THE SERIAL KILLER FILES: THE WHO, WHAT, WHERE, HOW, AND WHY OF THE WORLD’S MOST TERRIFYING MURDERERS
Book ID/图书代码： 01240007B17879
English Summary/英文概要： THE DEFINITIVE DOSSIER ON HISTORY’S MOST HEINOUS!
Hollywood’s make-believe maniacs like Jason, Freddy, and Hannibal Lecter can’t hold a candle to real life monsters like John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and scores of others who have terrorized, tortured, and terminated their way across civilization throughout the ages. Now, from the much-acclaimed author of Deviant, Deranged, and Depraved, comes the ultimate resource on the serial killer phenomenon.
Rigorously researched and packed with the most terrifying, up-to-date information, this innovative and highly compelling compendium covers every aspect of multiple murderers—from psychology to cinema, fetishism to fan clubs, “trophies” to trading cards. Discover:
WHO THEY ARE: Those featured include Ed Gein, the homicidal mama’s boy who inspired fiction’s most famous Psycho, Norman Bates; Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi, sex-crazed killer cousins better known as the Hillside Stranglers; and the Beanes, a fifteenth-century cave-dwelling clan with an insatiable appetite for human flesh
HOW THEY KILL: They shoot, stab, and strangle. Butcher, bludgeon, and burn. Drown, dismember, and devour . . . and other methods of massacre too many and monstrous to mention here.
WHY THEY DO IT: For pleasure and for profit. For celebrity and for “companionship.” For the devil and for dinner. For the thrill of it, for the hell of it, and because “such men are monsters, who live . . .
beyond the frontiers of madness.”
PLUS: in-depth case studies, classic killers’ nicknames, definitions of every kind of deviance and derangement, and much, much more.
For more than one hundred profiles of lethal loners and killer couples, Bluebeards and black widows, cannibals and copycats— this is an indispensable, spine-tingling, eye-popping investigation into the dark hearts and mad minds of that twisted breed of human whose crimes are the most frightening . . . and fascinating.
Chinese Summary/中文概要： 《十三號星期五》的Jason Voorhees與《德州電鋸殺人狂》的Freddy Krueger以及《沉默的羔羊》中的Hannibal Lecter，這三名好萊塢的殘暴惡魔，是否讓你慶幸自己存在現實生活而非電影情節？你錯了！1972年至1978間殺害了33個男孩和年輕人，被判21個連續的終生服刑和12個死刑的John Wayne Gacy；相貌堂堂並且受過良好教育，專門誘殺婦女的連續殺人犯Ted Bundy；誘拐青少年的同性戀殺人魔Jeffrey Dahmer…等。這些兇殘的連續殺人犯不但真實存在，犯案手法甚至比電影情節更令人毛骨悚然。從山腰絞殺手Angelo Buono與Kenneth Bianchi這對表兄弟，到啟發至少三部恐部片的人皮殺人魔Ed Gein，本書列舉了超過百件震驚社會的兇殘案例，深入剖析兇手的背景、動機和犯案手法，讓你不禁佩服他們的殺人藝術，更能一眼識破這些披著羊皮的殺人魔，避免成為下一個受害者。(TT)
Awards/获奖情况：
About the Author/作者介绍： Harold Schechter is a professor of American literature and culture at Queens College, the City University of New York. He is widely celebrated for his both his fiction (MASK OF RED DEATH (Ballantine 2004), TELL-TALE CORPSE (Ballantine 2006)), and true-crime writing, including The Serial Killer Files (Ballantine 2003) and THE DEVIL’S GENTLEMAN (Ballantine 2007). He lives in Brooklyn and Mattituck, Long Island with his wife, the poet Kimiko Hahn. Rights to Schechter’s SERIAL KILLER FILES were sold to Sonzogno in Italy; De Fontein in Holland; and Human and Book Publishing in Korea. This book is being handled by Japan Uni in Japan and Shin Won Agency in Korea.
Harold Schechter是紐約巿立大學皇后學院(CUNY, Queens College)的美國文學與文化教授，以擁有與艾倫坡（Edgar Allan Poe）同樣特色的寫作方式著稱。他的作品領域一方面很廣，分為真實犯罪探討、推理小說、流行文化研究三大類，另一方面，這些不同文體的作品又環環相扣，讓讀者不知不覺為這位作家著迷。
他毫不諱言自己對艾倫坡的崇拜與追隨，甚至創作了一系列以艾倫坡為主角的懸疑推理小說，例如《The Mask of Red Death》。
Harold Schechter除了著迷於推理文壇的開山祖師艾倫坡，也對殺人狂的黑暗心靈深感興趣。他以美國第一個連續殺人魔H. H. Holmes的真實案例，寫下了《邪惡者》（Depraved）一書，這本作品被公認是描述H. H. Holmes心理最貼切的書，H. H. Holmes長相英俊，擁有醫學博士學位，在十九世紀中葉，被控冷血的謀殺了數百個受害者，因為許多被害案情證據不全，能定罪的案件不及數十分之一，因此形成了芝加哥地區空前絕後，最恐怖的可怕懸案，讓這位殺人魔的惡名極噪一時，也在犯罪歷史上留下不可抹滅的驚人紀錄。
Harold Schechter描述H. H. Holme他自認變成惡魔的過程：「我的樣貌被認為是很明顯撒旦似的長相……我的腦袋和臉一般認為屬於拉長型。我有相當的理由相信，我像一個惡魔——幾乎是一模一樣。事實上，我過於沉迷於這種想法，以至於堅信在我身上找不到一點點人類的特徵。」
另一個讓Harold Schechter提筆的，是一九五０年代另一個美國殺人魔Eddie Gein，Eddie Gein被逮捕後終其一生在精神病院度過，包括希區考克的《驚魂記》、《德州殺人狂》、《沉默的羔羊》…等知名驚悚片，幾乎都是根據Eddie Gein的凶案所改編，或是受到Eddie Gein的原型刺激，才創造出劇情與電影裡連續殺人狂的形象。Harold Schechter在《變態者》（Deviant）一書裡，寫出深受控制慾強烈的母親所苦惱的Eddie Gein，殺人時是因為「不想失去唯一的朋友和真愛」、他「感覺自己在這世界上是全然孤單的」。
Harold Schechter同時也寫精闢的文化研究，例如《野蠻的消遣：暴力娛樂文化史》（Savage Pastimes A Cultural History of Violent Entertainment）。Harold Schechter認為：「人類屬於一種天賦暴力的物種。暴力娛樂之所以流行，是因為它本來就符合人類對於禁忌幻想的自然天性。」並且詳細解析暴力電影、恐怖小說和暴力遊戲的文化密碼。不過，Harold Schechter也安慰讀者：「與我們嗜殺成性的祖先相比，今天的人類已經相當溫柔、慈善和拘謹了，儘管血液裡暴力的基因仍在流竄。」
Harold Schechter目前跟他的日裔詩人妻子Kimiko Hahn居住在紐約。
Format:HARDCOVER
Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE
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