Michael J. Bielawa

Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley have a rich and varied history, but some of its darker chapters have remained hidden. These include an abandoned road guarded by an invisible entity, factory ghosts, a monstrous serpent, unnerving cemetery lore, demonic houses and a haunted restaurant. Once declared dead due to decades of being inundated with industrial and chemical pollutants, the Naugatuck River has been brought back to life by environmental stewardship, which has been a welcome benefit to residents. However, the river's cleanup has also awakened supernatural stories that carve a paranormal path from the stream's source in northwest Connecticut to its confluence with the Housatonic. Local author and historian Michael Bielawa reveals the eerie dark side of the river and this fabled valley.

Since its founding in 1638, the bustling Connecticut metropolis of New Haven has been plagued by all manner of sin and scandal. Stories of grave robbers and madmen in lighthouses are only a sliver of the Elm City's darker side. Author and historian Michael J. Bielawa chronicles the city's historic tales of pirates, mysteries and unusual deaths. Learn about Yale hauntings and Town and Gown riots, the Red Pirate William Delaney and the mysterious labor activist Frank Sokolowsky, whose strange murder in 1920 may have been at the hands of a jealous wife or part of a political plot. Discover the overzealous Wakemanites whose Christmas Eve exorcism led to the brutal murder of a man they believed possessed. Join Bielawa if you dare to peer into the shadowy corners of New Haven's wicked history.

Since its founding in 1638, the bustling Connecticut metropolis of New Haven has been plagued by all manner of sin and scandal. Stories of grave robbers and madmen in lighthouses are only a sliver of the Elm City's darker side. Author and historian Michael J. Bielawa chronicles the city's historic tales of pirates, mysteries and unusual deaths. Learn about Yale hauntings and Town and Gown riots, the Red Pirate William Delaney and the mysterious labor activist Frank Sokolowsky, whose strange murder in 1920 may have been at the hands of a jealous wife or part of a political plot. Discover the overzealous Wakemanites whose Christmas Eve exorcism led to the brutal murder of a man they believed possessed. Join Bielawa if you dare to peer into the shadowy corners of New Haven's wicked history.

Beneath the smokestacks of the gritty cityscape of Bridgeport, Connecticut is the shocking criminal underbelly of this New England community. Sin and vice have long had a home on the shores of the Long Island Sound, and Bridgeport's sinister past is littered with tales of pirates, mobsters, bizarre Victorian murders, and even rumors of a doctor's attempts to reanimate the dead. Historian Michael J. Bielawa investigates such bizarre crimes as the unsolved murder of philanthropist James Beardsley, and the grisly discovery in Yellow Mill Pond during the 19th century, which helped legitimize forensic science. Join Bielawa as he navigates a precarious path through the unforgettably macabre and scandalous misdeeds of Bridgeport.