Steve Hutchison reviews 60 of his favorite serial killer movies. Each article includes a synopsis, a review, and a rating. The movies are ranked. How many have you seen?

The depraved crimes of both real and imagined serial killers and mass murderers have long transfixed us in newspapers and books, but perhaps nowhere more so than on the big screen. Films such as Silence of the Lambs, Psycho and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer have not only reached huge audiences but also allowed us into the minds of society’s most disturbed individuals. Bestselling author, Christopher Berry-Dee, talks to the serial killers whose wicked stories have most thrilled and fascinated us at the movies and, through far-ranging and disturbing interviews, he tells the stories of the mass murderers who provided the inspiration for some of cinema’s most shocking films. Serial Killers at the Movies takes the reader on an uncomfortable and truly dark journey into a lurid world of murder and deviancy.

A gigantic double horror/thriller novel featuring 21 different serial killers... For everyone who thinks the bad guys are so much more fun to read than the good guys, this is a book just for you. The definitive volume containing every major villain from the Crouch/Konrath Universe is here. If you haven't read anything by Crouch or Konrath, Serial Killers Uncut is the perfect introduction to the dark side of their universe. And if you enjoy a despicable bad guy (or bad girl), you're going to love this. There are close to two dozen serial killers featured in this book: Orson and Luther from Desert Places, Locked Doors, and Stirred, Mr. K from Shaken, Alex and Charles Kork from Whiskey Sour and Rusty Nail, Isaiah from Abandon, Taylor from Afraid, Javier from Snowbound, Donaldson and Lucy, plus many, many more. There are some good guys too, including Andrew Z. Thomas (Desert Places, Locked Doors), Jack Daniels (Whiskey Sour, Shaken), Violet King (Locked Doors, Break You), Tequila (Shot of Tequila), and Clayton Theel (Draculas). Serial Killers Uncut is an original 120,000 word double novel that stands alone without having read any of Konrath's or Crouch's work. If you are a more sensitive (or adventurous) reader, this handy scale rates specific categories from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest) to give you some idea if this is your kind of book. SERIAL KILLERS UNCUT by Crouch and Konrath Bad Language - 6 Scary - 8 Violent - 8 Funny - 4 Sexy - 7 Crossovers - Features characters from dozens of books in the Konrath and Crouch universe

Steve Hutchison reviews 60 vampire movies, 60 lycanthrope movies, 60 ghost movies, 60 demon movies, 60 zombie movies, 60 alien movies, 60 giant movies, 60 wizard movies, 60 serial killer movies, 60 animal movies, 60 cultist movies, 60 revenant movies, and 60 mutant movies. Each article includes a synopsis, a review, and a rating. The movies are ranked. How many have you seen?

For decades now, serial killers have taken center stage in the news and entertainment media. The coverage of real-life murderers such as Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer has transformed them into ghoulish celebrities. Similarly, the popularity of fictional characters such as Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter or Dexter demonstrates just how eager the public is to be frightened by these human predators. But why is this so? Could it be that some of us have a gruesome fascination with serial killers for the same reasons we might morbidly stare at a catastrophic automobile accident? Or it is something more? In Why We Love Serial Killers, criminology professor Dr. Scott Bonn explores our powerful appetite for the macabre, while also providing new and unique insights into the world of the serial killer, including those he has gained from his correspondence with two of the world’s most notorious examples, David Berkowitz (“Son of Sam”) and Dennis Rader (“Bind, Torture, Kill”). In addition, Bonn examines the criminal profiling techniques used by law enforcement professionals to identify and apprehend serial predators, he discusses the various behaviors—such as the charisma of the sociopath— that manifest themselves in serial killers, and he explains how and why these killers often become popular cultural figures. Groundbreaking in its approach, Why We Love Serial Killers is a compelling look at how the media, law enforcement agencies, and public perception itself shapes and feeds the “monsters” in our midst.

This book explores the representation of real-life serial murders as adapted for the screen and popular culture. Bringing together a selection of essays from international scholars, Serial Killing on Screen: Adaptation, True Crime and Popular Culture examines the ways in which the screen has become a crucial site through which the most troubling of real-life crimes are represented, (re)constructed and made accessible to the public. Situated at the nexus of film and screen studies, theatre studies, cultural studies, criminology and sociology, this interdisciplinary collection raises questions about, and implications for, thinking about the adaptation and representation of true crime in popular culture, and the ideologies at stake in such narratives. It discusses the ways in which the adaptation of real-life serial murder intersects with other markers of cultural identity (gender, race, class, disability), as well as aspects of criminology (offenders, victims, policing, and profiling) and psychology (psychopathy, sociopathy, and paraphilia). This collection is unique in its combined focus on the adaptation of crimes committed by real-life criminal figures who have gained international notoriety for their plural offences, including, for example, Ted Bundy, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, Aileen Wuornos, Jack the Ripper, and the Zodiac, and for situating the tales of these crimes and their victims’ stories within the field of adaptation studies.

David Fincher's Seven (1995) follows two detectives, David Mills (Brad Pitt) and William Somerset (Morgan Freeman), as they investigate a series of gruesome murders. One of the most acclaimed films of the 1990s, it explores themes of moral decay, human darkness, and the blurred lines between good and evil. Richard Dyer's study of the film, unpacks how its cinematography, sound, and plot combine to create a harrowing account of a world beset by an all-encompassing, irremediable wickedness. He explores the film in terms of sin, story, structure, seriality, sound, sight and salvation, analyzing how Seven both epitomizes and modifies the serial killer genre, which is such a feature of recent cinema. This new edition includes a new afterword by the author, re-assessing the film's lasting impact and influence over contemporary filmmaking aesthetics.

Steve Hutchison reviews 60 of his favorite cultist movies. Each article includes a synopsis, a review, and a rating. The movies are ranked. How many have you seen?

The following recommendations represent the top 13% of 2250 horror movie reviews. I use a classification method that combines genres, subgenres, ambiances, and antagonists. My evaluation ratings are stars, story, creativity, action, quality, creepiness, and rewatchability

Europe is stunning in the summer . . . but NYPD detective Jacob Kanon isn't there for the beauty. He's on a mission: to track down his daughter's killer. NYPD detective Jacob Kanon is on a tour of Europe's most gorgeous cities. But the sights aren't what draw him-he sees each museum, each cathedral, and each cafe through the eyes of his daughter's killer. Kanon's daughter, Kimmy, and her boyfriend were murdered while on vacation in Rome. Since then, young couples in Paris, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, and Stockholm have been found dead. Little connects the murders, other than a postcard to the local newspaper that precedes each new victim. Now Kanon teams up with the Swedish reporter, Dessie Larsson, who has just received a postcard in Stockholm-and they think they know where the next victims will be. With relentless twists and unstoppable action, The Postcard Killers may be James Patterson's most vivid and compelling thriller yet.