(Part 2) Top products from r/serialkillers

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.

The ice man is pretty interesting.
A lot of the book was written from first hand knowledge. The author actually talked to Richard kuklinski. The story starts from when he was a child. You get to see the progression all the way up to when he was caught. Really fascinating stuff.

Talking with Serial Killers is pretty interesting read.

Rose West: The Making of a Monster is quite a detailed book about the West case,i really enjoyed this to read,got through it pretty quickly.

Fiction wise, American Psycho is a great story. I have a strong stomach but some parts of that I had to put the book down and walk away for a bit. You can't beat the Hannibal Lector series either.

The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi

https://www.amazon.com/Monster-Florence-Douglas-Preston/dp/1455573825

This book was so amazing and an interesting look into the Italian justice system through the unsolved murders of a serial killer from the 70s. It also includes other issues at the time of the publication of this book including censorship of the press. I honestly loved this book through how it personally affected the author of this book (which I won’t spoil how). I feel like it is also important to note that while this book is based on crimes that aren’t world famous and so reading about it for the first time is so eye opening and interesting.

You should check this out. http://www.amazon.com/The-Ice-Man-Confessions-Contract/dp/0312938845
It's a pretty awesome read.

Wow, interesting! I may just have to check that out. Is this the book?

There should be 7 editions of this book...it’s a series.

https://www.amazon.com/Serial-Murderers-their-Victims-Hickey/dp/0495600814

FBI Basics:

https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/serial-murder

You can also look for research by Enzo Radsic who I think has some great progressive thoughts on the subject. Just use his name + the word publication or research and you’ll get some good reading material.

'Why They Kill' by Richard Rhodes is great

This book really changed my opinion of Holmes. Turns out he didn't kill nearly as many people as he's given credit for.

Sources:

John Douglas - Mindhunter. Some of his other books talk about Bundy too, but I can't remember which ones - sorry.

Robert Keppel with Stephen G. Michaud - Terrible Secrets

Keppel was the original detective that was assigned to the Bundy case. Bundy asked him to meet him once he knew he was going to be executed and a lot of the book talks about that meeting.

Check our Stephen G. Michaud's other books too. He helped co-write a number of books on Bundy with a few FBI profilers. The one contains transcripts of Michaud's interviews with Bundy.

You can also read the transcripts of Bill Hagmaier's interviews online.

If you find Bundy specifically interesting, try The Only Living Witness by Stephen Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth. I've read The Stranger Beside Me and this blew that book out of the water.

https://www.amazon.com/Only-Living-Witness-serial-killer/dp/1928704298

A Fathers Story by Lionel Dahmer

https://www.amazon.com/dp/068812156X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_TZ7XBbAE5X64W

By Jeffrey’s dad about what he thinks led to him being a murderer, and how he’s tried to come to terms with it. Not the worlds best written book but fascinating.

Here's the Amazon page, where you can preview the first few pages. http://www.amazon.com/Green-River-Killer-Detective-Story/dp/1595825606/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318017996&sr=8-1

I might suggest going a different way. In order to get into the mind of a serial killer, it might be helpful to first understand some of the psychology behind the fascination. This book gives an excellent overview of not only why we as people get very interested in serial murder, but also dives into a lot of other areas that would be essential in authoring a story, in my opinion. I write as well and was glad to have discovered this book. You also might want to check out Ted Bundy: Conversations with a Killer, as this book offers a unique look not only into Bundy's mind, but also into the essence of serial murder in general.

The book you want is this one by Roy Wenzl... lots of interviews with Ken Landwehr and others who were around during Rader's spree.

https://www.amazon.com/Bind-Torture-Kill-Inside-Serial/dp/0061373958/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1511931510&sr=8-2&keywords=btk

Rader's daughter Kerri is also writing a book: http://www.kansas.com/news/local/article134979419.html

A Father's Story https://www.amazon.com/dp/068812156X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_bGWcBbE623EJC or check your local library

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000ROKXSI/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1




I just finished this the other day.

BTK

Yeah, I figure most of us have read the main books on the main serial killers like BTK. They go into Shirley Vian in a lot of detail in the BTK book.

https://www.amazon.com/Bundy-Murders-Comprehensive-History/dp/0786444266

https://www.amazon.com/Only-Living-Witness-serial-killer/dp/1928704298


If you like a bit of fictional drama, read Rules book. Kind of funny how a nobody becomes a writer. she simply took known data in a multitude of killings, took gossip, had it printed and housewives ate it up.

It's no wonder reality TVB is so big :)

Stick with the meat and the people who had access. Those are the people the other 2 books use for their narrative.

Sort of similar: Ian Brady wrote a book ( THE GATES OF JANUS: SERIAL KILLING AND ITS ANALYSIS )
that purported to offer a look inside the minds of people who kill. It reads like his letters do, really - a lot of projection and self-absorbed rumination - but there are a few insights here and there. He was surprisingly bright and capable of critical thinking so there may have been some investigative value there. As sick a bastard as he was, sometimes I think about what a pity it was that he wasted his intellect on "committing the perfect murders" rather than becoming an academic on the right side of the law. Kind of like the judge who wished Bundy had become a lawyer instead of a rapist-murderer.

In the Wake of the Butcher

It's about the Butcher of Kingsbury Run, who is (officially) a person who beheaded/dismembered 12 or so people in Cleveland between 1934-1938. But on the full scale, it's very likely he started committing murders in Philadelphia back in the 1920s and continued into the 40s and early 50s. He was never officially identified.

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

Catch Me A Killer by South African profiler Micki Pistorius https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0140297227/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_xsONBb07E0TAD

OK I see 2 of my favorites on this list so here are a couple of more. While most folks don't seem to base their fiction on any one serial killer there is a lot of good serial killer fiction out there.

