Click to receive personalized book recommendations daily.
Before you go...
Check Out These
21 Books You’ve Been Meaning to Read
See the List
Best Seller
The World of Lore: Wicked Mortals by Aaron Mahnke
Read An Excerpt

Look Inside

Read An Excerpt
Read An Excerpt

The World of Lore: Wicked Mortals

By Aaron Mahnke

By Aaron Mahnke

By Aaron Mahnke

By Aaron Mahnke

By Aaron Mahnke
Read by Aaron Mahnke

By Aaron Mahnke
Read by Aaron Mahnke

Part of The World of Lore

Part of The World of Lore

Part of The World of Lore

Category: History

Category: History

Category: History | Audiobooks

Hardcover $28.99

May 29, 2018 | 352 Pages

Ebook $11.99

May 29, 2018 | 352 Pages

Audiobook Download $20.00

May 29, 2018 | 610 Minutes

All Formats
+
    The World of Lore: Wicked Mortals by Aaron Mahnke
    Hardcover
    May 29, 2018 | 352 Pages
    See All Formats (2) +

    Hardcover
    –

    • Hardcover $28.99

      May 29, 2018 | 352 Pages

    Ebook
    +

    • Ebook $11.99

      May 29, 2018 | 352 Pages

    Audio
    +

    Buy the Audiobook Download:

    About The World of Lore: Wicked Mortals

    A chilling, lavishly illustrated who’s who of the most despicable people ever to walk the earth, featuring stories from the Lore podcast—now a streaming television series—including “Black Stockings,” “Half-Hanged,” and “The Castle,” as well as rare material.

    Some monsters are figments of our imagination. Others are as real as flesh and blood: humans who may look like us, who may walk among us, often unnoticed, occasionally even admired—but whose evil deeds and secret lives, once revealed, mark them as something utterly wicked.
     
    In this illustrated volume from the host of the hit podcast Lore, you’ll find tales of infamous characters whose veins ran with ice water and whose crimes remind us that truth can be more terrifying than fiction. Aaron Mahnke introduces us to William Brodie, a renowned Scottish cabinetmaker who used his professional expertise to prey on the citizens of Edinburgh and whose rampant criminality behind a veneer of social respectability inspired Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Then there’s H. H. Holmes, a relentless and elusive con artist who became best known as the terror of Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair when unwitting guests were welcomed into his “hotel” of horrors . . . never to be seen again. And no rogues’ gallery could leave out Bela Kiss, the Hungarian tinsmith with a taste for the occult and a collection of gasoline drums with women’s bodies inside.
     
    Brimming with accounts of history’s most heinous real-life fiends, this riveting best-of-the-worst roundup will haunt your thoughts, chill your bones, and leave you wondering if there are mortal monsters lurking even closer than you think.

    The World of Lore series includes:
    MONSTROUS CREATURES • WICKED MORTALS • DREADFUL PLACES

    About The World of Lore: Wicked Mortals

    A chilling, lavishly illustrated who’s who of the most despicable people ever to walk the earth, featuring stories from the Lore podcast—now a streaming television series—including “Black Stockings,” “Half-Hanged,” and “The Castle,” as well as rare material.

    Some monsters are figments of our imagination. Others are as real as flesh and blood: humans who may look like us, who may walk among us, often unnoticed, occasionally even admired—but whose evil deeds and secret lives, once revealed, mark them as something utterly wicked.
     
    In this illustrated volume from the host of the hit podcast Lore, you’ll find tales of infamous characters whose veins ran with ice water and whose crimes remind us that truth can be more terrifying than fiction. Aaron Mahnke introduces us to William Brodie, a renowned Scottish cabinetmaker who used his professional expertise to prey on the citizens of Edinburgh and whose rampant criminality behind a veneer of social respectability inspired Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Then there’s H. H. Holmes, a relentless and elusive con artist who became best known as the terror of Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair when unwitting guests were welcomed into his “hotel” of horrors . . . never to be seen again. And no rogues’ gallery could leave out Bela Kiss, the Hungarian tinsmith with a taste for the occult and a collection of gasoline drums with women’s bodies inside.
     
