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sick of serial killers

C

chiangmaifalcon

New Member
Yesterday I worked at library and was putting books away when I noticed every crime book or murder mystery was about serial killers. Personally I think, enough already with this. It has been done so much it is same old thing, and do people really want to read about these dirtbags? Apparently they do, or there would not be so may of them. I love detective novels mainly to read about how the crime is solved, and trying to figure it out myself. Why is it necessary to describe all the sick twisted tortures the poor innocent victim must suffer at the hands of some psycho? I think books like these just give ideas to other nutjobs.
 
I guess from a psychology perspective they would be interesting. And I know completely normal people who enjoy them. Of course I know completely normal people who rubberneck at car accidents also. :)

I don't personally have a desire to read any type of true crime novels. I get more than enough of that from the news.
 
You have to see it from the killers' POV,and why the person does it also,and also how.

It also adds entertainment to the book.With people like Hannibal,Dexter Morgan,and Bateman,you get to read about how killers act,and why.Though I don't read stuff mainly for the killers(If it's from a killer's POV,yeah I'll read it),just the plot line.

To me,it's interesting learning about killers.
 
I just finished Ridley Pearson's Undercurrents so this subject is timely.

I mostly go for who-done-its but every once in a while I like a good murder spree. For me I'm not so much into the serial killer side of things as much as I enjoy reading how the good guys go about finding the killer. The thrill of the hunt so to speak.

I wanted to add that it is interesting sometimes how the serial killers choose their victims.
 
A big chunk of my reading is in the mystery department :lol:. I love mystery novels, especially where the main character has a sense of humor. But that's just my opinion.
 
I don't read a lot of murder mysteries and crime novels anymore. If I'm going to read about serial killers, I'll just go to the non-fiction section. And I have my own copy of Panzram: A Journal of Murder (a.k.a. Killer: A Journal of Murder) now so I'm good.
 
chiangmaifalcon said:
... do people really want to read about these dirtbags? Apparently they do, or there would not be so may of them. I love detective novels mainly to read about how the crime is solved, and trying to figure it out myself...
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I suppose people do, as you also conclude, and what better way is there to pack as many murders and as much gore into one book as to have a serial murderer on the loose. Having only a single murder to solve in a book must seem pretty tame by comparison. Maybe they deserve different genres. Or maybe the next step up, for those who are interested, might be a book about a serial murderer who hunts down and kills serial murderers. Then one could add gruesome descriptions by the handful, as each individual serial murderer does his work. The detailed differences in the gory descriptions might then be the signature clues to finding the individual killers, so one would have to follow closely. Just wondering. :innocent:
 
I just picked up a Dexter book today. ;)
I find true crime incredibly interesting. I used to read a lot of it when I was in my teens.
 
Working 25 years in law enforcement and in prison, I have met and dealt with every kind of criminal including so-called serial killers, including the well known idiot called the Son of Sam. Believe me there is nothing the least bit interesting about them. In books they are all some sort of tough guy criminal msterminds but in reality they are weak, pathetic and gutless freaks who take pleasure in inflicting pain on defenseless women and kids but cry and whine when they themselves have to suffer. They cannot accomplish anything worthwhile themselves as they do not have the brains, the guts or character to do so. So they try to take out their own failures and inadequacies on others that do accomplish something and contribute to society. They terrorize defenseless citizens but once they are in prison they are like dogmeat and girlfriends to the real tough guys.
I am not saying there is anything wrong with people reading these novels and I have done so myself. I am only stating they give a very warped impression of reality.
 
I love a good crime novel that is told from the criminal's POV - whether he be a serial killer, an accidental killer, or a thief. There's something quite fascinating about the reader, merely by following his thoughts and actions, beginning to root for him like he's a hero.
 
The Butcher said:
You have to see it from the killers' POV,and why the person does it also,and also how.

It also adds entertainment to the book.With people like Hannibal,Dexter Morgan,and Bateman,you get to read about how killers act,and why.Though I don't read stuff mainly for the killers(If it's from a killer's POV,yeah I'll read it),just the plot line.

To me,it's interesting learning about killers.
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Really? What you are doing is reading about what a writer believes is the mind of a serial killer, something that nobody, probably not even the killer, can know. You are not learning about killers, you are learning about what goes on in the mind of a certain kind of writer.
 
PlaypitsPark said:
Really? What you are doing is reading about what a writer believes is the mind of a serial killer, something that nobody, probably not even the killer, can know. You are not learning about killers, you are learning about what goes on in the mind of a certain kind of writer.
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Nonetheless,it's interesting. Oh,and not all authors just decide "this is going to be my killer!",off scratch. Some of them ask Psychologists,Police,and sometimes killers themselves. I'm sure they do their research.
 
Killers are evil dirtbags, so this is really all I need to know about them myself. It makes sense that the motive of the killer is relevant to the story and is a clue to the identity of the killer in mystery stories. Outside of that I do not have any interest in what is going on in their minds, I just like to see them get what they deserve in the end.
 
I was just being pedantic. I'm an ex-copper (I did ten years. What I mean is, I did ten years in the police, not ten in Wormwood Scrubs). For years I couldn't even read crime stories, they seemed so unrealistic. Then I read Ian Rankin's stuff and realised that crime writers weren't all like Agatha Christie.

Like everything else, novels go in cycles, what goes around comes around. Thanks to the brilliance of J K Rowling, wizards and magic have probably run their course (for now at least) and I'm wondering if the same might be said for serial killer novels.

Having said that, any well-written, gripping novel (on anything whatsoever) has my vote.
 
Nah,Wizards are far from dead. Harry Dresden is the only person keeping characters like that alive.

Mystery had it's time back in the 80's-90's,seems as though it's not that popular anymore though.
 
If the serial killer novels are as bad as the myriad serial killer films then their problem is that they don't deal with feasible serial killers and all the inherent psychology, but focus more on some gimmick that makes them unique. Dispensing with the complex minds that these people live with and going for the gory calling card cheapens the whole idea of a serial killer story.
 
What makes most serial killer stories so unrealistic is that the killers are depicted as somehow geniuses or superior when in the real world they are sadistic, petty and insecure and try to make up their inferiority and inadequacy by taking out their frustrations on people smarter, stronger, braver, and saner than themselves. They are basically the lowest form of losers in society.
 
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