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Dark History of Penn's Woods

Dark History of Penn's Woods

Crimes, Hauntings, and Unusual Deaths in Southeastern Pennsylvania

by Jennifer L. Green

Imprint: Brookline Books

216 Pages, 6 x 9 in, 16 b/w photographs

Paperback
9781955041164
September 2023
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$19.95

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Praise

“Dark History of Penn’s Woods is the perfect book to keep you up all night… It’s ghostly, it’s ghastly, and we guarantee some of the included photos will stay with you!” — Philly Mag

A sequel to the first Dark History book, Murder, Madness, and Misadventure in Southeastern Pennsylvania, this book features more true tales of the region's disasters, deaths and tragedies – offering readers a window into a macabre slice of history.

From the “coffin ships” that brought desperate European immigrants to American shores, to an explosion that took the lives of nineteen people, the Greater Philadelphia area has experienced its fair share of tragedy. Learn about the catastrophic fire that took the lives of nine ballerinas, investigate gruesome cases of murder for life insurance, and ponder the possibility that a Pennsylvania businessman appeared in ghostly form on a busy street the day before he died. Finally, one of the most puzzling cold cases in Pennsylvania history is finally solved after more than sixty years using forensic genealogy, while another unidentified little girl still waits for her own justice.

1. Odyssey of Woe: Coffin Ships on the Delaware River
2. The Jackson Fireworks Explosion in Chester
3. Bonfire of the Ballet Girls
4. Piercing the Veil: A Doppelganger in Delaware County
5. Root of All Evil: The Goss-Udderzook Mystery
6. The End of the Line: The Byers Axe Murder
7. A Child on Death Row: The Unjust Execution of Alexander McClay Williams
8. The Boy in the Box: America's Unknown Child

Jennifer L. Green graduated from University of Delaware with majors in anthropology and history, and earned her Master’s degree in American History at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. She has conducted research and written for websites like ExplorePAHistory.com and the Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia and has worked at historic sites throughout Chester and Delaware counties. She is the author of Dark History of Penn's Woods: Murder, Madness, and Misadventure in Southeastern Pennsylvania (Brookline Books, 2021).

"Dark History is a compendium of bizarre and spooky events hereabouts from the days of the earliest Swedish settlers up through a mysterious case of spontaneous human combustion (there’s a catchy acronym, SHC) in Upper Darby in 1964... [T]he perfect book to keep you up all night." ~Philadelphia Magazine

"Throughout the book, [Green] iterates that she is writing about history that has been largely forgotten and ignored due to its dark nature. By bringing these stories to the light again, she has given her readers a great gift... I cannot recommend it highly enough." ~Broad Street Review

“It is a compendium of local bizarre and spooky events, stories, and customs… The book is a tribute to suburban Philadelphia weirdness, evildoing, and death.” ~Montco Today

Dark History of Penn's Woods

Crimes, Hauntings, and Unusual Deaths in Southeastern Pennsylvania

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