Wicked Grim Stories

Dayton, Ohio — a neighborhood of grand homes, forgotten dreams, and whispers in the dark. Five Oaks was once Dayton’s jewel. At the turn of the 20th century, the neighborhood was filled with tree-lined streets, elegant Victorian homes, and wealthy families who worked in the city’s booming factories. Horse-drawn carriages clattered over brick roads, and…

Atlantic Ocean, 1870s–1880s — two vessels, one vanished crew, and a history that smelled of salt and misfortune. The sea has a long memory. In 1872, sailors found the Mary Celeste drifting between Portugal and the Azores. Her sails flapped slack, her lifeboat was gone, and her crew — every man, woman, and child aboard…

Kansas, 1879 — a drought, a dry well, and a secret the earth held tight. They meant only to draw water. It was July of 1879, and the prairie town of Medicine Lodge, Kansas, lay parched under a brutal sun. Crops crisped in their rows, cattle bawled with thirst, and the wind carried grit that…