffany Jenkins

from $4.89

Five Points: The Nineteenth-Century New York City Neighborhood That Invented Tap Dance, Stole Elections and Became the World's Most Notorious Slum

Five Points: The Nineteenth-Century New York City Neighborhood That Invented Tap Dance, Stole Elections and Became the World's Most Notorious Slum

from $4.89

The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld

The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld

from $5.09

The Family Next Door

The Family Next Door

from $5.69

Empire of Sin: A Story of Sex, Jazz, Murder, and the Battle for Modern New Orleans

Empire of Sin: A Story of Sex, Jazz, Murder, and the Battle for Modern New Orleans

from $4.79

Wicked Victorian Boston

Wicked Victorian Boston

from $17.34

The Darkest Web: Drugs, Death and Destroyed Lives... The Inside Story of the Internet's Evil Twin

The Darkest Web: Drugs, Death and Destroyed Lives... The Inside Story of the Internet's Evil Twin

from $12.29

Charles Leerhsen

from $11.19

The King of Confidence

The King of Confidence

from $6.59

The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century

The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century

from $5.29

Scam Me If You Can: Simple Strategies to Outsmart Today's Ripoff Artists

Scam Me If You Can: Simple Strategies to Outsmart Today's Ripoff Artists

Frank W. Abagnale

from $5.19

Rachel DeLoache Williams

from $4.99

The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across the Last Untamed Frontier

The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across the Last Untamed Frontier

from $6.69

Diamond Doris: The True Story of the World's Most Notorious Jewel Thief

Diamond Doris: The True Story of the World's Most Notorious Jewel Thief

from $5.39

Dark Souls

Turn Off the Lights and Experience Ghostly Terror

Ghosts of Bobby Mackey's Music World

Ghosts of Bobby Mackey's Music World

from $23.99

History & Haunting of the Myrtles Plantation

History & Haunting of the Myrtles Plantation

Rebecca F. Pittman

from $24.95

Beware the Night

Beware the Night

from $6.69

The Haunted: One Family's Nightmare

The Haunted: One Family's Nightmare

Lorraine Warren

from $11.19

I'm Looking Through You: Growing Up Haunted: A Memoir

I'm Looking Through You: Growing Up Haunted: A Memoir

Jennifer Finney Boylan

from $5.29

Ghosts and Murders of Manhattan

Ghosts and Murders of Manhattan

from $19.55

Horror in the Heartland: Strange and Gothic Tales from the Midwest

Horror in the Heartland: Strange and Gothic Tales from the Midwest

from $10.29

Haunted Graveyards of the Ozarks

Haunted Graveyards of the Ozarks

David E. Harkins

from $10.29

The Amityville Horror

The Amityville Horror

from $4.79

The Uninvited: The True Story of the Union Screaming House

The Uninvited: The True Story of the Union Screaming House

Steven LaChance

from $15.74

The Haunted House a True Ghost Story

The Haunted House a True Ghost Story

from $9.63

American Ghost: A Family's Haunted Past in the Desert Southwest

American Ghost: A Family's Haunted Past in the Desert Southwest

Hannah Nordhaus

from $3.79

Haunted: The Incredible True Story of a Canadian Family's Experience Living in a Haunted House

Haunted: The Incredible True Story of a Canadian Family's Experience Living in a Haunted House

Dorah L. Williams

from $8.19

The Demon of Brownsville Road: A Pittsburgh Family's Battle with Evil in Their Home

The Demon of Brownsville Road: A Pittsburgh Family's Battle with Evil in Their Home

from $7.19

from $4.19

The World of Lore: Dreadful Places

The World of Lore: Dreadful Places

from $12.59

The Bell Witch: An American Haunting

The Bell Witch: An American Haunting

from $11.39

Ghosts Caught on Film 2

Ghosts Caught on Film 2

from $4.29

Haunted Prisons

Haunted Prisons

from $15.69

Weird Highway: Oklahoma: Route 66 History and Hauntings, Legends and Lore

Weird Highway: Oklahoma: Route 66 History and Hauntings, Legends and Lore

from $13.85

Ilomilo

Bring the Nightmare Home with Fun & Games

The Wicked Baker

The Wicked Baker

Out of Stock

Brain Games Large Print - Crime Scene Puzzles

Brain Games Large Print - Crime Scene Puzzles

Publications International

from $5.19

Brain Games - Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) #2

Brain Games - Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) #2

Publications International

from $4.42

The Serial Killer Coloring Book II: An Adult Coloring Book Full of Notorious Serial Killers

The Serial Killer Coloring Book II: An Adult Coloring Book Full of Notorious Serial Killers

from $9.95

The Killer Cookbook: Last Meals: True Crime Trivia and Disturbingly Delicious Recipes from History's Most Infamous Serial Killers and Murderers

The Killer Cookbook: Last Meals: True Crime Trivia and Disturbingly Delicious Recipes from History's Most Infamous Serial Killers and Murderers

from $14.70

Law and Order True Crime Trivia Crossword Word Search Activity Puzzle Book: TV Series Cast & Characters Edition

Law and Order True Crime Trivia Crossword Word Search Activity Puzzle Book: TV Series Cast & Characters Edition

Mega Media Depot

Out of Stock

Circle It, Serial Killer Facts, Word Search, Puzzle Book

Circle It, Serial Killer Facts, Word Search, Puzzle Book

Lowry Global Media LLC

Out of Stock

Bloody Alphabet: The Scariest Serial Killers Coloring Book. A True Crime Adult Gift - Full of Famous Murderers. For Adults Only. (True Crime Gifts)

Bloody Alphabet: The Scariest Serial Killers Coloring Book. A True Crime Adult Gift - Full of Famous Murderers. For Adults Only. (True Crime Gifts)

from $12.18

LAW AND ORDER TRUE CRIME Sudoku and Word Search Activity Puzzle Book: TV Series Edition

LAW AND ORDER TRUE CRIME Sudoku and Word Search Activity Puzzle Book: TV Series Edition

Mega Media Depot

Out of Stock

LAW AND ORDER TRUE CRIME Sudoku and Crossword Activity Puzzle Book: TV Series Edition

LAW AND ORDER TRUE CRIME Sudoku and Crossword Activity Puzzle Book: TV Series Edition

Mega Media Depot

Out of Stock

Mortuary Confidential: Undertakers Spill the Dirt

Mortuary Confidential: Undertakers Spill the Dirt

from $7.19

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

from $3.99

Eerie Elegance Eats: A Halloween Cookbook of Creepy Cuisine

Eerie Elegance Eats: A Halloween Cookbook of Creepy Cuisine

Britta Peterson

from $24.90

The Necronomnomnom: Recipes and Rites from the Lore of H. P. Lovecraft

The Necronomnomnom: Recipes and Rites from the Lore of H. P. Lovecraft

Red Duke Games, LLC

from $14.99

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Sweet Scares

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