Why are we obsessed with serial killers?
Our
obsession with serial killer fiction dates back to the Victorian era and Jack
the Ripper. This elusive figure is still famous today, even though his identity
remains a mystery. The crimes committed by the Ripper have influenced a
plethora of literature, from Stevenson's Victorian classic, The Strange Case of
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, John
Francis Brewer's The Curse Upon Mitre Square, through to Twentieth Centre
novels, such as Stephen Knight's Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution, the
amazing graphic novel, From Hell by Alan Moore (the film leaves a lot to be
desired!) to Post Millennial contributions from Kerri Maniscalco with Stalking
Jack the Ripper and Clive Cussler's The
Cutthroat.
Is it wrong to celebrate serial killers?
Serial Killers are classic transgressors that
embody social taboos, such as cannibalism, necrophilia, incest, and
infanticide, amongst others. They are repulsive, repellent, revoting; so
why do we embrace them so fervently? Not only are serial killers presented
to us in the world of fiction, film, and tv series, but also real, bonafide
murderers are presented to us in a superfluity of merchandise. Jeffrey
Dahmer merchandise includes the comedic slogan “chew chew you”, with his full
monstrous face on a train, or, “Did somebody say Just Eat?” on a t-shirt, or,
“I eat guys like you for breakfast” on a cereal bowl.
This blog will record my musings as I write my Master's dissertation on the topic of serial killers in fiction. I will be exploring the horrors of real life monsters and their literary representations. I will be asking and answering why we accept humour in the face of such horror.
Critical theory will punctuate my ramblings, along with key contextual details that will help get to the core of my thesis: Is the character of the serial killer the most monstrous Gothic character because they really do walk, undetected, amongst us as human monsters?
