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As if molded directly from the depths of nightmares, both fascinating and terrifying. Serial killers hide behind bland and normal existences. They are often able to escape being caught for years, decades and sometimes an eternity. These are America’s Serial Killers (America’s Serial Killers). “Even when some of them do get caught, we may not recognize what they are because they don’t [sic] match the distorted image we have of serial killers” (Brown). What is that distorted image? That killers live among everyday life, they are the ones who creep into someone’s life unknowingly to torture and kill them. The serial killers that are in the movies, Norman Bates, Michael Myers, and the evil master mind of SAW, these characters are just that characters. They have been made up as exaggerated fictional characters from the Hollywood imagination. Serial killers are everywhere! Well, perhaps not in our neighborhood, but on our television screens, at the movie theaters, and in rows and rows of books at our local Borders or Barnes and Nobles Booksellers” (Brown). When people think of serial killers, names such as Dahmer, Gacy, Bundy, and Gein are cited. During the time Jack the Ripper was executing his victims in London, Holmes began his gruesome career in Chicago (America’s Serial Killers). “Despite being America’s first serial killer, Holmes is hardly a familiar name and until now we haven’t had any popular visual record of his crimes: (Spikol). Why is it that people only think of the more popular killers with higher known profiles? They are all very similar to one another because they share characteristics. H.H. Holmes was a successful serial killer because he was well educated, cunning and charming. Those are just a few traits Holmes ... ... middle of paper ... ...the deaths of Julia and Pearl Conner, Minnie was also believed to have investigated the murder of Emily Van Tassel. (Taylor) With all of the women in Holmes’ life it would seem Holmes had every opportunity given to him to settle down and live a normal life. So why would he continue down the path he was? Out of all the women in Holmes’ life it was his second wife, Myrtle Z. Bellman’s father Holmes tried to swindle and kill, he was unsuccessful (America’s Serial Killers). Holmes was never arrested for the incident with his father-in-law. However, he was later arrested in “July 1894, Holmes was arrested for the first time. It was not for murder but for one of his schemes” (Taylor). Being arrested should have scared Holmes onto the straight and narrow path, it did not. It was in jail that Holmes met one of his accomplices, Marion Hedgepeth (Nash, Bloodletters 448).
A significant amount of people were in Chicago looking to take advantage of what it had to offer. Holmes used this lust people had for opportunity to exploit and attract his victims. His offerings of jobs, rooms, wealth, marriage and a multitude of other things combined with the opportunity Chicago had, composed an irresistible offering to women (The devil in the White City pg 162). They could not justify reasons to refuse moving into his building. From here Holmes treated women well and seduced them into positions where he could easily murder
Jack the Ripper, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, the Boston Strangler, Jeffrey Dahmer. Despite the years of history that separate these names, they remain indelibly preserved within our collective societal consciousness because of the massively violent and calculated nature of their crimes. Serial killers, both men and women, represent social monstrosities of the most terrifying variety. They are human predators, cannibals in a figurative and, often, literal sense, and are therefore uniquely subversive to society's carefully constructed behavioral tenets. They frighten because they are human in form but without the social conscience that, for many, defines humanity. They capture the public eye because they terrify, but also because they elicit a sort of gruesome curiosity about the human potential for evil; as Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde alleges, wickedness lies within each heart, waiting only for the proper time and impetus to break free.
Simon, Robert I. "Serial Killers, Evil, And Us." National Forum 80.4 (2000): 23. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
“We serial killers are your sons, we are your husbands, we are everywhere. And there will be more of your children dead tomorrow.” These were the terrifying words of one of America’s most infamous serial killers, Ted Bundy, after he confessed to coldly slaughtering thirty women. Every year Hollywood writers go after serial killers like Bundy for their gruesome and bewildering stories; in turn, these writers have created a serial killer stereotype. They cover their faces with masks and stalk their prey in the cover of night’s darkness. They are unknown outsiders, and sometimes even invincible. These faceless murderers horrify masses of people around America. But who are the real killers, the individuals walking around freely in the sunlight without a disguise?
The criminal profiler Thomas Cronin identifies Holmes as a very unique criminal as he states that criminals are smart, but they are not discipline enough to finish college and the fact that he finished medical school, makes him even more unique. Holmes was able to hide his dark nature as he had an important facilitator which was his career and charm that brought him plenty of victims.
