True Crime Survival Stories

After more than a decade, when sisters Nikki, Sami, and Tori Knotek hear the word mom, it claws like an eagle’s talons, triggering memories that have been their secret since childhood. Until now. For years, behind the closed doors of their farmhouse in Raymond, Washington, their sadistic mother, Shelly, subjected her girls to unimaginable abuse, degradation, torture, and psychic terrors. Through it all, Nikki, Sami, and Tori developed a defiant bond that made them far less vulnerable than Shelly imagined.

TRUE CRIME! PTA president Kelli Peters had a normal, happy life in Orange County, California, where she volunteered at her daughter's school, carpooled, and took care of her family. When a school parent angrily accused Kelli of keeping her son waiting during the afterschool pick-up, it appeared to be a simple confrontation with an overprotective mother. Kelli soon learned, however, that she was the target of a twisted plot against her that involved drugs, lies, schemes, and a campaign to ruin her life. The vendetta led to reputations tarnished, careers lost, secret lives uncovered, two ...

They vanished without warning. Some were stolen in the night. Others disappeared in plain sight. Their stories shocked the world. True Crime – Taken! plunges readers into fifteen of the most haunting abduction and kidnapping cases in modern history. From Elizabeth Smart’s chilling captivity to the mysterious disappearance of Maura Murray, from the milk carton heartbreak of Etan Patz to the jaw-dropping tale of Colleen Stan’s years in a box—this collection leaves no stone unturned. Logan Carter weaves deeply immersive, narrative-driven accounts of survival, mystery, endurance, and ...

As the adopted son of two cult leaders, Benjamin Risha was raised to someday assume a place of leadership in the Tony and Susan Alamo Christian Foundation with the Bible, and his parents’ interpretation of it, as his guide. He believed the prophecies of his adoptive mother and father. However, when none of it happened, and the foundation slid from bucolic communal lifestyle to insufferable criminality that included absolute obedience to the Alamos, Benjamin knew he had to escape.

Zoe Nolan disappeared from Manchester University in 2011. Her story was sad, certainly, but hardly sensational, Joseph Knox thought. As a crime writer, he felt that dead girls were everywhere, and the missing ones just didn't cut it. He wouldn't have given her any more thought were it not for Evelyn Mitchell. Another writer struggling to come up with a new idea, Evelyn attended one of Joseph's publicity events, and she was wondering just what happened to all the girls who go missing.

How can Danielle understand "normal" if she has never experienced it? She was moved from town to town, kept hidden from society, and always felt like an outsider. Her innocence was brutally taken by someone she least expected. She harbored a dark secret that could devastate her family—a secret she fiercely protected. Would the burden of shame be too much to bear if the truth were revealed? As secrets are uncovered, Danielle plunges into a tumultuous descent with nothing to stop her fall.

Right under the noses of neighbors, clients, spouses, children, and friends, a secret society, simply called School—a cult of snared Manhattan professionals—has been led by the charismatic, sociopathic, and dangerous leader Sharon Gans for decades. Spencer Schneider was recruited in the eighties, and he stayed for more than twenty-three years as his life disintegrated, his self-esteem eroded, and he lined the pockets of Gans and her cult.

It's December 1997, and a man-eating tiger is on the prowl outside a remote Russian village. The tiger isn't just killing people, it's annihilating them, and a team of men and their dogs must hunt it on foot through the forest in the brutal cold. As the trackers sift through the gruesome remains of the victims, they discover that these attacks aren't random: the tiger is apparently engaged in a vendetta. Injured, starving, and extremely dangerous, the tiger must be found before it strikes again.

The Door That Locked From the Outside is part 1 of the retelling of an adoption nightmare. the author LaTrecia, also known as Trish, is an adult survivor of childhood abuse of every form. After being adopted with her 2 bio sisters by a child grooming pedophile and an abusive/passive mother, she details the horrors and eventual release of her and her 5 siblings. As Trish comes to the age of realization, she finds her nightmare won't end because what's to come is a lifetime of lessons and obstacles she will have to overcome.

Survival. Justice. Hope. She was only thirteen when her nightmare began. Ripped from the arms of her murdered mother, Jayme Closs was taken by a man who had fantasized for years about kidnapping a young girl—any girl—and making her his own. For eighty-eight days, Jayme lived in fear and isolation, hidden beneath a bed, trapped in a remote cabin in the woods. But she never gave up hope. When the moment came, she ran—and changed everything. 88 Days: The Abduction of Jayme Closs is a powerful true crime story of unimaginable horror, unbreakable courage, and the pursuit of justice. ...

