Legends, Monsters, or Serial Murderers?
Legends, Monsters, or Serial Murderers?

Author: Dirk C. Gibson

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2012-02-14

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13:

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Covering figures ranging from Catherine Monvoisin to Vlad the Impaler, and describing murders committed in ancient aristocracies to those attributed to vampires, witches, and werewolves, this book documents the historic reality of serial murder. The majority of serial murder studies support the consensus that serial murder is essentially an American crime—a flawed assumption, as the United States has existed for less than 250 years. What is far more likely is that the perverse urge to repeatedly and intentionally kill has existed throughout human history, and that a substantial percentage of serial murders throughout ancient times, the middle ages, and the pre-modern era were attributed to imaginative surrogate explanations: dragons, demons, vampires, werewolves, and witches. Legends, Monsters, or Serial Murderers? The Real Story Behind an Ancient Crime dispels the interrelated misconceptions that serial murder is an American crime and a relatively recent phenomenon, making the novel argument that serial murder is a historic reality—an unrecognized fact in ancient times. Noted serial murderers such as the Roman Locuta (The Poisoner); Gilles De Rais of France, a prolific serial killer of children; Andres Bichel of Bavaria; and Chinese aristocratic serial killer T'zu-Hsi are spotlighted. This book provides a unique perspective that integrates supernatural interpretations of serial killing with the history of true crime, reanimating mythic entities of horror stories and presenting them as real criminals.

Monsters and Monarchs
Monsters and Monarchs

Author: Debbie Felton

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2021-07-27

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 1477323066

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Jack the Ripper. Jeffrey Dahmer. John Wayne Gacy. Locusta of Gaul. If that last name doesn’t seem to fit with the others, it’s likely because our modern society largely believes that serial killers are a recent phenomenon. Not so, argues Debbie Felton—in fact, there’s ample evidence to show that serial killers stalked the ancient world just as they do the modern one. Felton brings this evidence to light in Monsters and Monarchs, and in doing so, forces us to rethink the assumption that serial killers arise from problems unique to modern society. Exploring a trove of stories from classical antiquity, she uncovers mythological monsters and human criminals that fit many serial killer profiles: the highway killers confronted by the Greek hero Theseus, such as Procrustes, who tortured and mutilated their victims; the Sphinx, or “strangler,” from the story of Oedipus; child-killing demons and witches, which could explain abnormal infant deaths; and historical figures such as Locusta of Gaul, the most notorious poisoner in the early Roman Empire. Redefining our understanding of serial killers and their origins, Monsters and Monarchs changes how we view both ancient Greek and Roman society and the modern-day killers whose stories still captivate the public today.

The Science of Serial Killers
The Science of Serial Killers

Author: Meg Hafdahl

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2021-10-19

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 1510764151

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Discover the real-life inspirations behind history’s most infamous serial killers: John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Charles Manson, and so many more. Gothic media moguls Kelly Florence and Meg Hafdahl, authors of The Science of Monsters, The Science of Women in Horror, and The Science of Stephen King, and co-hosts of the Horror Rewind podcast called “the best horror film podcast out there” by Film Daddy, present a guide to the serial killers who inspired the movies and media we all know and love. Delve into the brutal truth behind horror’s secret: many monsters portrayed on the silver screen are based on true murderers. Uncover the truth behind the real monsters of horror, answering such questions as: What is the science behind serial killers’ motivations like Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy? How did detectives discover the identities of criminals like the Boston Strangler and the BTK Strangler? Has science made it possible to unmask Jack the Ripper and the Zodiac Killer? What is the science behind female versus male serial killers? Through interviews, film analysis, and bone-chilling discoveries, join Kelly and Meg as they learn about the horrors of true crime through the decades.

