Dungeon of Death [Paperback]

Scott Keith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2008

"Asking Scott Keith about professional wrestling is like asking Wayne Gretzky about hockey." --Murtz Jaffer, Inside Pulse

The True Story Behind Wrestling's Deadly Secret

On June 25, 2007, Canadian pro wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy, and their seven-year-old son Daniel were found dead in their Fayetteville, Georgia, home. The ruling of murder-suicide caused a media frenzy and stunned wrestling fans around the world.

Yet the Benoit tragedy was only the latest in a string of disasters that have dogged Stampede Wrestling, operated by the Calgary-based Hart family. In the first book of its kind, Scott Keith offers an in-depth look at the Hart family "curse" that has left all the Stampede Wrestling alumnae either crippled or dead. Were these deaths preventable or inevitable? How did a sport famous for showmanship and entertainment become overrun by rampant drug use, depravity, and greed?

Chris Benoit isn't the only wrestler to be brought down by a history of drug use--many other big names in the sport have fallen victim to wrestling's drug culture and steroid obsession. Why has nothing been done about this, even now after these latest deaths?

Scott Keith knows wrestling from the inside out. This compelling and candid account reveals not only what's gone wrong in the world's most spectacular sport but what must be done to save it.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Citadel (November 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806530685
• ISBN-13: 978-0806530680
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,319,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, but sort of misleading, November 4, 2008

By 

M. Hawthrone "Benoit 4 L" (Maryland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dungeon of Death (Paperback)

So, the book is not horrible, but it was misleading. Benoit is the whole cover, and in small print it says something about the Hart Curse. Well, Benoit is barely even mentioned in this book, save for the first couple of relatively short chapters. Why? Why did he use Benoit to sell his book? While not a terrible book, I for one would not have bought it if I knew it was not about Benoit, or at least mostly about him.
Bad business to exploit someone's image and then not even add anything to the story.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing and Miseleading., April 18, 2009

By 

Luke Martinez - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dungeon of Death (Paperback)

I was loaned this book by a friend, who suggested it to me as a fan of Chris Benoit. I read it, and I cannot say that I recommend it.

First of all, the title is incredibly misleading. The author does point out a lot of dead Stampede alumni, but doesn't claim there is a curse. More accurately, the book is a list of people in wrestling who have died, with some history thrown in.

Secondly, if you are the kind of wrestling fan who reads the Observer or Torch, there is nothing new here. If you have been a fan of wrestling at all in the last 5 years, there is nothing new here. Shocking insights like: Dynamite Kid is in bad shape, Davey Boy Smith did steroids, and Chris Benoit killed his family!

Finally, the book isn't very well written. It reads like a long-time wrestling fan telling stories at a convention. There are spelling and grammatical errors, and the writing just isn't compelling. Furthermore, there are many references to other information, but almost never is it linked so you can verify or follow up on anything.

This book is really just a crass attempt to monopolize on the Benoit tragedy and the deaths of many wrestlers.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars You're better off reading Wikipedia, which is essentially what this book is--poorly written and amateurish., December 30, 2009

By 

Dan Drysdale (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dungeon of Death (Paperback)

Someone remarked that reading Scott Keith is like reading a poorly written High School book report by someone who was better at shop class than English. That person hit it right on the head. This is such a poorly written piece of work. Scott simply can't write well. He mismashes styles to the point where you can tell he's painfully trying to write something, anything, that's remotely passable--and fails miserably.

When I opened up the book and read page one, I knew this was going to be a bad read. Scott places himself in the first person...then the third person...then as a casual fan. This ridiculous approach is the kind of thing I used to see when I tutored students who didn't have a firm grasp on writing well. It's disturbing to know that there are publishers and editors out there who actually thought this is a decent body of work ready for the public.

By the same token, people remarked how Scott blatantly lifted from other sources and I must say he took a lot...and I mean virtually cutting and pasting huge chunks of texts from "Pure Dynamite." It's kind of pathetic to lazily take another writer's work product--his hard earned time and money--and pass it off as your own. Scott does this and its pretty evident from just the first few pages.

If you don't believe me, just take a look for yourself. I just don't think this is worthy of any kind of purchase. I think this might be worth 50 Cents at most. It's just very, very bad. I can't stress that enough. I feel compelled to ask him directly for either an apology or a refund.