The Serial Killer Files: The Who, What, Where, How, and Why of the World's Most Terrifying Murderers (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

THE DEFINITIVE DOSSIER ON HISTORY’S MOST HEINOUS!

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 and packed with the most terrifying, up-to-date information, this innovative and highly compelling compendium covers every aspect of multiple murderers—from psychology to cinema, fetishism to fan clubs, “trophies” to trading cards. Discover:

WHO THEY ARE: Those featured include Ed Gein, the homicidal mama’s boy who inspired fiction’s most famous Psycho, Norman Bates; Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi, sex-crazed killer cousins better known as the Hillside Stranglers; and the Beanes, a fifteenth-century cave-dwelling clan with an insatiable appetite for human flesh

HOW THEY KILL: They shoot, stab, and strangle. Butcher, bludgeon, and burn. Drown, dismember, and devour . . . and other methods of massacre too many and monstrous to mention here.

WHY THEY DO IT: For pleasure and for profit. For celebrity and for “companionship.” For the devil and for dinner. For the thrill of it, for the hell of it, and because “such men are monsters, who live . . .
beyond the frontiers of madness.”

PLUS: in-depth case studies, classic killers’ nicknames, definitions of every kind of deviance and derangement, and much, much more.

For more than one hundred profiles of lethal loners and killer couples, Bluebeards and black widows, cannibals and copycats— this is an indispensable, spine-tingling, eye-popping investigation into the dark hearts and mad minds of that twisted breed of human whose crimes are the most frightening . . . and fascinating.

From the Inside Flap

THE DEFINITIVE DOSSIER ON HISTORY?S MOST HEINOUS!

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 and packed with the most terrifying, up-to-date information, this innovative and highly compelling compendium covers every aspect of multiple murderers?from psychology to cinema, fetishism to fan clubs, ?trophies? to trading cards. Discover:

WHO THEY ARE: Those featured include Ed Gein, the homicidal mama?s boy who inspired fiction?s most famous Psycho, Norman Bates; Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi, sex-crazed killer cousins better known as the Hillside Stranglers; and the Beanes, a fifteenth-century cave-dwelling clan with an insatiable appetite for human flesh

HOW THEY KILL: They shoot, stab, and strangle. Butcher, bludgeon, and burn. Drown, dismember, and devour . . . and other methods of massacre too many and monstrous to mention here.

WHY THEY DO IT: For pleasure and for profit. For celebrity and for ?companionship.? For the devil and for dinner. For the thrill of it, for the hell of it, and because ?such men are monsters, who live . . .
beyond the frontiers of madness.?

PLUS: in-depth case studies, classic killers? nicknames, definitions of every kind of deviance and derangement, and much, much more.

For more than one hundred profiles of lethal loners and killer couples, Bluebeards and black widows, cannibals and copycats? this is an indispensable, spine-tingling, eye-popping investigation into the dark hearts and mad minds of that twisted breed of human whose crimes are the most frightening . . . and fascinating.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1 edition (December 30, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345465660
• ISBN-13: 978-0345465665
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #39,074 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "...everything you ever wanted to know about SK and more", December 29, 2004

By	Russell A. Rohde MD "Owl" (West Covina, California USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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"The Serial Killer Files: The Who, What, Where, How, and Why of the World's Most Terrifying Murderers," Harold Schechter, New York, Ballantine Books, 2003 ISBN 0-345-46566-0 (ppk) is by an established author of 10 prior books, 7 on serial killers.
The book's 402 pages of text are conveniently divided into 9 chapters plus 7 pages listing a rather thorough true-crime bibliography for about 100 individual cases, mostly SK-loners but perhaps 10% SK-couples or "family".
If this book is read cover-to-cover the reader encounters moderate redundancy -- but this is a literary devise seemingly required for the book's division into chapters which nicely explore all those elements of the lengthy sub-title (who, what, where, how and why) plus intriguing chapters on sadism, extreme perversions as cannibalism, methodology, profiling, and an exceptionally spirited coverage of SK culture.
This book is a treatise with cross-referencing of "everything you ever wanted to know about serial killers," with lots of gruesome details on lust-killers, torture, etc. Were one to choose a single book on SK, this one by Schechter stands out, and the price is right. The only technical error I noted was the name of the acids hydrochloric vs sulfuric (HCl page 265, and H2SO4 page 334) used by J. G. Haigh, the "Acid-Bath Killer".

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars All You Ever Wanted to Know About Serial Killers...Mostly..., August 24, 2006

By	Amy Graham (Scottsdale, AZ) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This 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! :-)

29 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Verdict: Terrific, February 25, 2004

By	K. L. Uminski "Tiny Bubbles" (Arlington, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have been a reader of Mr. Schechter's non fiction for three or four years now. One of my first books on serial killers in general (as opposed to books on individual serial killers) was A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers, so I didn't know about this book. But, well, the subject matter is too tantalizing, so I went for it. Was I glad I did. The most valuable thing about this book for me were the updates. We get the Green River Killer update, The Railway Killer, and the Beltway Snipers, to mention only a few. The format here is interesting, and while I read it from page one all the way straight to the end, with its terrific index, its a reference or a "snack" of infomation, however you wish to use it. It has a place of honor on my shelf.