Hunting Humans: The Rise of the Modern Multiple Murderer [Paperback]

Elliott Leyton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 6, 2003

In this new edition of his landmark 1986 study, pioneering anthropologist Elliott Leyton examines the psyche and motivations of his six original multiple-murderer subjects and now takes stock of how far we've come since then in our understanding of why people commit gruesome assaults on innocent strangers. This case-study approach—based on years of immersion in the killers' diaries, confessions, psychiatric interviews, statements to the press, videotapes, and photographs— led the way in defining serial and mass murders not as the acts of alien creatures with deranged minds but rather as personalized protests by alienated men against the society that they believe has excluded them. Leyton also provides an analysis of the Washington, D.C. sniper case. While uncovering the central themes of modern culture that motivated their deeds, Leyton provides vivid and chilling portraits of Edmund Kemper, Ted Bundy, Albert DeSalvo, and David Berkowitz, serial murderers whose prolonged killing campaigns provided them revenge against the world and celebrity careers; and other mass murderers whose brief but horrific murder sprees constituted their own enigmatic suicide notes. The author shows that the motives of multiple murderers are not simply sexual or psychotic; but rise from the very core of American mass culture.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Originally published in 1984, Leyton's pioneering work on the psychology of mass murderers has been updated and revised for this second edition. Clearly written, thoroughly readable and deliberately free of sociological jargon, it is an important contribution to its field and to the public at large, for whom it clarifies a dark and nightmarish phenomenon of our time. Analyzing case histories from Bundy to Berkowitz, Leyton demystifies the mass murderer. He begins with a brilliant description of the foremost serial killer of fiction, Hannibal Lecter, and demonstrates how little he resembles his real-life counterparts. To begin with, there has not been an aristocratic serial killer in centuries; most, says Leyton, are from the working classes. Nor are they diabolical geniuses; rather, they tend to be surprisingly dull-witted. Leyton's contention is that serial killers are not insane, but a product of their environment. They have been with us for centuries, he argues, and tend to come and go cyclically. (Recent research claims that 15% of them are female.) According Leyton, the serial killer sees his act as a form of revenge upon a specific social class that has denied him the social acceptance that he craves. The elements of sadism and sexual pervasion are his means of punishing his supposed persecutors. A professor of anthropology at Memorial University in St. Johns, Newfoundland, Leyton has written a number of books on psychology, and this volume in particular is a most enlightening work.
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Review

“Clearly written, thoroughly readable and deliberately free of sociological jargon, [Hunting Humans] is an important contribution to its field and to the public at large.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Leyton has become probably the world’s most widely consulted expert on serial killing — his books are required reading for homicide detectives.”
—Sunday Telegraph

“Fascinating and thought-provoking.”
—Psychology Today --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf; 2nd Revised edition (November 6, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786712287
• ISBN-13: 978-0786712281
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #655,140 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 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!