Horror isn't limited to the realm of fiction. There have been plenty of people in history who have terrorized communities or nations with their crimes, whether through the brutality of their actions, the number of crimes committed, the lack of quick resolution, or the sheer audacity. True crime can be just as frightening as fictional horror.

Kansas has not been immune to crime. Criminals exist in communities of all sizes from small towns to large cities. Dodge City was known for its lawlessness and the famous lawmen who were brought in to bring order: Charlie Bassett, Bat Masterson, and Wyatt Earp. Not only were these and other lawmen well-known across the country and throughout history, but many infamous criminals committed their crimes in Kansas: the Dalton Gang; the Benders; the BTK Strangler; and the Clutter family killers, Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, about which Truman Capote wrote In Cold Blood, DB 22726.

Read about these and other real killers and criminals of Kansas this October with this selection of Kansas true crime books from the Kansas Talking Books (KTB) collection. Your access to this criminal history of Kansas is, as always, available for immediate direct download with BARD, Braille and Audio Reading Download. This download service is provided by the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled and KTB. Use BARD Mobile to download and listen to these books directly on your smartphone or tablet, or use the new BARD Express player to listen on a Windows computer. To learn more, visit our website, or contact the KTB office office at KTB@ks.gov or 1-800-362-0699.

DB 22726 In cold blood: a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences by Truman Capote 
The author coined the term "nonfiction novel" for this account of the murder of a Kansas family. He reconstructs the crime and the backgrounds and personalities of all the principals, drawing his information from observation, interviews, and official records.

DB 56817 Suddenly gone: the Kansas murders of serial killer Richard Grissom by Dan Mitrione 
Former FBI agent details the 1989 Kansas crime spree of serial killer Richard Grissom Jr., who kidnapped and tortured young women. Grissom's psychological troubles--and a grisly murder he committed as a youth--were revealed in his juvenile record, and such deviant behavior continued into his adulthood. Violence and strong language. 1995.

DB 60180 Nightmare in Wichita: the hunt for the BTK Strangler by Robert Beattie 
Lawyer chronicles the more-than-three-decade search for the self-named serial killer BTK (bind, torture, kill), who terrorized Wichita, Kansas, residents. Begins with the 1974 discovery of the first-known victims, summarizes the murderer's media correspondence, and follows the case through the 2005 arrest of Dennis Rader. Violence. Bestseller. 2005.

DB 107236 Hell's half-acre: the untold story of the Benders, a serial killer family on the American frontier by Susan Jonusas 
Study of the Bender family, whose homestead in Labette County, Kansas, was the site of numerous murders and a mass grave. Discusses the social environment of the early 1870s, the Bender family and their victims, and the investigation and search for the family after neighbors discovered the crime. Some violence. Commercial audiobook. 2022.

DBC06579 Shadow on the hill: the true story of a 1925 Kansas murder by Diana Staresinic-Deane 
On Decoration Day in 1925, John Knoblock returned to his Kansas farm to find his wife slaughtered on the kitchen floor. Within hours, dozens of lawmen, family members, well-meaning neighbors and gawkers paraded through the Knoblock farmstead, contaminating and destroying what little evidence was left behind. A small team of inexperienced lawmen, including a newly elected sheriff who had never run a murder investigation, attempted to reconstruct and solve the most gruesome murder in the history of Coffey County, Kansas. Adult. Some violence.

DBC14923 Notorious Kansas bank heists: gunslingers to gangsters by Rod Beemer 
Bank robbers wreaked havoc in the Sunflower State. After robbing the Chautauqua State Bank in 1911, outlaw Elmer McCurdy was killed by lawmen but wasn't buried for sixty-six years. His afterlife can be described only as bizarre. Belle Starr's nephew Henry Starr claimed to have robbed twenty-one banks. The Dalton gang failed in their attempt to rob two banks simultaneously, but others accomplished this in Waterville in 1911. Nearly four thousand known vigilantes patrolled the Sunflower State during the 1920s and 1930s to combat the criminal menace. One group even had an airplane with a .50-caliber machine gun. Join author Rod Beemer for a wild ride into Kansas's tumultuous bank heist history. Some strong language and some violence.

DBC17283 Beyond Cold Blood: the KBI from Ma Barker to BTK by Larry Welch 
Ma Barker and Pretty Boy Floyd once shot their way across the state, and Bonnie and Clyde were known to travel within its borders. Between 1933 and 1938, thirty bank robberies occurred in Kansas, while livestock thefts also grew at an alarming rate. Little wonder, then, that pressure was brought to bear on the state legislature to create a Kansas counterpart to the Texas Rangers or FBI. Larry Welch, tenth director of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, now provides readers with the first history of that agency. His account includes, among other things, detailed case studies of the KBI's participation in the high-profile arrests of serial killers Francis Donald Nemechek of western Kansas and Dennis Rader, the infamous BTK of Wichita. His taut chapters also highlight the relentless investigators, dedicated forensic scientists, crime analysts, and everyone else who has labored on behalf of the KBI's pursuit of justice. Adult. Some explicit descriptions of sex. Some strong language. Violence.

DB 108870 White hot hate: a true story of domestic terrorism in America's heartland by Dick Lehr 
"In the spring of 2016, as immigration debates rocked the United States, three men in a militia group known as the Crusaders grew aggravated over one Kansas town's growing Somali community. They decided that complaining about their new neighbors and threatening them directly wasn't enough. The men plotted to bomb a mosque, aiming to kill hundreds and inspire other attacks against Muslims in America. But they would wait until after the presidential election, so that their actions wouldn't hurt Donald Trump's chances of winning. An FBI informant befriended the three men, acting as law enforcement's eyes and ears for eight months. His secretly taped conversations with the militia were pivotal in obstructing their plans and were a lynchpin in the resulting trial and convictions for conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. White Hot Hate will tell the riveting true story of an averted case of domestic terrorism in one of the most remote towns in the US, not far from the infamous town where Capote's In Cold Blood was set. In the gripping details of this foiled scheme, we see in intimate focus the chilling, immediate threat of domestic terrorism--and racist anxiety in America writ large." -- Provided by publisher.  --  Strong language, some violence. Commercial audiobook. 2021.

DB 45728 Bitter harvest: a woman's fury, a mother's sacrifice by Ann Rule 
In 1995 the house of Kansas City physician Debora Green burned, causing the deaths of two of her three children. Signs of arson led to the arrest of Dr. Green, who was also suspected of trying to poison her estranged husband. Some strong language. Bestseller.

DB 58783 Anyone you want me to be: a true story of sex and death on the Internet by John E. Douglas 
Former FBI profiler Douglas traces the case of John Robinson, one of the first known serial killers to find his victims by using the Internet. Explores the Kansas con man's world, his decades-long criminal record, and his ability to lure women into sadomasochistic relationships. Violence, strong language, and some descriptions of sex. 2003.

DB 67282 Charlatan: American's most dangerous huckster, the man who pursued him, and the Age of Flimflam by Pope Brock 
Biography of showman John R. Brinkley (1885-1942), who hoodwinked early-twentieth-century audiences with his false cures at medicine shows and on the radio. Relates that Brinkley scammed thousands of people by claiming to cure impotence with goat-testicle transplants until Morris Fishbein, editor of JAMA, discredited Brinkley as a quack. 2008.