The Woodsboro Murders (1997 novel)

For the massacre it is based on, see: The Woodsboro Murders (original massacre) The Woodsboro Murders is the best-selling non-fiction follow-up novel to Wrongly Accused (1996) by Top Story journalist and reporter, Gale Weathers. It was released sometime in 1997.

It is Weathers' first eye-witness account of the Ghostface killing sprees. It was published by Sunset True Crime books and later adapted into a successful horror franchise, Stab, beginning in 1998.

It was written after the conclusion of the Woodsboro Murders in 1996 where Maureen Prescott's killers in 1995 were revealed to be Woodsboro High students, Billy Loomis and Stu Macher. With Weathers proven correct that Cotton Weary was wrongfully convicted of rape and murder, he was exonerated, and now Weathers details her firsthand account, including her own confrontation with the true killers.

Information
Before it was released, Gale was in the midst of writing another book during the original Woodsboro killing spree succeeding Wrongly Accused: The Maureen Prescott Murder.

The book is based on the events of the first installment. Gale is critical of Dewey in his police work, describing him as "oozing with inexperience". Gale also admits to writing false, exaggerated information, describing Kenny's death, saying he was gutted by the infamous, Ghostface, rather than his throat being slashed.

It is also mentioned in the second installment that the ending was different from what Sidney, Randy and Gale recalled. It was revealed that numerous characters from the second installment had read the book, like Dewey, Randy, Joel and Debbie Salt.

It played a big part in the final scenes of the third installment, when Dewey asked Gale to sign the book for her, she opens it to find an engagement ring.

Trivia

 * Despite being non-fiction, it had exaggerative elements, such as Kenny's murder.
 * A defunct promotional website for the book suggests it was released in 1996.
 * Given the events of the first film are implied to take place in late-1996, it was likely published in 1997.
 * Gale's engagement ring was hidden in the book cut out by Dewey.

Other books
The order of Gale's published books, as seen on her desk in Scream 4. In overall chronological order:
 * 1) Wrongly Accused (Pre-Ghostface release. Unseen in Scream 4, but mentioned during Scream and Scream 5)
 * 2) The Woodsboro Murders (Most famous book; seen/mentioned in Scream 2, 3 and 4; 1997 book; spawned the Stab franchise)
 * 3) College Terror (Mentioned in Scream 3; Easter egg on Gale's desk in Scream 4; 1998 book; adapted into Stab 2 released in 1999)
 * 4) Hollywood Horror (Easter egg on Gale's desk; 2000 book; adapted into Stab 3: Hollywood Horror released mid-late 2000s)
 * 5) Ghostface Returns (Fiction; Easter egg on Gale's desk and in Jill's room; released 2000s decade)
 * 6) Knife of the Hunter (Fiction; adapted into Stab 7; Easter egg on Gale's desk; the most recent according to the order on Gale's desk lineup).

Non-Canon Books
These fictional books were created by the props department, but are not seen in Scream 4.
 * Knife of Doom
 * Clock of Doom