I really enjoyed this book. It was so unexpected and unique. Being raised in the Southern Appalachian mountains I grew up hearing and learning about ballads. That is why this book got my attention. I love the care and respect the author put into researching and putting this book together. The guide is packed with great information about where the ballads originated from, its history and how this type of music impacted our lives. I love the Illustrations she created as well. I was happy and appreciative of her research and by giving us the lists of recordings for these famous murder ballads. I grew up listening to "In the Pines " and was so excited to learn the history of the ballad. I found new- to-me ballads like "Cold Blows the Wind" and " You're Hurting". This book is perfect for anyone who loves music, a history of songs and great storytelling. Horan is an amazing storyteller and shows great respect to the music. You will truly enjoy this book.

I found this book to be quite insightful. I haven't heard of the majority of these murder ballads, and it was interesting to get a short history behind them, though I wish there was a bit more included. The artwork was wonderful. I think it may have flowed a little better to have the ballad before the history, instead of the other way around, but that is mostly a personal preference. Overall, it was a very interesting read!

As someone who absolutely adores folk music in all forms and the history behind it - this was a pretty natural choice of reading material to pick up. Some of these songs I recognized and appreciated reading about, but even more were ones I'd never heard so I greatly appreciated to expand my knowledge a bit.

The illustrations were of course absolutely beautiful! I was a tad disappointed that the book was relatively surface-level, but I think this was the nature of it. This is a wonderful, casual read not so much a deep research guide.

Overall, a very cool book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrew McHeel publishing for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Murder ballads is an intriguing book that had me hooked from the start . Who knew that one of my favourite clash songs originated as a balled . You’ll find it in the book along with others that you somehow remember but don’t know where from . A magical masterpiece. I shared a post on Instagram of the book kindly gifted by the publisher Andrews McNeil and the author Katy Horan messaged me to say how much she loved it . The artwork is superb and the cover even glows when the light hits it enchantingly magical. A must read for fans of folklore and dark cottagecore . I loved it

Murder Ballads by Katy Horan explores the idea of ballads of scorned, violent, unrequited love of women gone wrong. One of my favorites was The Bloody Gardner. The illustrations and historical background of each tale elevated the collection.

Very well researched. I love the inclusion of all the iterations of the ballads offered at the back of the book. Great for those who love true crime or literary origins. The illustrations complement the feeling of each of the ballads. The only thing I think would have made it better would have been a slight change in format. I believe the presenting the ballad first followed by the background information would have made for a more intriguing experience.

This is a really neat book! You get some stories and artwork. The stories are connected to ballads, as is the artwork. Each story gives a quick detail on how the two correlate. Definitely a neat table-top type of book.

#NetGalley #MurderBallads

This is wonderful! I love the format of the book and the history. I can tell our author did a lot of work researching this. I had a blast reading it.

This was a very interesting read! I am a big fan of history and this did not disappoint. The illustrations were also very beautiful and Interesting. I will probably invest in a copy!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read "Murder Ballads".

"In this unique, illustrated collection, Literary Witches co-creator Katy Horan unearths the true and fictional stories behind twenty traditional murder ballads, exploring the beauty and horror of the art form through stories, lyrics, and original illustrations.

Murder Ballads is a guide to the origins and cultural impact of murder ballads as a music genre, covering its roots in patriarchal violence and white supremacy, as well as its contemporary relationship to true crime.

From "Delia's Gone" to "The Death of Queen Jane," each of twenty carefully chosen ballads is accompanied by one of Horan's beautifully macabre illustrations and a thoroughly researched reflection on the song's history and evolution. At the back of the book, readers can browse a list of essential recordings for each ballad.

Mysterious and alluring as the songs themselves, Murder Ballads will delight history enthusiasts, armchair musicologists, true crime fans (and critics), as well as anyone who appreciates the darker side of folk music."

I really need to do more of a deep dive on murder ballads.

