Reddit reviews The Gates of Janus: Serial Killing and Its Analysis

Gates of Janus

I read the first couple of pages on Amazon a few months ago and found it surprisingly compelling. Consequently, I was disgusted with myself for the rest of the day

Precisely. Kemper was also murdering his mother, before he murdered her properly.

Ian Brady is the author. Frankly I'm surprised it was published at all. He conveniently glosses over his and Myra's own murders, of course, and is constantly justifying and lauding every little thing these killers do, but that just makes his perspective all the more interesting. http://www.amazon.com/The-Gates-Janus-Killing-Analysis/dp/0922915733/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335321137&sr=8-1

My interest is mainly in texts that are, (even if sometimes taken from context) as direct from the horse's mouth as I can get. The products of killers are of extreme importance in understanding them. I may just post it as another separate post so it can gain greater exposure if the list goes well, but the prizes of my shelf include:

• The Gates of Janus, by Ian Brady. Two hundred and fifty pages of masturbatory self-justification and gratification, full of utterly perverted interpretation of philosophy and reeking of utter genius in its own hideous, solipsistic way. It is superb, and I would recommend it for anyone interested in further understanding the mind of a serial killer, because in it he does not just profile other killers, but in doing so, builds an unparalleled self-portrait. http://www.amazon.com/The-Gates-Janus-Killing-Analysis/dp/0922915733/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1408762290&sr=8-1
  
  
• Face to Face With Evil by Dr. Chris Crowley has been skewered in the Amazon reviews for some reason, but I thought it was quite interesting. Not necessarily new information, but there were some good Brady conversations in there, and it offers a fine counterpoint to Gates. http://www.amazon.com/Face-Evil-Conversations-Ian-Brady/dp/184454981X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408764445&sr=1-2&keywords=face+to+face+with+evil
  
  
• Carl Panzram: A Journal of Murder has been mentioned a few times in the odd comment here or there, but I cannot recommend it enough. I find him to be a quite sympathetic figure, all told. The story is compelling as anything you'd see in a film, and horrible, because it is (at least, mostly) truth. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=carl%20panzram&sprefix=carl+pan%2Caps
  
  
• Killing for Company by Brian Masters, about poor, lonely Dennis Nilsen. Dennis, who the British government is preventing from publishing his autobiography, History of a Drowning Boy (http://dennisnilsen.blogspot.com/ contains fragments). This is a terrible shame. Isn't his story just as important? Shouldn't we seek to learn from it, and understand why these things happened? But, nonetheless, Killing for Company is a fine and fascinating book, which shares its title with one of my favorite songs. http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Company-Case-Dennis-Nilsen/dp/0099552612/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1408764106&sr=1-2
  
  
• The Sexual Criminal: A Psychoanalytical Study is not only fascinating, but full of fantastic photographs. http://www.amazon.com/Sexual-Criminal-Psychoanalytical-Study/dp/0965032426/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408764526&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Sexual+Criminal
  
  
• Apocalypse Culture, Books I and II, though particularly II, which has a very compelling story about the cannibal Issei Sagawa, (who, incidentally, is now a free man and food critic in Japan). Beware, however, that the books are highly subversive and some of the articles may curdle your stomach--though, much like reading de Sade, sometimes it's worth it to come out the other side, yourself still clean. http://www.amazon.com/Apocalypse-Culture-II-Adam-Parfrey/dp/0922915571/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408764639&sr=1-2&keywords=Apocalypse+Culture
  
  I'm sure I'm leaving things out. I may update another time.