John Bellamy

The author of The Killer in the Attic presents a new collection of real-life tales of crime, mystery, terror, and disaster from Cleveland's past, including the title story about a death on the roller coaster at Euclid Beach Park, in an entertaining and informative anthology. Original.

"Fascinating and yes entertaining ... often in a bizarre way that leaves the reader feeling guilty for being so entertained." -- Medina County Gazette The fourth volume in John Stark Bellamy's classic Cleveland crime and disaster series features 26 more gruesome, horrible, tragic, and despicable--but true--tales, including: Love-crazed Clark Hill, who warmed up his teenage girlfriend with an overdose of Spanish Fly in her milk shake; The chilling Cuyahoga River scow disaster, in which 16 clinging, drowning men fought so desperately to stay afloat that they dragged each other to the dark bottom of the river; Doomed workmen Patrick Toolis and Patrick Cleary, buried alive in the very concrete that became Cleveland's celebrated Terminal Tower; Not-so-friendly Dorothy Kaplan, who deposited shards of glass in her neighbors' milk in hopes of helping slow the "noisy" couple down a bit; Mafia legend Shondor Birns, whose high-profile life of crime came to an explosive end when he started up his Lincoln Continental one fine day; And other detailed and compelling accounts of the unspeakable.

"Bellamy writes with razor-edged wit and his own particular brand of charm." -- Medina County Gazette The third book in this popular series delivers 25 more incredible but true stories of Cleveland crime and disaster, including: Crotchety old vigilante Jarvis Meach, who shot down robbers in cold blood with his beloved shotguns, "Old Bunty" and "Little Pet." Medina's Wickedest Stepmother, Mary Garrett, who locked her stepdaughters in their bedroom, set fire to the house, and did all she could to get the furniture out unharmed. The horrible Ashtabula Bridge Disaster, which killed more than 80 holiday travelers trapped in a fiery inferno after their passenger train plunged 82 feet to the snow-covered ground; The strange death of Minnie Peters, who bashed in her own head with her husband's machinist's hammer in a most gruesome act of suicide; Cleveland's saddest circus, when 15 minutes of raging fire killed more than 50 animals. The show went on again that evening; Bellamy's signature style brings to life the colorful characters who took part in some of Cleveland's most exciting and tragic moments. Crooks and cops, heroes and villains, ordinary folks who found themselves in extraordinary circumstances.

"Morbidly fascinating and wickedly entertaining." -- The Plain Dealer The second volume in Bellamy's popular series includes 13 more incredible true stories of Cleveland crime and disaster, including ... Martha Wise, Medina's not-so-merry widow, who poisoned a dozen relatives with arsenic--including her own husband, mother, brother, niece, and nephews--because she enjoyed attending funerals ... The legendary Torso Murders, which baffled Cleveland safety directory Eliot Ness, two Cuyahoga County coroners, and the entire Cleveland police force as they tried in vain to catch the perpetrator--whom newspapers dubbed the "Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run" ... The unspeakably horrible Collinwood School Fire of 1908, in which 172 schoolchildren perished in panic because of obstructed fire exits ... Hammer-wielding Velma West, a big-city girl of Cleveland's Jazz Age driven to murder her small-town husband by the slow pace of life of Painesville--and her own obsession with another woman ... The Flats lumber fire of 1914, which leveled Cleveland's industrial Flats, melted bridges, and very nearly set the entire city ablaze ... The enduring mystery of ten-year-old Beverly Potts, whose puzzling disappearance from west-side Halloran Park in 1951 launched Cleveland's greatest manhunt ... And many other local heroes and villains in these compelling tales of mayhem, melancholy, and mystery.