The Serial Killer Files: The Who, What, Where, How, and Why of the World's Most Terrifying Murderers
Written by Harold Schechter
Narrated by Charles Constant
4/5
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About this audiobook
Hollywood's make-believe maniacs like Jason, Freddy, and Hannibal Lecter can't hold a candle to real life monsters like John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and scores of others who have terrorized, tortured, and terminated their way across civilization throughout the ages. Now, from the much-acclaimed author of Deviant, Deranged, and Depraved, comes the ultimate resource on the serial killer phenomenon.
Rigorously researched, this innovative and highly compelling compendium covers every aspect of multiple murderers, including psychology, cinema, fetishism, fan clubs, "trophies," and trading cards.
Harold Schechter
Harold Schechter is a professor of American literature and culture. Renowned for his true-crime writing, he is the author of the nonfiction books Fatal, Fiend, Bestial, Deviant, Deranged, Depraved, and, with David Everitt, The A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. He is also the author of Nevermore and The Hum Bug, the acclaimed historical novels featuring Edgar Allan Poe. He lives in New York State.
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Reviews for The Serial Killer Files
118 ratings9 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Really good book but very repetitive but otherwise great read
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I am always engrossed to of stashious and I am oblivious to the world around me.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I liked it because it was detailed. I didn’t because it was repetitive, annoyingly so, and there were several high profile and low profile cases that were simply missing! I didn’t hear a single utterance about the golden state killer or BTK, but Albert Fish was quoted 15 times!!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I was captivated by the book and writing style. It keep me intrigued. I definitely would read more of this authors work.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'd give the book 5 stars if it didn't repeat a lot of the info halfway through which kept getting repetitive. Other than that I couldn't put it down.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The dark side of human nature is an endless source of morbid fascination, and with this book we go right to the heart of some of the most appalling human behavior. Despite the brutality of the topic, the author's conversational writing style makes this an easy book to read.We start at the beginning, when the term 'serial killer' was first defined. The author talks about specific traits common to serial killers, using notorious cases as examples. From there, this book covers a little bit of everything, from the types of killers, to their methods of killing and body disposal. The cases explored span from Jack the Ripper to modern-day killers.A major flaw in this book, for me, was the repetition. The author relies on a handful of the more well-known serial killers for examples, and the same details are cited multiple times throughout. This might be due, in part, to the way the book is set up, though the information is repeated as if we hadn't read the exact details in a different section. The other problem area, for me, was with the 'Why They Kill' section. We're lead to believe that all serial killers have mother issues, come from abusive homes, and are abnormally fixated on sex. While this is a general truth for many killers, it's an oversimplification and not true for all killers. The author also appears to support the nurture over nature theory, which is another generality that doesn't hold true. Abuse, in and of itself, does not create a serial killer. The fact is that, most often, it's a combination of nature and nurture, and occasionally simply nature. In fairness, much of the neuroscience research in this area has been published within the past decade, before this book's publication. Still, I felt this section tried too hard to simplify a complicated issue. Overall, this is a good read, covering a vast topic and focusing on a handful of darkly intriguing cases.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I have read this book over and over.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Harold Schechter is one of the leading authorities on American serial killers, and he has a very readable writing style. I've read several of his books, and I have "enjoyed" (I am not sure if that is the correct word, considering the subject matter) each of them.The book is incredibly in depth, covering a range of topics (starting with how the term "serial killer" entered the English language, then delving into common characteristics of serial killers, why and how they kill, how they're caught, and much more). Each section is punctuated with at least one in depth case file illustrating the points already discussed. There is a ton of information to be found here, and it's the perfect resource for those writers who want to incorporate an accurate portrayal of a serial killer in a piece of fiction. Those who want to learn more about serial killers will also find this useful.My only complaint is that the author repeats himself quite often. There are several places where entire sentences are almost repeated verbatim. I understand that each chapter details something different, and perhaps the author didn't intend for this book to be read cover to cover, but it got rather annoying. Also, the author mentioned a few serial killers without giving much background on them, as if expecting the reader to know who they were. There were a few I didn't (for example, the only reason I've ever heard of the name Peter Kuerten was because of the movie "Copycat"). Altogether, a staggering amount of information is packed into this book, and I'd recommend it to those who are interested in the subject matter.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This is a veritable compendium of serial killers (who they are, how they kill, why they do it) and each killer has an in depth case study, and I do mean IN DEPTH! What more can I say. It was an interesting read with loads of resources for whatever macabre murder or murder type strikes your fancy...my only complaint is that there was actually quite a bit of repeated information. I'm assuming though that the author probably doesn't intend for the book to be read cover to cover (as I did), so he repeats information in various sections one might reference, probably to ensure his ideas are conveyed thoroughly for those not reading the entire book, like say, looking up a specific killer or type of killer. I give it a solid B, this would make a handy reference for a library or for use in a personal library if one writes about serial killers! :-)