Watching People Burn

by Julian Darius

The deadliest school massacre in U.S. history, its victims in grade school. A terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Three separate, coordinated bombings, culminating in a suicide car bomb that killed a public official and sent shrapnel into the crowd. This isn't fantasy. It all really happened... in rural Michigan, in 1927. This historical screenplay dissects the Bath school disaster. It explores the attacks' mysterious perpetrator, including the haunting final message he left for the police and the traumatic childhood that may have spurred his crimes. But the story also explores the myriad ways the attacks affected its victims, transformed a town, and reflected a moment of transition in American history. From Martian Lit. More info at

Genres: Historical Fiction, True Crime, Horror

192 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2011

About the author

A creative writer and comics scholar, Dr. Julian Darius holds degrees in English (Ph.D., M.A.) and French (M.A.).

Darius founded Martian Lit, for which he writes several acclaimed comics titles, including Martian Comics, Necropolitan, Kimot Ren, Forever Man, and The Synthetics. He's also published a novel, some short stories, and a screenplay.

In 1996, while still an undergraduate, Darius founded what would become Sequart Organization, an organization devoted to promoting comic books and pop culture as a legitimate art form. He wrote copiously for Sequart’s website, has authored books on comics, and has produced documentary films for the organization.

He co-hosts the Stories out of Time and Space podcast with Scott Weatherly. It covers science-fiction movies and TV shows.

He currently lives in Illinois.

Reviews

[C.H. Valentino · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Watching People Burn" is a precision piece, producing the kind of visceral reaction I expect from great fiction, but my own ambivalence shocked me. From the opening scene, I was pulled into that bygone era by simple but stunning dialogue, while feeling a sense of anticipatory dread. "History offers no explanations, only interpretations." (from the author's notes On the Title and Script) Darius not only took me through a riveting interpretation of the tragedy at Bath, but offered a explanation to Kehoe's last message, "Criminals are made, not born." I couldn't help but feel empathy for Kehoe, wonder about his childhood, and the quite parts of his mind that seems as full of rage as they were sorrow. Darius notes that "serial killer can be an intoxicating figure but his victims' conflicted responses are important to understand." Kehoe's message reaches through time in this piece, and though the totality of what drove him remains anyone guess, Darius offers a brutal and gripping account of what might have. Truly lovely.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick read. I read it in a few hours. It partly reads quickly because it is written as a screenplay so pages are short. That being said it was a well written story with fascinating characters. Kehoe was a tragic and frightening character. This book reads like a tragic fiction tale and I have to remind myself this was an actual historic event that occurred in our nation's history. There are so many issues to consider as this story moves along. Psychological issues, political issues, familial issues, religious issues. All these issues help create the outcome of this tragedy or do they? That is the question at the end as we read the murderer's final thoughts. What causes a Columbine, a Virginia Tech tragedy? We think terrorism is a new phenomenon in our recent US history but we see through stories like this one that even a century ago there is evil among us. There are those among us that will do grave harm in the name of justice, or for political justifications, insanity or maybe just plain evil.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as a FirstRead from GoodReads.

I was surprised when I received it and found it was a screenplay, but I quickly delved into it full force, finishing it in one day!

This true story is so tragic, compelling, and, thankfully, detailed- due mostly to the "neighbor" who happened to witness many of the events taking place.

Of course, a little poetic license has to be taken, because no one will ever know the reasons for the lapses in time in the characters lives as well as personal conversations between the couple.

The scenes flow really seamlessly from one to the other, and I like how the "terrorist" is not the focus of the story- instead, the author focuses on the tragedy- not ending there, but continuing on and showing us how the little town was turned upside down for a short time.

The suicide "note" left is eerie. While I think that the character believes that he was "made a criminal" due to the actions of the superintendent and the school board, the truth is, he was "made" into a criminal years before he entered adulthood.

This was truly a "GoodRead", and I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys US history and events, especially smaller events such as this (in no way "small" to the families involved)that have largely went unnoticed by John Q. Public.

[Kevin Thurman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a screenplay about the first terrorist bombing in America. The bombing and how it reveals the prejudices and evils of people around it reflects a very real vision of a divided America. The work also reveals that evil is not extraordinary, or arcane. Evil, as Darius shows us, is born of our own prejudices, lack of patience, and our insecurities that distill into horrible actions.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this screenplay is based on an event that occurred almost ninety years ago, the story is relevant today. In the late 1920’s, Andrew Kehoe, a depressed man with a history of a problem childhood, bombed a school in Bath, Michigan. Today, we read stories about bombings almost every day in every newspaper or see scenes of bombing aftermaths on the nightly news. However, most people probably do not give much thought to how these events affect the victims and the communities. In this screenplay, the reader experiences this and more. Because it is a screenplay, the story reads quickly, which only heightens the impact. The author also has shown the reader how such an event affects and changes the victims and the community. This compelling story is a must-read for anyone interested in today’s events and understanding how they affect all of us. This was not an act of terrorism as understood today, but it parallels terrorist acts and events in most ways. I received this free from goodreads.

[Jacqui · Rating 3 out of 5]

No complaints about the story, or the format. It's an odd thing to read a screenplay at first, but after a while I got used to it. Fairly well-written and easy to get through. However, my lower score is simply because of the several grammatical and spelling errors I spotted. Also, the way the characters spoke seems unlikely.

[Sadie Hazzard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one messed-up story. I can't believe it's true!

[Chadwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this on Kindle and then bought the print version for my shelf. Highly recommended!

[Jessica – Books, Books, and Japan! · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard to believe the book is based on real-life events, especially since I had never heard of them. The book’s screenplay format might not be to everyone’s liking, but I did not have an issue with it. Watching People Burn is mainly a thought-provoking and informative piece for me, a look into the country’s history and one of its most traumatic happenings.

[Jaggard Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

The dialogue itself was rather dull, but this copy had a beautiful afterword by the writer with a really intriguing explanation of his motivation!

[Larry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book on goodreads and learned a lot about an American tragedy that few people have ever heard of. Julian has written a screen play about a school house that was blown up in 1929. My problem with the book was just that it was a screen play and for me it was a quick read but far from an easy read as all the int ex lines took away from the story and confused me..I liked the story and Juian's interputation of history. We will have to agree to disagree in the comparison to other historic events like 911 but again I am against the book type not the story. At the end of the book he tries to sell the reader on seeing the movie and I agree with him it would make a good movie...

[Teresa Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

a screenplay i recieved as a giveaway from goodreads. i found it a quick read. it was interesting but hard FOR ME to follow though I am sure not most other people will have difficulties following it as it was quite good. a historic tragic tragedy in in itself. written well though scrren plays really are not good for me to read

[Joni Aveni · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have enjoyed this book more if:
1. There had actually been a movie made from this screenplay and
2. There hadn't been spelling and grammatical errors on practically every other page.

Having just read "Bath Massacre," I didn't learn anything new from this book except that some publishers do not hire very good editors.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a dramatic and fictionalized account of the true story about a school bombing. The dialogue is crisp and tight. I really felt that the author made every word count! Every word is important, there is not one line of throw away dialogue in the screenplay.

Criminals are made not born.

[Butterflyshines · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very sad part of American History that I didn't know about. Very well written book. Not a book I would of picked up on my own but I am glad I read it.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

written as a screen play but once you get used to the format it's a very good story..and true.