As someone who is really intrigued by lore and loved book one, I was so excited to read book teo and give this a go. I wasn’t disappointed - loved it!

Hello Headline! Can't remember why I got this on Netgalley but it was a rather clever and entertaining read. The marketing for it was excellent.... :-)

I loved the podcast Lore and this book by the same name is no different. I haven't read the first in the series, but that did not affect my enjoyment of this book.
Wicked Mortal covers some truly awful people and I loved every second of it.
Easy to read and thoroughly amusing.

This is the second volume of the Lore books, based on Aaron Mahnke’s podcast of the same name. The first volume is titled Monstrous Creatures and the second volume covers something even more terrifying, Wicked Mortals. Sometimes the real life monsters are scarier than the myths and fairy tales and this book goes into some detail about both infamous and the more obscure killers. There’s a lot covered in this books 320 pages. HH Holmes you might recognise, he gets his own section and also pops up as a guest character throughout the book. There’s also a section titled Axmans Jazz which covers the infamous murders in New Orleans where the killer pledged to pass every house that played jazz music. There’s plenty about witchcraft and those accused of practicing it. The author goes into some detail about how this was used by jealous or vindictive neighbours as a way of stirring trouble. Mahnke often gives modern context to stories from hundreds of years ago and his voice comes through in the pages of this book. He has his own colloquial way of telling these stories and it’s great to read them written in this fashion. I’ve listened to a fair few episodes of the Lore podcast and this is a great accompaniment to it. The illustrations are top notch and the book is obviously thoroughly researched. If you have an interest in the bizarre and macabre then I’d definitely recommend this book. As for myself, I can’t wait for volume 3.

I received a ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair review.

I read the first book and loved it, so i knew i had to request this one. I follow the Lore podcast and i recognized some of the tales from the spooky corner of the internet and my own exploration of the weird and true crime. I really liked how the stories were laid out and connected with each other and this was shown best whenever H.H. Holmes appeared again connecting that story to his earlier on in the book. Even if i didn't get accepted for a review, i would've still picked this up and i love these tales so much.

I love the Lore podcast, which I have been listening to for some time now. This is the second book of stories that has been produced to accompany the podcasts and it is just as good as the first. Wonderful creepy stuff!

I enjoyed reading this, I did find some of the writing a bit stilted and repetitive, but I did enjoy reading about the humans who can cause as much grief as monsters could.

Lore is one of the original podcasts I got into and I’ve heard every single episode; Aaron Mahnke is a great story-teller who can make even the most macabre story fascinating. I was very excited to get my hands on an advance copy of the new companion book.
‘Wicked Mortals’ is the second of Lore books (the first being ‘Mysterious Creatures’) and comes as the news that the Lore TV series has been renewed by Amazon. In this book, Mahnke uses the thread of infamous murderer H.H. Holmes as a link throughout the weird behaviour of human beings: crime, fairy tales, hoaxes and unexplained phenomena abound- all told in the usual friendly, dry-humoured tone that Lore’s fans have come to expect. That’s the thing about Mahnke’s storytelling- it feels like you’re sitting round a campfire with a friend who knows all about this stuff, who can entertain you at the same time as really creeping you out.
The book itself is a collection of stories that are familiar to fans of the podcast (the lady who gave birth to rabbits, anyone?), with some stories I don’t remember hearing. This is super useful, as I often find myself going away after listening to research the stories in more depth. You get to realise just how weird a species we really are- if an author pitched some of these stories as a novel idea, they’d get turned down for being too ‘out there’.
The art work is also gorgeous; I read this as an e-book, but I may have to check out the actual physical copy just to take a look at the pictures in their proper format. They reminded me a little in style of the great ones done for the Horrible Histories books (fitting, right?)
Anyway, this is a great book for fans of the show, or just those fascinated by weird folklore, baffling behaviour or just being slightly bewildered by just what humans get up to.

I’ve been intrigued by Lore for a while so when the opportunity to read The World of Lore Volume 2: Wicked Mortals came up - I jumped at it. I haven’t read volume I: Monstrous Creatures but I am definitely going to because of how great this book was. The stories in the book are all incredibly fascinating tales about the darker side of human nature and will be of huge interest to anyone who loves the macabre.
I love the author’s writing style, it is really witty and quirky and so good at creating a chilling uneasy feeling. This feeling is also enhanced by the open-ended, unsolved nature of some of the cases discussed. It gives them such a spooky feeling and had me looking over my shoulder and jumping at shadows. Every single story was interesting, even the ones I was already familiar with, because the author told them in such a skilful manner and gave me new details and perspectives in them.
Another important factor to mention is how fantastic the illustrations are. I am a firm believer that illustrations can make a book that little bit more special and that is definitely the case here. The drawings suit the quirky nature of the book so perfectly, they are gothic and spooky but still have a sense of humour to them. I am absolutely going to have to buy a print copy of Wicked Mortals because I know I will want to read it again.
Overall this is a truly great collection of very odd and inexplicable events and people. These tales deftly prove the expression that truth is always stranger than fiction.

I really enjoyed the last instalment in this series, The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures, so was really pleased when I received an ARC for the second chapter which explores the more ‘human’ aspects of folklore and myth. Here, we delve into the murky world of infamous mass murderers, changlings, witches, spontaneous human combustion and more.

It’s a large, comprehensive list of various stories that essentially outline that humans are often more monster than the creatures we create. Told in a laid back conversational way, it’s very easy to read and told with an obvious passion for the subject matter. I would often find myself eager to get back to this book over others I was reading, and could easily dip in and out of the text.

Sometimes I did find some of the stories slightly repetitive however. We read about H. H. Holmes several times, to the point where I can probably relate his whole life history, and I found the section on witches slightly less interesting compared to the more unusual or unexplainable tales. However, the other stories made up for this, and covered a broad enough area that I came away feeling like I knew a lot more about humans and the development of folklore tales and stories than I did before. I especially enjoyed the chapter on doppelgängers, as it felt the most ‘otherworldly’ and atmospheric. And, perhaps weirdly, also the most believable (other than the true serial killer stories obviously).

Just like the previous novels, the book is scattered with wonderful illustrations throughout that reminded me of old Horrible History books. They compliment the stories well, and help to add that little bit extra to the overall presentation of the text

I look forward to the next book.