The Alaskan wilderness is vast, beautiful, and unforgiving. Its immense, isolated landscape is the perfect accomplice for the darkest of human deeds, a place where people can vanish without a trace. For decades, its secrets have remained frozen, buried under layers of ice and time. Now, these chilling true crime stories are unearthed. This collection of twenty gripping cases takes you into the heart of Alaska's most notorious crimes. Come face to face with the "Butcher Baker," Robert Hansen, a mild-mannered family man who hunted human beings in the remote bush. Feel the city-wide panic as ...

It is no secret that true crime murder stories are not for the faint of heart. They can lead you to double-check your windows and doors at night, and question everything you thought or believed about human nature. Yet they are intriguing and fascinating at the same time. What is it that makes us different from those who take the lives of others? That is a question that many ask themselves, and these true crime stories help to identify the method and psychology behind some of the most terrifying killers in modern history.

Play the game or pay the price. Him, Me, and V is based on the true story of Amy and the little ones who grew up with Him. Amy’s career is flourishing when she finds herself tormented by memories, things that seem foreign but live deep inside. Not knowing where to turn, she finds V. Safety and love allow Amy and the others to reveal the horrific experiences of their childhood. But not everyone makes it to safety.

Sarah Forsyth has spent most of her life in fear. After overcoming the hurt and heartbreak of a horrific childhood, Sarah managed to build a new life for herself as a nursery nurse. Then, one day, she spotted a newspaper advert for a job in a crèche in Amsterdam. Excited by the prospect of a fresh start abroad, she eagerly signed up. But within minutes of stepping off the plane in Amsterdam her life began to fall apart.... There was no crèche and no job. That night, at just 19 years of age, her life - her real life, her life as Sarah Forsyth - ended.

Emily has always felt like an outsider, so when a family friend takes her under his wing she is delighted. But soon it becomes clear that his motives are not all they seem. At the age of 11, Emily is groomed into being a ‘county lines’ drug trafficker. It is the beginning of a vicious cycle that sees her become prey to one abuser after another, involving a huge child-sex-trafficking gang. The scale of the abuse—at the hands of hundreds of men—is sickening, and at times it feels like there will never be an escape. But then, in the darkest of moments, a ray of light shines....

True crime is about humanity. We are hardwired to pay attention to things that could harm us, and that’s why so many of us are captivated by the genre. It’s not a reflection of something dark within us - it’s a reflection of human nature. True crime has become more than a source of entertainment, and it plays a critical role in giving forgotten victims a voice they never had the chance to share. Indeed, reading and sharing true crime stories is an act of social responsibility.

She was charming. She was ruthless. She was dangerous. This is the shocking true story of a narcissistic woman who destroyed the lives of five men—and her own daughter. What began as subtle manipulation escalated into betrayal, cruelty, and physical violence. Her victims never saw the danger until it was too late. Told with raw honesty, this powerful story reveals the chilling truth of narcissistic abuse. More than a memoir, it’s a true crime story of lies, control, and violence that reads like a psychological thriller—but it's all based on actual events. If you’ve ever wondered how...

Most twelve-year-old boys are preoccupied with comics and playing with their friends. Twelve-year-old Frank Heeney, however, is about to start three years of hell at Ireland’s notorious St. Joseph’s Industrial School in Letterfrack County Galway. St. Joseph’s is an inferno of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse at the hands of the administrators. Many children, some as young as four, die from such conditions and are secretly disposed of in the surrounding wilderness. As Frank spends three years at St. Joseph’s Letterfrack and two years at St. Patrick’s children’s prison, he is...

"Imagine waking up in a hospital, paralyzed and unable to speak, only to learn you've been shot in the head in a horrifying act of domestic violence.This is the story of Chris Smith, a 50-something-year-old contractor from rural Illinois, who was shot in the head while on a first date with a woman he met online. He was the lucky one because his date was murdered, both shot by her ex-boyfriend who was stalking her. Chris’ story is a remarkable tale of resilience and, believe it or not, humor. With a bullet still lodged in his brain, Chris, affectionately nicknames himself 'Bullet Boy,' as ...

Discovered by chance in a Las Vegas gutter, sealed inside a weathered bottle with a fragile SD card, In the Tunnel is a raw, gripping memoir that pulls readers into the shadows of an ex-convict’s life. Unearthed in 2025 by Haselton Media Group, this haunting narrative chronicles a man’s fall from freedom into the brutal world of prison, followed by his desperate survival in the hidden stormwater tunnels beneath the neon glow of Sin City. With vivid, unflinching detail, the unknown author reveals the gritty reality of a subterranean community—Elias’s quiet wisdom, Lena’s fierce ...