Serial Killers:The Definitive History Of The Phenomenon Of Serial Murder
When we remember that we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.
—MARK TWAIN
Peter Vronsky’s “Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters” is a very thorough compendium on everything serial killer; from the different types and classifications, the concept of ‘insanity’, the evolution of serial killers from children, and of course, he does not exclude actual information collected from the FBI’s BSU unit.
In spots, this novel can be quite thick and hard to get through, but it really depends on where your interests lie. Vronsky uses well known serial killers (such as Ted Bundy) as examples throughout the book but also some lesser known ones, and, most importantly, he gets down to the nitty-gritty, with the “hows” and “whys” serial killers do what they do. There are even serial killers from as far back as the seventeenth century (more than just Jack the Ripper) and Vronsky is very detailed in his research, yet he still manages to write a digestible story that had me turning the pages.
The most interesting part of Vronsky’s story, and definitely the most useful, was his section on How to Escape a Serial Killer. Of course, Vronsky is quick to remind us that it is not possible in all cases and in fact, you are more likely to fail (and die) than succeed, but his tricks and tips will definitely provide some thought-provoking water cooler topics.
“Serial Killers” has everything that a true crime, serial killer obsessive would want. The book was published in 2004, so some of the information is out of the date (including the outcomes of some of the criminals involved in the stories, as there cases were before the courts at the time of publication) but Vronsky provides a creepy, terrifying look into the minds of the most disturbed among us. “Serial Killers” is not for the faint of heart!
A rather scary read, with many 'scary' moments for me personally. The two episodes of the writer encountering two serial killers on separate occassions give me goosebumps. Many of the quotes Vronsky chooses to open his chapters make me shudder. A few examples:
These crimes and offenses I committed solely for my evil pleasure and evil delight, to no other end or with no other intention, without anyone’s counsel and only in accordance with my imagination.
—GILLES DE RAIS, Confession, 1440
Take it from one who knows: It pays to be paranoid.
—DANNY ROLLING (The Gainesville Ripper)
“Few would disagree that Herbert Mullin, who thought he was saving California from the great earthquake by killing people, and Ed Gein, who was making chairs out of human skin, were entirely insane when they committed their acts. The question becomes more difficult with somebody like law student Ted Bundy, who killed twenty women while at the same time working as a suicide prevention counselor, or John Wayne Gacy, who escorted the first lady and then went home to sleep of thirty-three trussed-up corpses under his house. On one hand their crimes seem "insane," yet on the other hand, Bundy and Gacy knew exactly what they were doing. How insane were they?”
- PETER VRONSKY
