Serial Killers

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Serial Killers

Serial killers are hunters, and their prey is human. They seek, stalk, and slay their victim, then start looking for another. Over the past twenty-five years, serial killers—both real and fictional—have assumed a major role in America's nightmares.

Although this crime is hardly a modern invention, the term "serial killer" was coined by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents in the early 1970s. Criminologists distinguish between the "mass murderer" and the "serial killer." The mass murderer kills a number of victims at once, as part of a single explosion of rage; the serial killer, however, spreads out his butchery over time and territory.

The first serial killer to attract wide popular attention was probably Jack the Ripper, who murdered five London prostitutes in 1888. Perhaps because he was never identified, he has been the subject of hundreds of books and stories and more than a dozen movies, most recently 2001's From Hell.

Real-life American serial killers have included David Berkowitz, the "Son of Sam" (1953–); Ted Bundy (1946–1989); Albert DeSalvo, the "Boston Strangler" (1931–1973); John Wayne Gacy (1942–1994); Ed Gein, the inspiration for the fictional characters Norman Bates and Hannibal Lecter (1906–1984); Henry Lee Lucas (1936–); Aileen Wuornos, a rare female serial killer (1956–); and the Zodiac Killer (never caught).

Serial killers have become common villains in American crime fiction. Credit for inventing the genre, or category, of crime fiction is usually given to Thomas Harris (1910–1995). Harris created Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter, a serial killer who is also a brilliant psychiatrist. Harris introduced Lecter in Red Dragon (1981; filmed as Manhunter in 1986) and made him the central character of The Silence of the Lambs (1988; filmed in 1991) and Hannibal (1999; filmed in 2001).

Master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock (1899–1980) used serial killers as villains in several of his films, such as The Lodger (1926), Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Psycho (1960), and Frenzy (1972). More recent films focusing on serial killers include Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986), Basic Instinct (1992), Se7en (1995), and American Psycho (2000).

Several television (see entry under 1940s—TV and Radio in volume 3) series featured heroes who specialized in hunting down serial killers. These included Unsub (1989), Twin Peaks (1990–91), Millennium (1996–99), and Profiler (1996–2000).

—Justin Gustainis