Murder Ballads
Illustrated Lyrics & Lore
by Katy Horan
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Pub Date Apr 29 2025 | Archive Date Apr 29 2025
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Description
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.
A Note From the Publisher
We regret this E-galley is not available for Kindle viewing.
Available Editions
EDITION | Other Format |
ISBN | 9781524889265 |
PRICE | $21.99 (USD) |
PAGES | 144 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrew McMeel Publishing for an ARC of this book!
It’s honestly SO RARE to see an original take on retelling true crime stories but this book does a really good job of incorporating artwork, music and folklore into each story. The collection features stories that while brief, are still captivating and not competing with the illustrations.
Overall a super cool concept and would make a really good coffee table book to keep going back to.

I could not put this down!
The bits of history and folklore were great, as were the lyrics. But what makes this book a five star read for me is the artwork. It's creepy and disturbing and beautiful - just like the ballads themselves.

An entertaining an gorgeously illustrated look at a divers array of murder songs. A recommended purchase for collections where music titles are popular.

"Murder Ballads" tells the history behind the morbid songs that have been recorded by artists such as Bob Dylan and Elvis Presley. Many of the songs featured in this collection are based on actual events and continue to evolve with each generation. As I read the history behind the crimes that inspired the songs, I took a deep dive into the recorded versions by Jerry Garcia, Harry Belafonte, Nirvana, Johnny Cash, Sammy Davis Jr., Bon Iver, Kate Bush, Ma Rainey and Shovels and Ropes. The true stories and the songs tell the tale of centuries of misogyny, racism, and classism. The illustrations are hauntingly beautiful.
I have already added many of the recommended reading from author to my TBR.
Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the e-galley.

Murder Ballads is a unique book combining beautiful illustrations with the lyrics of classic murder ballads as well as written and researched explanations on the origin stories of each song. The artwork throughout this book is exceptional. Not only the full-sized pieces that act as portraits for each song, but the page details and illustrations filling in-between spaces are perfect. A warning that some of the art is, however, gruesome, as the topic is murder after all.
The book also features lists of notable performances of each song which is very cool. Now that I have read through the book a first time I plan to read it again while listening to the music.
I'd recommend Murder Ballads to those interested in illustration artwork, poetry, music, or music history.

Nice little folklore-book about a bunch of different murder ballads. Like the author, my interest for folk music started with a version of The Twa Sisters, although one of the version of the ballad in my native Swedish. Nicely illustrated,

“Everyone who hears a song and repeats it…also recreates it.” “While early collectors of ballads drew from manuscripts and broadsides, other folklorists wandered through both Europe and America, ‘collecting songs from the actual folk responsible for the folk tradition…such as twentieth-century musicologists John and Alan Lomax.” The movie “Songcatcher” (2000) describes a musicologist’s journey into the most isolated mountains of Appalachia to record and document ancient Scottish-Irish ballads that had been orally passed down for generations.
Katy Horan, illustrator/interdisciplinary artist has meticulously researched the stories behind 20 murder ballads of both “Black America and Renaissance Europe, and songs based in myth as well as tales of real murders…Murder ballads almost always chronicle a transgression, a trust betrayed.”
A murdered sweetheart ballad often describes a killer’s desire to avoid marriage. A woman might be “drowned, battered or murdered by men”. “Delia’s Gone” relates the true murder of a 14 year old Black girl killed by her boyfriend in Savannah, Georgia. In some renditions of the ballad, Delia is described as “worthless” while other balladeers express love and mourn for her.
“The Twa Sisters” is a jealous-lover ballad. Two sisters love the same man. When he chooses the prettier, younger one, the elder sister drowns the other in the river. A passing fiddler discovers the girl’s body and constructs a magic fiddle from her bones and hair. The killer is revealed when the magic fiddle is played.
“Frankie and Johnny” is a song addressing domestic violence. “Frankie was a Black woman who-walk(s) free after killing a dangerous man in self-defense…when Hollywood capitalized the story (Frankie) was ‘erased’ as it was co-opted for entertainment.”
“The Cruel Ship’s Carpenter” describes revenge beyond the grave/spectral revenge. A young girl, promised marriage, was instead lured into the forest, killed and buried in a shallow grave. The culprit fled aboard an ocean going vessel only to see an apparition-the ghost of his beloved and his baby. He confessed! This ballad started as a broadside in London, became a broadside in Boston, later to become prominent in the Maritime Provinces of Eastern Canada. The song title eventually evolved and the song was renamed “Pretty Polly.”
Brought to mind are two murder ballads, not in this read, but for consideration. “The Queen and the Soldier” written and recorded by Suzanne Vega concerns a soldier who knocks on the queen’s door telling her he will not fight for her “fun” anymore. He asks why there must be a battle? She summarily orders his execution. A contemporary murder ballad “Goodbye Earl” is sung by The Chicks. A song of domestic abuse…perhaps her friends will help her dispose of Earl’s body!
Badman ballads arguably written in the “ragtime tradition” have elevated the bad-ass killer to folk hero stature; songs such as “Stagolee” and “Big Bad Leroy Brown”, continue to maintain their popularity.
In 18th Century England “when British ballads were traveling en masse to America…variants occurred when a song’s geography changed as singers personalized the lyrics…lyrics that often shift over the course of a song’s recorded life.” Author Katy Horan’s totally enjoyable read contains a Catalogue of Notable Recordings for each of the 20 Murder Ballads discussed as well as an Extensive Bibliography. The song lyrics and magnificent artwork complete the package!
Highly recommended.
Thank you Andrews McMeel Publishing and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The illustrations in this were a highlight for me. There is a poetic cultural relivence throught the reading that itches for more. There is a lot to consider in review of the information Murder Ballads has offered and Katy Horan has created a space for a lovely piece of history to be locked away for safe keeping.

