HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - While stories of love affairs leading to murder, moonshine and sports heroes may be reserved for a made-for-TV movie, they all happened in Lawrence County.

Dr. Danny Greyson Fulks, a Scottown native, has compiled a host of stories from Appalachian Ohio for his recently-published book, "Tragedy on Greasy Ridge: True Stories of Appalachian Ohio. Amongst the stories, the book includes several tales set in Lawrence County including ones about the Waterloo Wonders basketball team and two murders on Greasy Ridge.

Fulks, a professor at Marshall University for 30 years, said he wrote the book because a college professor having work published leads to more frequent promotions and more prestige. Also, many of the stories featured in the book were ones told to him since his childhood and he wanted to research and tell them in a scholarly manner.

"I didn't have to go to Alaska to write this book," Fulks said. "The stories were right in my backyard."

One of the stories, "Murder on Greasy Ridge" discusses the 1935 deaths of Faith Massie, a 31-year-old teacher from Greasy Ridge and her boyfriend Charles Horton, a 42-year-old railroad freight agent from Columbus. The couple was found dead by members of Massie's family, and the deaths were suspected to be the result of a murder-suicide, Fulks said.

Horton was believed to be the one responsible. Massie, who had an ailing father, probably did not want to marry Horton and move away to Columbus with him, Fulks said.

"People in love can be crazy," he said.

The book, published by the Jesse Stuart Foundation in Ashland, Ky., is apparently doing well considering it is a regional work. Fulks said he has received several e-mails and phone calls about his book and said it has been selling out in Huntington.

According to Fulks, one of the aspects of his book that makes it different from some other accounts of Appalachian life is that it is the truth with no romanticizing. Most of the stories are set in the early 20th century, a harsh time period for those living in this region. Melodrama appeals to some people, but Fulks said his writing is not melodrama. Some stories do not have a happy ending.

"This was a time when people lived close to death," he said. "A family would have 10 children and five of them would be in the graveyard. Old people would die in the bedrooms."

This way of life, Fulks said, spawned many sad hymns and some secular music like songs from the Carter Family. Preparation for Heaven was a way of life.

"When you lived with poverty, disease and death," the next life is better," he said.

Fulks is a graduate of Hannan Trace High School in Gallia County, formerly known as Mercerville High School, and he studied school administration in college. He has his Ed.D. from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Fulks taught elementary school and worked as a school principal in both Gallia and Franklin counties before going to Marshall University after graduation. He is now a part-time instructor at Ohio University Southern.

Fulks' book is available at Borders at the Huntington Mall in Barboursville, W.Va., the Marshall University Bookstore, and Stationers and the People's News in downtown Huntington.

He will be signing his book at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the Gallipolis Public Library and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 26, at the Jesse Stuart Foundation office at 1645 Winchester Avenue in Ashland, Ky.