Whoever Fights Monsters
Whoever Fights Monsters

Author: Robert K. Ressler

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Published: 2015-05-19

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 1250084997

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LEARN THE TRUE STORY OF ONE OF THE FBI PROFILERS WHO COINED THE PHRASE "SERIAL KILLER" Face-to-face with some of America's most terrifying killers, FBI veteran Robert K. Ressler learned how to identify the unknown monsters who walk among us -- and put them behind bars. In Whoever Fights Monsters, Ressler—the inspiration for the character Agent Bill Tench in David Fincher's hit TV show Mindhunter—shows how he was able to track down some of the country's most brutal murderers. Ressler, the FBI Agent and ex-Army CID colonel who advised Thomas Harris on The Silence of the Lambs, used the evidence at a crime scene to put together a psychological profile of the killers. From the victims they choose to the way they kill to the often grotesque souvenirs they take with them—Ressler unlocks the identities of these vicious killers. And with his discovery that serial killers share certain violent behaviors, Ressler goes behind prison walls to hear bizarre first-hand stories from countless convicted murderers, including Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy; Edmund Kemper; and Son of Sam. Getting inside the mind of a killer to understand how and why he kills is one of the FBI's most effective ways of helping police bring in killers who are still at large. Join Ressler as he takes you on the hunt for the world's most dangerous psychopaths in this terrifying journey you will not forget.

Supernatural Serial Killers
Supernatural Serial Killers

Author: Samantha Lyon

Publisher: Arcturus Publishing

Published: 2015-11-25

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 1784281328

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Albert Fish held the genuine belief that the murders he committed were upon instruction from God. The original Dracula's relative Countess Elisabeth was rumoured to use blood of her victims to preserve her youth and beauty. Jeffrey Dahmer began a macabre project of building an occult altar with his victims' body parts, believing this granted him supernatural powers to subdue and control his prey. Peter Stumpp, who started practising the "wicked arts from twelve years of age", was convinced he was a werewolf. The crimes committed by these people usually involved sexual deviance, cannibalism and violence toward children. In the sixteenth-century Europe, the problem became so significant that 'Werewolf Witch Trials' were conducted - many have no idea that it was possible to be tried and convicted for the crime of being a Werewolf, but Lycanthropy was a serious and major social concern in the 1500s. Supernatural Serial Killers discuss the individual cases of supernatural serial killers, including their background, crimes, trials and defences.

I Am Not A Serial Killer
I Am Not A Serial Killer

Author: Dan Wells

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Published: 2011-08-02

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 9780765362360

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John Wayne Cheever keeps his obsession with serial killers in check by a set of rigid rules that he lives by, hoping to the prevent himself from committing murder, but when a body turns up at a laundromat, must confront a danger outside himself.

Creating Cultural Monsters
Creating Cultural Monsters

Author: Julie B. Wiest

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2011-06-06

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1439851557

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Serial murderers generate an abundance of public interest, media coverage, and law enforcement attention, yet after decades of studies, serial murder researchers have been unable to answer the most important question: Why? Providing a unique and comprehensive exploration, Creating Cultural Monsters: Serial Murder in America explains connections bet

Why We Love Serial Killers
Why We Love Serial Killers

Author: Scott Bonn

Publisher: Skyhorse

Published: 2014-10-28

Total Pages: 323

ISBN-13: 1632201895

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For decades now, serial killers have taken center stage in the news and entertainment media. The coverage of real-life murderers such as Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer has transformed them into ghoulish celebrities. Similarly, the popularity of fictional characters such as Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter or Dexter demonstrates just how eager the public is to be frightened by these human predators. But why is this so? Could it be that some of us have a gruesome fascination with serial killers for the same reasons we might morbidly stare at a catastrophic automobile accident? Or it is something more? In Why We Love Serial Killers, criminology professor Dr. Scott Bonn explores our powerful appetite for the macabre, while also providing new and unique insights into the world of the serial killer, including those he has gained from his correspondence with two of the world’s most notorious examples, David Berkowitz (“Son of Sam”) and Dennis Rader (“Bind, Torture, Kill”). In addition, Bonn examines the criminal profiling techniques used by law enforcement professionals to identify and apprehend serial predators, he discusses the various behaviors—such as the charisma of the sociopath— that manifest themselves in serial killers, and he explains how and why these killers often become popular cultural figures. Groundbreaking in its approach, Why We Love Serial Killers is a compelling look at how the media, law enforcement agencies, and public perception itself shapes and feeds the “monsters” in our midst.