This book tells the background stories of 20 chosen Ballads and gives the reader general information on murder ballads. Illustrations inspired by them accompany the stories and lyrics of the ballads.
The events that inspired the ballads were well researched, and the illustrations perfectly fit the book's theme. I will definitely check out her recommended reading, as this book piqued my interest.
Thank you, Andrews McMeel Publishing, for providing me with this book to review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and Andrew McMeel Publishing for the ARC.

As someone who enjoys the spooky side of folk music, this dive into the historical sources of various murder ballads was very satisfying. It addressed the dark, complex, and often prejudiced ways that the stories of real people are transformed into folk songs, without taking away from the enjoyment of them, and recommending certain iterations both classic and modern. The illustrations were a nice little bonus as well.

This was very insightful to read. I haven’t heard most of these ballads and I did love the history and perspective about them.

Personally I would have loved to read the ballad first and then about the history about them. That just personal preference.

The art in this book is perfect! I loved the illustrations and they were so beautifully fitting for the theme and vibe of the book.

Recommended for anyone that likes read background story for old murder ballads and true crime history.

I loved the illustrations and theme of this book, which I don't think can be done justice digitally. I would love to have this in places where my house guests could easily pick it up and read it.

I guess I expected this to be more in depth. It is more of a short history of each ballad, mainly so the artwork has more context. This may have been more effective if I had really enjoyed the art. However it all felt a bit samey to me. Also...does Katy Horan even like murder ballads?? Like, I don't know. It just didn't seem like she was that into the subject, and it definitely didn't feel like she wanted the reader to get too interested either. I am just a little disappointed. I was curious to learn more about murder ballads. I feel like there is a lot to be said on the topic. But it didn't make it into this book.

This was an interesting book. I enjoyed learning about the history of the ballads. The artwork was interesting as well. I ended up researching several of the ballads. However, I was a little disappointed because some of the information in the book was a bit repetititve. I also wish that there was more information on the ballads and the stories behind them.

A perfect primer for anyone wanting to understand what a murder ballad is.

I recently read The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar, which is described as a retelling of a 17th century murder ballad. I'd never heard of a murder ballad before and then saw this book. This is a perfect introduction to the history of murder ballads, including a high-level introduction to the culture, music and real-life events that were happening at the time.

The illustrations also done by Katy are gorgeous and really add to the creativity and art behind the stories. I was surprised at how short murder ballads actually are, and thought it was so interesting to follow how the ballads change from musicians in the UK and then the US.

Just like any oral tradition there are multiple versions of the same story, so we trust Katy to pick one to represent a specific story and then provide us with the history behind each ballad.

I recommend this for anyone who loves retellings, mythology or creative storytelling. These stories have everything.

This book is best read before picking up The River Has Roots!

Wow murder ballads is just a blast from the past.

Delightfully gothic and dreary. The illustrations are ve try fairytale like but dark and gruesome.

I love the explanation of the songs( ballads before hand ) really give an insight to the time and how they are based on imfamous people from around the world.

It made me think of nick cave and the bad seeds and Jack white singing similar songs which I adore.

I deep love of folk story’s and song would be excellent for those who had not heard of them before.

Great collection thank you I enjoyed it thoroughly

Murders Ballads is a very cool book. Katy Hordan gives you an example of a Ballad, a unique and enrapturing portrait (done by the author), and the history of each ballad and also includes notable covers of said ballad. Each story has some kind of basis in true crime at some point but like every ballad became something much more than itself. And learning about these was something fascinating for a true crime aficionado like myself. These ballads look at how women were treated studying how the patriarchy and racism ran amok.
This would make a great gift for the woman in your life who loves the macabre.

A fascinating, delightfully morbid collection of murder ballads and their origin stories. Some you may have heard, others not, but I find the common thread so amazing: people simply telling/singing a story that continues to remain in the popular culture for centuries. It was interesting to learn which iterations of the ballads seem to endure the most, despite their grisly nature and (perhaps unsurprisingly) misogynistic themes.

Accompanied by folky, evocative art, this book is sure to leave you with a creepy, uneasy feeling -- and the urge to YouTube some old folk tunes.

(The *only* downside to this book is that I fell down the rabbit hole of Google after reading about all of the ballads based on true stories!)

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.