The Serial Killer Files: The Who, What, Where, How, and Why of the World's Most Terrifying Murderers | 
 enlarge | Author: Harold Schechter
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Category: Book
List Price: $18.95
Buy New: $10.65
You Save: $8.30 (44%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 23345
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 7.4 x 1.1
ISBN: 0345465660
Dewey Decimal Number: 364.1523
EAN: 9780345465665
ASIN: 0345465660
Publication Date: December 30, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 20 more reviews...
 Good read September 1, 2008
The Serial Killer Files is a very resourceful and informative book. It provides detail informations on the types of serial murderers, case studies on some of the world's most notorious serial killers, the development of the killers' mind, the way the killers perceive the world and the possible reasons which drive them to kill.
The author also provides references to other useful books for further readings.
It's definetely worth buying!
 A Must for Your Personal Library June 16, 2008
Whether used as a reference work to look up specific serial killers or types of serial killer, this book holds its own very, very well. It is a must for any personal library, and not only for those with somewhat morbid interests: this book hold interesting information for those with minds bent towards history, law enforcement, psychology, and a myriad other topics of study.
The book's tone is usually nice and objective, which is what I've come to expect from serious works of nonfiction, especially ones concerning such heinous subject matter. There is very little over-dramatization of the numerous serial killers presented in the book; it's "just the facts" attitude, coupled with a clean, enjoyable to read style, makes it the sort of book you cannot help but read cover-to-cover, even if you intend it only as a reference work.
It is true that this book sometimes is repetitive, and sometimes, it is somewhat lackluster; but, if you just plod on through these parts of the book (which are never more than four or five pages long) you'll be rewarded with some of the most fascinating reading you'll do in a long time.
Great stuff...... May 18, 2008
This collection is great! Bought this book when it came out and was never disappointed.
The information is easy to read and their is plenty of info. on each killer for you to get your fill.
Amazing that all these sickos existed and most people have never even heard of them. If you like serial killer literature, this is the bible!
Highly recommended!
Great resource March 8, 2008
I orignally borrowed this book from one of my students (I teach Forensic Science), and it had so much great information that I had to buy it for myself. It's a great resource for an overview of MANY different serial killers. There are longer readings about selected serial killers. This is a great summary, and has a lot of information without being too detailed. It's easy to read, and easy to find information.
Great book January 14, 2008
If you want to read about endless grusome, horrible, deranged tales of torture, madness, incest, murder and more, read this book.
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