Psycho paths : tracking the serial killer through contemporary American film and fiction / Philip L. Simpson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Simpson, Philip L., 1964-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Serial murderers in motion pictures.

Serial murderers in literature.

American fiction--20th century--History and criticism.

American fiction.

Physical Description:

xvi, 244 pages ; 24 cm

Other Title:

Psychopaths

Place of Publication:

Carbondale : Southern Illinois University Press, [2000]

Summary:

Simpson theorizes that the serial killer genre results from a combination of earlier genre depictions of multiple murderers, inherited Gothic storytelling conventions, and threatening folkloric figures reworked over the years into a contemporary mythology of violence. Updated and repackaged for mass consumption, the Gothic villains, the monsters, the vampires, and the werewolves of the past have evolved into the fictional serial killer, who clearly reflects American cultural anxieties at the start of the twenty-first century.

Contents:

Introduction: The Serial Killer in Fiction 1

1. The Gothic Legacy and Serial Murder 26

2. The Psycho Profilers and the Influence of Thomas Harris 70

3. Detectives Versus Serial Killers 113

4. Serial Killers and Deviant American Individualism 135

5. The Serial Killer, Myth, and Apocalypse in 1990s Cinema 172.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 225-234) and index.

ISBN:

0809323281

080932329X

OCLC:

42786253