Legends, monsters, or serial murderers? : the real story behind an ancient crime / Dirk C. Gibson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gibson, Dirk Cameron, 1953-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Serial murderers--History.

Serial murderers.

Serial murders--History.

Serial murders.

History.

Physical Description:

xii, 202 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Santa Barbara, Calif. : Praeger/ABC-Clio, [2012]

Summary:

Gibson (communication and journalism, U. of New Mexico) argues that the popular belief that serial murder is a recent phenomena is incorrect and that pre-modern people could be and sometimes were sociopaths. As a kind of defense mechanism against the unbearable thought of such inhumanity, supernatural beings like vampires, witches and werewolves arise in the popular imagination to explain serial murders. Gibson documents 14 cases of pre-modern serial murder where the perpetrator is either (erroneously) mythologized into one of those supernatural beings or was, in fact, an aristocrat abusing their power or a commercial killer. A final chapter analyzes the data explored in the earlier chapters and concludes with restatement of his thesis, admission of some unusual findings, and some reservations. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Contents:

Introduction

Introduction

Invisible serial murder

Vampire serial killers

Countess Erzsebet Bathory

Vincenzo Verzini

Werewolf serial killers

Joseph Vacher

Gilles Garnier

Peter Stubbe

Werewolf of Chalons

Witch serial killers

Catherine deshayes monvoison

Gilles de rais

Aristocratic serial killers

Vlad the Impaler

Queen Nzinga

Dowager empress Cixi

Commercial serial killers

Locusta

La Tofania

Andreas Bichel

Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [195]-198) and index.

ISBN:

9780313397585

0313397589

9780313397592

0313397597

OCLC:

745980482