Thought provoking analysis on a variety of murder ballads. As an amateur folklorist and a devourer of true crime, it was an enthralling read. Beautiful artwork that really brought the book together as a whole. Highly recommend.

Beautiful collection of historical ballads. I'm in no way an expert on the genre, but I am an enjoyer of media where music and literature come together. Beyond the beautiful ballads themselves, I loved reading about the historical and sociological context from their earliest iteration to present day interpretations. The book is very accessible to novices, so you can absolutely jump into it with zero previous knowledge.
The highlight for me however were the illustrations. Just like the cover, they are dark, ominous and eerily beautiful, accompanying the texts perfectly and enhancing the atmosphere.
This one is for fans of folklore, music and true crime - an interesting combination for sure.
✨ Disclaimer ✨ I received a free copy of this book and this is my honest review.

I really enjoyed reading about the history of these murder ballads and learning if there was any truth behind the story. I didn’t realize how much history was behind some of these ballads and how long they have been around. This was super interesting topic and a pretty fast read.
Thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

I grew up with murder ballads because my grandmother is Irish and my grandfather is English so I've always loved learning the songs and the stories behind them. This was an interesting read. It goes into the history behind the ballads while also providing the lyrics and the artwork is gorgeous.

As posted on Goodreads:
This book is a brilliant combination of history, folklore, lyrics, and beautiful artwork that I absolutely loved. Murder ballads are not something I knew a lot about going into this book, but the concept was intriguing and the book cover is gorgeous - and before I even finished the foreword I was hooked.
I took my time reading through this book, enjoying the artwork and even making a playlist of the songs mentioned (when I could find them), and listening to them from start to finish.
If you, like me, enjoy folklore/folk art, music and true crime (kind of a bizarre combination, but it works), this is a beautiful coffee table book that you’ll actually want to read, and that will spark plenty of interesting conversations.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this! Admittedly anything illustrated gets an extra star in my book, but this one didn’t need it. It was already at five stars! The format kept a quick pace, combined with interesting stories and beautiful art, I read this whole thing in one sitting. I just couldn’t stop!

The illustrations were great but what really made this one stand out for me was how original the idea was. It reminds me of one of those wikipedia-rabbit-hole nights where you become obsessed with a specific topic and wanna know more and more. When we're following one random story, graphic novels tend to get a bit boring for me; this stopped that form happening. Instead of one story that doesn't get enough time to be explores, we get a collection of well researched mini-stories and enough information to never get bored.
This is the kind of book you can get as a gift for a book lover, not having to worry about if maybe they already read/have it, or if it will fit their taste exactly, because as long as they're into creepy stuff, good art or graphic novels, this will be fun and original.