Hot Dame on a Cold Slab by Marlene Pardo Pellicer

In 1929, Mrs. Joseph Hunt along with her husband were enjoying the soon ending summer days. They lived in Detroit but were motoring along a road in Illinois. Their car bumped on the road, and they pulled over on Highway 7. As her husband labored to change a flat tire, Mrs. Hunt saw something inside a new burlap bag; a wire tied it shut. She stifled a scream when they discovered a woman's nude body in a sitting position inside it. A 40-pound rock had been placed on top of her.

Like a car wreck that repels but attracts you at the same time, these stories detail the descent into madness, revenge and obsession the human psyche is capable of. Sometimes justice is served, or in other instances, anonymity of the victim and the killer are the only answers provided. Disturbing but true, these slices of life in America during the early to mid to 20th century go beyond the idyllic setting of the white picket fence where everyone lives happily ever after.