Barry Lyga has two books out in his I Hunt Killers series. Not bad for YA books since the YA genre has come a long long way since I was a kid

Tim Dorsey is my go to guy for serial killer fun. His Serge Storm series is 14 books strong with no end in sight. Funny brutal and you will learn more about Florida than you will ever want to know.

Jeff Jensen Did a really good Graphic Novel last year about the Green River Killer. His dad was one of the lead detectives on the case so there is a lot of personal insight in this book not seen elsewhere.

The Killer of Little Shepherds, about Joseph Vacher 1890s French killer and criminologist ­Alexandre Lacassagne's development of forensic science.

Maniac was a fun movie.

"Serial Murderers and their Victims" by Eric W. Hickey (https://www.amazon.com/Serial-Murderers-their-Victims-Hickey/dp/0495600814)

ian brady wrote a book called the Gates of Janus where he discusses other cases...

for years I refused to pay for it...and eventually someone gave me a copy for free...

I don't remember it being particularly insightful..and brady is actually a vile creature.

still if you fancy it:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/162731010X/ref=pd_sbs_14_t_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=Q07F8EQ5Z6SA376WC3GF

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moors_murders

I don't know about google books, but here are some good reads.

Sudden Terror by Larry Crompton (East Area Rapist)

The Search for the Green River Killer by Carlton Smith

Cries in the Desert by John Glatt (David Parker Ray)

In the Wake of the Butcher

Though Murder Has No Tongue

Hell's Wasteland all three by James Jesson Badal (Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run)

The Jack the Ripper thing was completely made up to sell a book. There's not a shred of evidence. A lot of Holmes' story is pure mythology. If you want a good (albeit sometimes dry) thoroughly researched book about Holmes that dispels a lot of the myths and gives the most accurate picture we can get of him at this time, [H. H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil] (https://www.amazon.com/H-Holmes-History-White-Devil/dp/1510713433) by Adam Selzer is the book you want. Newspapers back then were just as sensationalized as today and flat out made stuff up, and Holmes himself fed the myths and rumors to bolster his own ego. He was still human garbage and a bad person, but his murders are grossly over exaggerated and embellished. His real numbers aren't anywhere close to what has been claimed.

Mind hunter is a great book if you like hearing stories of a profiler’s exploits.

But John Douglas, Robert Ressler, and Ann Burgess DID kinda write the book on this subject.

Sexual Homicide: Patterns and Motives


It presents the findings from their years studying, and interviewing convicted murderers. It’s full of statistics and tables of data. Some of the material is kinda dry, it’s difficult to make statistical analysis of questionnaires into a page turner. But, it does show how they began to be able to ‘profile’ an unsub. They put in a lot of work into studying crime scene and circumstance of the crime and correlating the background the actual criminal that CREATED that crime scene.

It reads like a college textbook. It’s worth a look.

I'm reading Concession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of BTK. It's pretty interesting, lots of correspondence from him regarding the murders and some context from the author.

Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer https://www.amazon.com/dp/1611688418/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_en9rA4TDX8mix

When I was very young and living in Colorado I remember my family getting stopped at a road block during the manhunt after Ted broke out of Jail. At the time of the manhunt, Ted was not the infamous person he is now and his legacy was still unknown.

Years later, when I was in college, I borrowed a book from a friend about Ted Bundy. That book was The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule. Only having a basic understanding of Ted, and serial killers in general, I was shocked and fascinated.

I've since read another 5 books, most recently The Riverman: Ted Bundy and I Hunt for the Green River Killer by Robert Keppel. I found this one very interesting particularly if you have any background of the Green River Killer.

But my favorite by far is The Bundy Murders: A Comprehensive History by Kevin M. Sullivan. While other books are written from the perspective of the author in relation to Ted; this author, Kevin, has no relationship with the murderer or murders and therefore writes an objective account. In summary, I found it well researched with a lot of details, and very chilling. A must read.

My reading recommendations include, mainly, a lot of textbooks! Unlike a lot of the true crime novels, I've found that criminal psychology, criminology, victimology, forensics and other academic textbooks and research journals are generally far less sensationalistic than the true crime novels tend to be. here are some of the ones that I highly recommend.

Serial Murderers and Their Victims by Eric W Hinkley is a fantastic resource for the latest studies concerning serial murder, focusing on both the perpetrators and their victims. Now in its seventh iteration, this text has some of the most up to date statistics on serial killers in the US and worldwide.

Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters by Peter Vronsky is another similarly great book full of real life case studies of serial and spree killers and delves into the motives behind such aberrant behavior.

The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers by Michael Newton has entries on hundreds of convicted serial killers.

The Serial Killer Files: The Who, What, Where, How, and Why of the World's Most Terrifying Murderers by Harold Schechter undoubtedly possesses a sensational bent, but I can't deny that the book is certainly thrilling to read in a morbid way, and I think any fan of true crime will like it very much.

Female Serial Killers: How and Why Women Become Monsters by Peter Vronsky explores the rare phenomenon of female serial killers.

Sexual Homicide: Patterns and Motives by Ressler, Burgess and Douglas is an important and easily-read psychological textbook on the sexual impulses that lead to violence.

Sexual Murder: Catathymic and Compulsive Homicides by Louis B Schlesinger is a similar book by a prominent forensic psychologist.

Sex-Related Homicide and Death Investigation: Practical and Clinical Perspectives, Second Edition: Practical Aspects of Criminal and Forensic Investigations by Vernon J Geberth is a manual for law enforcement professionals investigating sexually-motivated homicides by a renowned former-detective. The images and case studies are directly from the author's archive of case files. I will warn readers that some of the content in this book is highly disturbing, even for I, a person with an interest in the psychology of serial killers. All in all, a fascinating book for those who can stomach it.