Hunting Humans [Paperback]

Elliott Leyton (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: McClelland & Stewart (June 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0771053096
• ISBN-13: 978-0771053092
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,195,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unusual angle on serial killers, December 26, 2006

By 

Karen Franklin "Forensic Psychologist" (El Cerrito, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hunting Humans: The Rise of the Modern Multiple Murderer (Paperback)

Leyton is an anthropologist, and this study of serial killers focuses on sociocultural factors rather than individual pathology as a cause of multiple murder. Specifically, Leyton examines how class conflict has contributed to serial killings in different epochs. In the Middle Ages, royalty killed serfs; in the Industrial Age of the 19th century, the nouveau middle class killed prostitutes and other individuals from the lower rungs, and in the modern era serial killers target those who are just one rung up from them in the social ladder.

Leyton argues that modern multiple murderers are class-conscious and socially conservative men who are obsessed with status, class, and power. Emboldened by our cultural glorification of violence and serial killers, and trapped in alienating lives that do not match their class strivings, they kill the objects of their desire. And they keep killing until they feel that they have accomplished the mission that they set out on. It's a very interesting analysis, although I think Leyton selected case studies that fit his thesis and ignored others that did not. (He profiles Ted Bundy, Edmund Kemper, David Berkowitz, and four other cases, including the D.C. snipers in his new edition, but he ignores - for example - Jeffrey Dahmer, whose predilection for young Cambodian boys goes against his thesis.) Also, the fact that documented serial killers in the Middle Ages were royalty may be due to documentation issues; maybe serfs who killed serfs never made the history books (a possibility Leyton doesn't mention).

But these are minor limitations. The book is well researched and well written, and it is certainly refreshing to see a treatment of this topic that does not ignore the macro perspective of class, race, and culture. In my own forensic psychology practice, I have found it helpful to keep Leyton's perspective in mind, while still not ignoring the developmental wrong-turns and individual pathologies that also contribute to multiple murder. Overall, this book is well worth reading for anyone interested in the etiology of serial murder.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still the classic work, September 9, 2004

By 

MrPower (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hunting Humans: The Rise of the Modern Multiple Murderer (Paperback)

I first read Hunting Humans 15 or so years ago and I have recently bought the new edition. It is a fascinating insight into the minds and motivations of serial killers, although I think Leyton struggles somewhat to fit them all into his particular thesis. Ted Bundy was extremely bright and personable and started his killing spree after his girlfriend had accepted an offer of marriage which he promptly withdrew two days later. Almost without exception, his victims all resembled this woman. He was also a necrophiliac, returning to have sex with his victims even when they were in an advanced state of decomposition. Perhaps my favourite part of the book, and one I often quote when faced with 'expert opinion' , regards the 'gentle giant' Edmund Kemper. He had spent several years incarcerated as a teenager for brutally murdering his grandparents (yes, they let him out!), and he was in the psychiatrist's office getting his release papers. The good doctor wished him well and felt certain that the young Kemper would go on to have a productive and useful life. At that very moment Kemper's car was parked outside. In the boot were the two severed heads of his latest victims. Chilling, but absolutely gripping reading.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Amazing Work, October 18, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Hunting Humans (Paperback)

Whether you are an anthropologist, sociologist, or just plain interested in the serial killer phenomenon, this book is a fascinating analysis. Through examinations of specific cases (Ted Bundy, Charles Starkweather, Albert DeSalvo ("The Boston Strangler"), Leyton provides insight via anthropolgoical theory and psychological profiles. A must for any true crime lover!