The World of Lore: Wicked Mortals

Written by Aaron Mahnke

Narrated by Aaron Mahnke

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

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: May 29, 2018
• ISBN: 9780525595298

Aaron Mahnke

Aaron Mahnke is the writer, host, and producer of Lore, as well as the author of a number of supernatural thrillers. He has a deep love of the mysterious and frightening that began with Unsolved Mysteries and The X-Files-a love that continues to this day. Basically, he's a nerd for anything unexplainable or supernatural. Mahnke lives with his family in the historic Boston area, in the very heart of Lovecraft Country and the epicenter of the Salem witch trials. lorepodcast.com

Reviews for The World of Lore

[lauraklemme · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The World of Lore by Aaron Mahnke, is a book with the written stories that were presented on his podcast, Lore. The edition features “Wicked Mortals" which is a collection of the stories where humans are the monsters.

Mahnke is an excellent storyteller, both in oral as well as written form. I would recommend this book whether you follow the podcast or not.

[asukamaxwell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fair warning, I am incredibly biased in Mahnke's favor, so don't be surprised that I gave his "Wicked Mortals" 5 stars. I love the Lore Podcast and Mahnke's narrative voice.

The book itself is an collection of dark and historical vignettes into the lives of killers and their victims. Some stories may be familiar to you, some more obscure. Mahnke is known for captivating his audience with variety.

Only a couple of thoughts:
- I think Mahnke should've combined "The Castle" and "Homecoming" these two chapters into one, just so the reader doesn't have to come back to H.H. Holmes and instead get the whole story all in one go.
- I appreciate how Mahnke always manages to successfully explore the motive of a killer without blaming the victim.
- Like Jack the Ripper, Burke and Hare have been in movies, skits and ghost tours, but Mahnke treats them like the violent opportunists they were. Mahnke doesn't like to glamorize the killers he features.

It's like walking through a gallery and Mahnke is your tour guide. It's quick reading but he doesn't skip the crucial details. These stories are already chilling, but you will find the finer details in the podcast.

[dgrachel · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A good companion book to the podcast, and a nice sequel to The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures. I'm inclined to think "Wicked Mortals" are even more "Monstrous Creatures" than the non-human focus of the first book.

The audiobook is narrated by the author again, and it's like listening to an extended version of podcast - very enjoyable and very interesting.

[moonlit.shelves · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I am looking forward to reading the other books in The World of Lore series (as well as listening to the podcast someday). Aaron Mahnke's writing style was very engaging and I really liked how he drew connections between the different individuals that he wrote about. The tales told in this book showcase the morbid and darker side of history that I find fascinating.

[arkrayder · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a fun book. I listened to the audiobook, read by the author. Each story is in short paragraphs so it was pretty easy to listen to in installments. Some really weird stories here. Worth a listen to.

[ritaer_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Rather random selections of serial killers, superstitious attacks on witches, and what are Dee and Kelley doing in here?