Background and Audience: Many may see serial killers as ones that carry around a chainsaw and wear a hockey mask, but that is far from what a serial killer should be seen as. In fact, they blend in with the people that you pass by in streets, stores, parks, etc. just like any person would.
On page 39, it describes the moment in which bullies from his school force him to go face to face with a skeleton in a doctor’s office. Such a terrible experience truly could have scarred Holmes, but at the same time his comfortability with an representation of death could have prompted his killer roots. Also, the “accidental” death of Holmes’s childhood friend, at an event that Holmes was present, was another red flag in terms of potentially becoming a psychopath. We learn more of Holmes’s younger upbringing through the text in which it states,"He drifted through childhood as a small, odd, and exceptionally bright boy....in the cruel imaginations of his peers, he became prey" (Larson, 38) Holmes was essentially an outcast, a person who has been rejected by society or a social group. He was the target of many because of his oddness and rather unique characteristics. With no solid upbringing, and a probable fascination with death, Holmes was bound to be the infamous serial killer he became in his future.
Typically, when one thinks of serial killers, such images as Son of Sam, John Wayne Gacy, or the Boston Strangler, come to mind. Though these men do indeed fit the description, there are many myths and misconceptions surrounding the definition of serial killer, first and foremost that serial ...
Serial killing is rampant in the U.S. According to estimates in a recent study conducted by the FBI, there have been about 400 serial killers in the U.S. in the last century, with the total number of murder victims ranging from 2,525 to 3,860 . Various experts in the field have suggested that there may be anywhere from 50 to as many as 300 serial killers active at the same time, although there is no clear evidence supporting this . Certainly, an estimate of 300 active serial killers seems at odds with the FBI’s estimate of 400 over the entire previous century. But an estimated 80% of the serial killers in the past century have emerged since 1950. For whatever reason, serial killing is clearly on the rise, with the term itself coined only since the mid-1970’s, so perhaps 300 active serial killers at one time could be unfortunately possible. The number of serial killing in the U.S. is staggering.
When committing a crime, a criminal has to pay attention to every single clue that he or she could possibly leave behind. For example, doctors around Sherlock Holmes' time period did not sterilize their hands or instruments, a method of disinfection used today, yet people had no choice but to trust the doctors because that was their only source of the best treatment they could get. Doctors were also socially accepted as the people who help and would almost certainly never be questioned about a crime.
Serial killers have many frightening facets. The most frightening thing about them is that experts still do not know what makes a human become a serial killer. Many experts believe serial killers become what they are because they have a genetic disposition or brain abnormality while other experts believe that a serial killer is created by childhood abuse; and some other experts believe that it is a combination of both brain abnormalities and abusive childhood experiences that creates a serial killer. A murderer is considered a serial killer when they “murder three or more persons in at least three separate events with a “cooling off period” between kills” (Mitchell and Aamodt 40). When defining a serial killer, their background, genes, and brain are not mentioned; perhaps one day those aspects of the serial killer can be included.
'Serial murder'; has long been a term used to describe those human beings that repeatedly commit heinous crimes. It is rare that the average person probes the mind of a serial killer without bias. However, what lies behind the eyes of a serial killer deserves more than the cold hard look that society so often gives (Aaronson, Inter...
...he met the detective, fell victim to Moriarty’s games. “Moriarty is playing with your mind too. Can’t you see what’s going on!” (Sherlock). During Holmes’ last days before his faked suicide, he pleads with John to see reason through Jim’s manipulations, as does Desdemona with Othello’s accusations. Even Sherlock’s oldest friend Detective Inspector Greg Lestrade was doubting Holmes’ credibility.
The way Holmes began most investigations was by finding an alternative and providing against it. This step is comparable to the popular saying, "don't put all your eggs in one basket." Holmes never once only had one thought of what happened. What made Sherlock great was that all the possibilities were relevant to him. Nothing could ever slip by him. If something out of the ordinary did happen it was not a surprise to him.
"America’s fascination with serial killers is reaching an all time high-and may be fueling their deadly deeds" (Toufexis 64-65). Serial killings graphic details in incomprehensible madness almost seem fictional, but the statistics reveal an alarming rise in these murders. Ignoring this terrifying fact will not make it disappear, only increase. The thought "It will not happen to me" is no longer logical due to the constant elevation of serial killings. These callous and meticulous killers are without prejudice or motive, leaving everyone susceptible.