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A Scream in the Dark, And Other True Crime Stories
Eighteen authors write about true crime accounts.
324 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 13, 2023
Compiling an anthology book is difficult. You have to comb through source material and then get permissions to reprint material that has already been published. Maybe that’s why this book is a little uneven at times. The project is admirable and interesting. “A Scream in the Dark” compiles hard-to-find true crime stories from old, out-of-print pulp detective magazines. That alone seems to be worth compiling a book in order to preserve these stories, some of which are written by well known writers who’d go on to write crime novels that would become classic noir films.
The problem is that among the 21 stories here, only seven really stood out to me upon finishing the book. Some I can’t even remember unless if I go back and scan through the story. Simply put, the stories are a little inconsistent. A pair of “true stories” are curiously framed by fictional characters of the writers’ own creations. D.L. Champion’s story on Belle Gunness seems to embellish some facts about her childhood that I can’t corroborate through a quick Google search. Some writers just have a much better command of the narration.
I will say that this book is a great representation of the “as-told-to” style of hard boiled crime writing that influenced noir so heavily. If you’re a fan of noir this might be picking up and worth reading. Stories are often told by witnesses or cops, and it’s cool to see what some of the writers do with this terse style.
Highlights in the book include an unsolved case involving the death of an early Hollywood director, a case featuring the footprints of a murderer in the snow, a case about ghostly music wafting up from a crumpled car at the bottom of a canyon, a case about an innocent accused of murder, a case about a rearranged murder scene, and a case about a lost woman whose body is found in a trunk.
I just can’t feel like I can give this a higher rating when I really only enjoyed about one-third of the book.
The problem is that among the 21 stories here, only seven really stood out to me upon finishing the book. Some I can’t even remember unless if I go back and scan through the story. Simply put, the stories are a little inconsistent. A pair of “true stories” are curiously framed by fictional characters of the writers’ own creations. D.L. Champion’s story on Belle Gunness seems to embellish some facts about her childhood that I can’t corroborate through a quick Google search. Some writers just have a much better command of the narration.
I will say that this book is a great representation of the “as-told-to” style of hard boiled crime writing that influenced noir so heavily. If you’re a fan of noir this might be picking up and worth reading. Stories are often told by witnesses or cops, and it’s cool to see what some of the writers do with this terse style.
Highlights in the book include an unsolved case involving the death of an early Hollywood director, a case featuring the footprints of a murderer in the snow, a case about ghostly music wafting up from a crumpled car at the bottom of a canyon, a case about an innocent accused of murder, a case about a rearranged murder scene, and a case about a lost woman whose body is found in a trunk.
I just can’t feel like I can give this a higher rating when I really only enjoyed about one-third of the book.
December 29, 2021
This is a compilation of true crime stories that aren’t easily found. The crimes range from grand larceny to serial killings. There are even a couple cases from the 1920’s, which I found to be very interesting. Each story allows you to see how crime was handled at that point in time and learn about crimes you likely have never heard of.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews