Overview

Eight chilling stories of crime, disaster and unusual deaths from southeastern Pennsylvania. 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. AUTHOR: 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). 16 b/w photographs

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9781955041164

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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 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 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

Author Information

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).

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