TURN UP THE VOLUME — IF YOU DARE!
“DON’T YOU WISH THAT YOU WERE DEAD?”
THE HISTORY, HORROR & HAUNTINGS OF AMERICAN MURDER BALLADS
BY TROY TAYLOR (2025)
$18.00
AVAILABLE TO ORDER STARTING JUNE 30!
Author Troy Taylor returns to the shadowy crossroads of music and murder as he pulls back the curtain to reveal the true stories behind America’s most haunting murder ballads. Dim the lights, drop the needle, and let the mournful wail of tragedy, death, and ghosts fill the air – because behind every tune lies a tale that echoes our worst fears and darkest pain and desires.
Once considered the lurid headlines of the day set to music, murder ballads told tales of bloodshed, melancholy, madness, and revenge. Victims were beaten, stabbed, or shot – and killers often hanged – but the songs themselves never died. Passed down from generation to generation, these eerie anthems took on a life of their own, fascinating new listeners through decades of change.
From front porch guitar strumming and saloon stages to crackling records and modern-day playlists, murder ballads have crept into every genre of American music from folk to country, blues, and, of course, rock-n-roll. Though their roots dig deep into the nineteenth century, they remain with us today in ways that might surprise you. Their influence simply refuses to die.
So, get ready for a spine-tingling ride through music, mayhem, madness, and malevolent ghosts that will leave you haunted long after the last note fades.
MORE ABOUT THE BOOK!
TWO BOOKS FROM TROY TAYLOR ABOUT THE DARK SIDE OF AMERICAN MUSIC! Get both books, “DON’T YOU WISH THAT YOU WERE DEAD” and “A SONG OF DANCE AND DEATH” for the discount price of just $32!
The story of American murder ballad is like a trip along a dusty side road through history, madness, and murder. All kinds of people walked that road – wronged husbands, victims of unrequited love, thieves, killers, outlaws, and most of all, unlucky women who met their fate at the hands of the men who both loved and hated them. It's a road where obsessions turned to violence and the line between love and murder blurred in the dust.
The murder ballads in this book have been collected from every corner of the country and from throughout American history. This book dives deep into the bloody and violent songs that keep the stories alive – and into the tales of ghosts who have never moved on.
Among the tragic tales are:
- The St. Louis barroom murder that inspired one of the most famous murder tunes in history, following a blood-soaked timeline that changed a pimp turned killer into a folk hero.
- An unrepentant backwoods serial killer who went to the gallows and whose crimes would have likely faded into obscurity – if not for the macabre tune that immortalized them.
- An unsolved murder, a missing corpse, and a haunting that continues to this day.
- The heartbreaking ballad of a murdered young woman whose severed head has never been found, leaving her spirit to wander the place where her corpse was found for more than a century.
- A pregnant young woman who never returned from what she believed would be her wedding trip and the ghost that walks the shores of the lake in which she drowned.
- Two highway murder sprees that left trails of victims behind – and inspired some dark and unsettling tunes.
- The brutal murder of a pin-up model whose tragic end sparked not one, but two very different songs.
- And much more! Each song and each story more gripping and gruesome than the last. It’s a book that will take you to the place where history bleeds and the dead still sing.
Read this book with the lights on and be sure to listen a little closer to some of the songs you hear the next time you turn on the radio!