    Brimming with accounts of history’s most heinous real-life fiends, this riveting best-of-the-worst roundup will haunt your thoughts, chill your bones, and leave you wondering if there are mortal monsters lurking even closer than you think.

    The World of Lore series includes:
    MONSTROUS CREATURES • WICKED MORTALS • DREADFUL PLACES

    About The World of Lore: Wicked Mortals

    A chilling, lavishly illustrated who’s who of the most despicable people ever to walk the earth, featuring stories from the Lore podcast—now a streaming television series—including “Black Stockings,” “Half-Hanged,” and “The Castle,” as well as rare material.

    Some monsters are figments of our imagination. Others are as real as flesh and blood: humans who may look like us, who may walk among us, often unnoticed, occasionally even admired—but whose evil deeds and secret lives, once revealed, mark them as something utterly wicked.
     
    In this illustrated volume from the host of the hit podcast Lore, you’ll find tales of infamous characters whose veins ran with ice water and whose crimes remind us that truth can be more terrifying than fiction. Aaron Mahnke introduces us to William Brodie, a renowned Scottish cabinetmaker who used his professional expertise to prey on the citizens of Edinburgh and whose rampant criminality behind a veneer of social respectability inspired Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Then there’s H. H. Holmes, a relentless and elusive con artist who became best known as the terror of Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair when unwitting guests were welcomed into his “hotel” of horrors . . . never to be seen again. And no rogues’ gallery could leave out Bela Kiss, the Hungarian tinsmith with a taste for the occult and a collection of gasoline drums with women’s bodies inside.
     
    Brimming with accounts of history’s most heinous real-life fiends, this riveting best-of-the-worst roundup will haunt your thoughts, chill your bones, and leave you wondering if there are mortal monsters lurking even closer than you think.

    The World of Lore series includes:
    MONSTROUS CREATURES • WICKED MORTALS • DREADFUL PLACES

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    About Aaron Mahnke

    Aaron Mahnke is the writer, host, and producer of Lore, as well as the author of a number of supernatural thrillers. His deep love of the mysterious and frightening began with Unsolved Mysteries and The X-Files—and it’s a love that continues to this day. Basically,… More about Aaron Mahnke

    About Aaron Mahnke

    Aaron Mahnke is the writer, host, and producer of Lore, as well as the author of a number of supernatural thrillers. His deep love of the mysterious and frightening began with Unsolved Mysteries and The X-Files—and it’s a love that continues to this day. Basically,… More about Aaron Mahnke

    About Aaron Mahnke

    Aaron Mahnke is the writer, host, and producer of Lore, as well as the author of a number of supernatural thrillers. His deep love of the mysterious and frightening began with Unsolved Mysteries and The X-Files—and it’s a love that continues to this day. Basically,… More about Aaron Mahnke

    Product Details

    Category: History

    Hardcover | $28.99
    Published by Del Rey
    May 29, 2018 | 352 Pages | 6-1/8 x 9-1/4 | ISBN 9781524797997

    Category: History

    Ebook | $11.99
    Published by Del Rey
    May 29, 2018 | 352 Pages | ISBN 9781524798000

    Category: History | Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $20.00
    Published by Random House Audio
    May 29, 2018 | 610 Minutes | ISBN 9780525595298

