Review: 'Murder Ballads: Illustrated Lyrics and Lore' by Katy Horan

Murder Ballads is a beautifully illustrated and well-researched deepdive into murder ballads. Even if you don't think you know murder ballads, you will have heard or read or somehow seen a version of one, as they have tendrils all through popular culture. Horan provides a great depth to her exploration of them. Thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Pub. Date: 29/04/2025
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing

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.

Murder ballads are a fascinating part of folklore and, as a (somewhat recovering) true crime fan, I have always been intrigued by them. In part, this also stems from my IRL occupation as a Medievalist, as we see traces of these ballads in medieval literature as well. Murder ballads are narrative songs which deal with a killing of some sort. In her introduction, Horan traces the development and evolution of this "genre", if you can call it that, and it provides a really interesting background to the ballads that follow. In her foreword to the book, Sinéad Gleeson formulates Horan's goals for the book as follows: 'to re-examine old narratives, explore who benefits from violence, and acknowledge which voices have been omitted and historically minimized (women, people of color, the poor)' (p. 12). The book absolutely succeeds at these goals and I find it a highly interesting read. 

Murder Ballads contains twenty ballads, picked for their diversity but also for the insight they collectively give into the genre. Each ballad is preceded by an introduction, which summarizes the generally accepted narrative of the song and provides some background and provenance. We find out where the ballad most likely originates from, where it has been collected, what tropes it plays with, and by whom it has been recorded. Horan also specifies which version of the ballad she is using, and then each ballad is also accompanied by an illustration from Horan herself. I liked the balance Horan strikes here between providing enough information and letting the ballad do its own work as well. The ballads that struck me most were those where Horan presents the real life inspirations behind them, which often show historical women in really difficult situations. One is the famous 'Frankie and Johnny', based on Frankie Baker's 1899 shooting of her boyfriend/pimp in self-defense. Horan explains how the ballad took on a life of its own almost immediately after the trial, being turned into Hollywood films and  recorded by over 250 artist, and affected Frankie for the rest of her life. It is a good example of how one moment in a woman's life, with which many women could maybe identify, is turned into something else, her story endlessly retold and re-shaped. Some other intriguing ones are 'Stagolee', a "bad man"-style ballad which became a symbol of Black masculinity during the Jim Crow era. I also enjoyed the discussion of 'The Unquiet Grave' (Penny Dreadful did a great rendition) which included mention of a beloved by me Old Norse poem, Helgakviða Hundingsbana II. Here I also enjoyed Horan's choice to feature a variant called 'Cold Blows the Wind' instead. More well-known ballads, such as 'The Cruel Mother' and 'The Twa Sisters' are of course also included.

In her own introduction, Horan discusses her own fascination with the genre, and then her growing awareness of how it is rooted in oppressions of various kinds. Throughout Murder Ballads she tries, and I think succeeds, to on the one hand celebrate a genre of folklore which is diverse, while on the other hand acknowledging and critiquing its messages as well. And her critique is not to be 'mistaken for contempt' (p. 14) Horan warns. There is beauty in these these ballads, which can only be claimed and appreciated if we take a closer look at it. At the end of the book there is a list of Notable Recordings for each ballad, which I liked dipping into, as well as an extensive Bibliography and more Recommended Reading.

I give this book...

4 Universes!

I really enjoyed reading Murder Ballads. I was interested in the genre of ballads anyway, but I really appreciated Horan's care in tracing these ballads' origins.