In the horrifying annals of American crime, the infamous names of brutal killers such as Bundy, Dahmer, Gacy, and Berkowitz are writ large in the imaginations of a public both horrified and hypnotized by their monstrous, murderous acts. But for every celebrity psychopath whoâs gotten ink for spilling blood, thereâs a bevy of all-but-forgotten homicidal fiends studding the bloody margins of U.S. history. The law gave them their just desserts, but now the hugely acclaimed author of The Serial Killer Files and The Whole Death Catalog gives them their dark due in this absolutely riveting true-crime treasury. Among Americaâs most cold-blooded youâll meet
⢠Robert Irwin, âThe Mad Sculptorâ: He longed to use his carving skills on the woman he lovedâbut had to settle for making short work of her mother and sister instead.
⢠Peter Robinson, âThe Tell-Tale Heart Killerâ: It took two days and four tries for him to finish off his victim, but no time at all for keen-eyed cops to spot the fatal flaw in his floor plan.
⢠Anton Probst, âThe Monster in the Shape of a Manâ: The ax-murdering immigrantâs systematic slaughter of all eight members of a Pennsylvania farm family matched the savagery of the Manson murders a century later.
⢠Edward H. Ruloff, âThe Man of Two Livesâ: A genuine Jekyll and Hyde, his brilliant scholarship disguised his bloodthirsty brutality, and his oversized brain gave new meaning to âmastermind.â
Spurred by profit, passion, paranoia, or perverse pleasure, these killersâthe Witch of Staten Island, the Smutty Nose Butcher, the Bluebeard of Quiet Dell, and many othersâspan three centuries and a host of harrowing murder methods. Dramatized in the pages of penny dreadfuls, sensationalized in tabloid headlines, and immortalized in âmurder balladsâ and classic fiction by Edgar Allan Poe and Theodore Dreiser, the demonic denizens of Psycho USA may be long gone to the gallowsâbut this insidiously irresistible slice of gothic Americana will ensure that theyâll no longer be forgotten.
In the horrifying annals of American crime, the infamous names of brutal killers such as Bundy, Dahmer, Gacy, and Berkowitz are writ large in the imaginations of a public both horrified and hypnotized by their monstrous, murderous acts. But for every celebrity psychopath whoâs gotten ink for spilling blood, thereâs a bevy of all-but-forgotten homicidal fiends studding the bloody margins of U.S. history. The law gave them their just desserts, but now the hugely acclaimed author of The Serial Killer Files and The Whole Death Catalog gives them their dark due in this absolutely riveting true-crime treasury. Among Americaâs most cold-blooded youâll meet
⢠Robert Irwin, âThe Mad Sculptorâ: He longed to use his carving skills on the woman he lovedâbut had to settle for making short work of her mother and sister instead.
⢠Peter Robinson, âThe Tell-Tale Heart Killerâ: It took two days and four tries for him to finish off his victim, but no time at all for keen-eyed cops to spot the fatal flaw in his floor plan.
⢠Anton Probst, âThe Monster in the Shape of a Manâ: The ax-murdering immigrantâs systematic slaughter of all eight members of a Pennsylvania farm family matched the savagery of the Manson murders a century later.
⢠Edward H. Ruloff, âThe Man of Two Livesâ: A genuine Jekyll and Hyde, his brilliant scholarship disguised his bloodthirsty brutality, and his oversized brain gave new meaning to âmastermind.â
Spurred by profit, passion, paranoia, or perverse pleasure, these killersâthe Witch of Staten Island, the Smutty Nose Butcher, the Bluebeard of Quiet Dell, and many othersâspan three centuries and a host of harrowing murder methods. Dramatized in the pages of penny dreadfuls, sensationalized in tabloid headlines, and immortalized in âmurder balladsâ and classic fiction by Edgar Allan Poe and Theodore Dreiser, the demonic denizens of Psycho USA may be long gone to the gallowsâbut this insidiously irresistible slice of gothic Americana will ensure that theyâll no longer be forgotten.