    Inspired by Your Browsing History

    Also in History

    ‹ ›
    Child of the Holocaust
    Child of the Holocaust
    Jack Kuper
    Time and Navigation
    Time and Navigation
    Andrew K. Johnston, Carlene E. Stephens, Paul E. Ceruzzi and Roger D. Connor
    The House of Rothschild
    The House of Rothschild
    Niall Ferguson
    Redemption
    Redemption
    Joseph Rosenbloom
    Diderot and the Art of Thinking Freely
    Diderot and the Art of Thinking Freely
    Andrew S. Curran
    The Banished Immortal
    The Banished Immortal
    Ha Jin
    None of the Above
    None of the Above
    Anna Simonton and Shani Robinson
    Dark Tide
    Dark Tide
    Stephen Puleo
    The Monk of Mokha
    The Monk of Mokha
    Dave Eggers
    How Democracies Die
    How Democracies Die
    Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky
    The Life of Frederick Douglass
    The Life of Frederick Douglass
    David F. Walker
    Lasers, Death Rays, and the Long, Strange Quest for the Ultimate Weapon
    Lasers, Death Rays, and the Long, Strange Quest for the Ultimate Weapon
    Jeff Hecht
    America
    America
    Alan Axelrod, Ph.D.
    Operation Gladio
    Operation Gladio
    Paul L. Williams
    Zlata's Diary
    Zlata’s Diary
    Zlata Filipovic
    Inhuman Land
    Inhuman Land
    Jozef Czapski
    The Barefoot Woman
    The Barefoot Woman
    Scholastique Mukasonga
    An African American and Latinx History of the United States
    An African American and Latinx History of the United States
    Paul Ortiz
    ASAP European History: A Quick-Review Study Guide for the AP Exam
    ASAP European History: A Quick-Review Study Guide for the AP Exam
    Princeton Review
    Blood in the Water
    Blood in the Water
    Joan Mellen
    Dear Los Angeles
    Dear Los Angeles
    The Final Journey
    The Final Journey
    Gudrun Pausewang
    Asia's Reckoning
    Asia’s Reckoning
    Richard McGregor
    Americana
    Americana
    Bhu Srinivasan
    Speeches of Note
    Speeches of Note
    Shaun Usher
    Portraits without Frames
    Portraits without Frames
    Lev Ozerov
    Ike's Mystery Man
    Ike’s Mystery Man
    Peter Shinkle
    The New Enclosure
    The New Enclosure
    Brett Chistophers
    The Point of It All
    The Point of It All
    Charles Krauthammer
    William Cooper's Town
    William Cooper’s Town
    Alan Taylor
    The Declarations of Havana
    The Declarations of Havana
    Fidel Castro
    The Putney Debates
    The Putney Debates
    The Levellers
    Germany's Hidden Crisis
    Germany’s Hidden Crisis
    Oliver Nachtwey
    How Europe Underdeveloped Africa
    How Europe Underdeveloped Africa
    Walter Rodney
    The Common Wind
    The Common Wind
    Julius S. Scott
    American Sanctuary
    American Sanctuary
    A. Roger Ekirch
    Stalin
    Stalin
    Stephen Kotkin
    Memoirs of a Born Free
    Memoirs of a Born Free
    Malaika Wa Azania
    In Praise of Blood
    In Praise of Blood
    Judi Rever
    Cocoons
    Cocoons
    Peter Steinhauer
    Russia Without Putin
    Russia Without Putin
    Tony Wood
    Embers of War
    Embers of War
    Fredrik Logevall
    Che
    Che
    Jon Lee Anderson
    Heirs of the Founders
    Heirs of the Founders
    H. W. Brands
    The Allies
    The Allies
    Winston Groom

    Praise

    Praise for the Lore podcast
     
    “Truth can often be much scarier than fiction—something [Aaron] Mahnke proves as he dives deep into the world of folklore and the darker side of history in a quest to root out the fragment of truth at the bottom of our fears.”—Entertainment Weekly
     
    “Unlike so much horror that needs over-the-top viscera to scare you, this podcast leans on history—folklore, myth, the stuff people once thought was true—to tell its tales.”—The Atlantic
     
    “Narrated by Mahnke in a style that evokes spooky campfire stories, Lore is a history lesson like no other.”—Esquire

    Looking for More Great Reads?
    Download our Spring Fiction Sampler Now
    Back to Top

    Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

    Brightly

    Raise kids who love to read
    TASTE img

    TASTE

    An online magazine for today’s home cook

    LitFlash

    The eBooks you want at the lowest prices

    Read it Forward

    Read it first. Pass it on!
    First to Read

    First to Read

    Early access to Penguin Random House’s hottest new titles