Favorite killer/serial killer

[Somnambulist]

Inspired by Deeds of Flesh - Mark of the Legion

My pick is The Zodiac.  They never caught him, he had a lot of flair and he may have been controlled by the tides.  He may have been one of the most intelligent serial killers of all time as evidenced by the fact that it took forever for them to crack his codes.  He obviously enjoyed the whole game of it more than the blood and guts.  He used a gun and didn't mutilate.  Contrasted to say, Dahmer, Zodiac didn't seem to get off on the gory/sexual aspect of the whole ritual.  The codes, themselves, were ultimately kind of a waste of time because they didn't really lead any where.  It was all very elaborate but it ultimately didn't mean anything.  I think the indirect lesson is that it's less about what something means, in and of itself, and more about what meaning we impute.

Honorable mention goes to the Black Dahlia Murder.  I think they say this may have been a tribute to Surrealist art.

"Is killing wrong?"
"Killing is killing."

[Parasite]

Some aspects of certain serial killers fascinate me but when it boils down to it, these are sick fucks that would steal your loved ones, fuck them, and hang them by their intestines above their beds as decorations.

[username]

The criminal hunts the random and easy prey, while the rigthous act accordingly with the laws nature/God have laidt forth for him to follow.

It's much diffente to kill and rape a feminst than to do the same with a rightous virgin of honest castity.

There is really no way to be a killer/rapist/enslaver today as there is no way both know your victim intimately and also hit them without being known as the guilty.

By the way, police probably keeps a record on people overtly interessted in serial killers. So if you have a record of f.e. praising Kazcynski or Breivik on the internet or borrowing books about serial killers on the library, it is possible that you are already a suspect even before you begin to plan terrorist attacks.

Remember, Breivik had no record of extreme views displayed public before, while the mohammedan mujahedis who are frequently caugth before their acts are usually affiliated with extremist milieu.


 

[fallot]

Some aspects of certain serial killers fascinate me but when it boils down to it, these are sick fucks that would steal your loved ones, fuck them, and hang them by their intestines above their beds as decorations.

Pretty much this. Weed out the sickness; some people are attracted to deformity but that is no reason to let it persist.

[Somnambulist]

You guys scared of the boogey man?  By 'favorite' I mean 'most interesting.'

username brings up an interesting angle.  At this point I will mention 'From Hell' by Alan Moore.  A speculative comic book epic about Jack the Ripper.  'From Hell' is what got me interested in William Blake as he makes a cameo.  By taking out prostitutes, is Jack the Ripper acting righteously and in accordance with natural law?

[Humanicide]

You guys scared of the boogey man?  By 'favorite' I mean 'most interesting.'

username brings up an interesting angle.  At this point I will mention 'From Hell' by Alan Moore.  A speculative comic book epic about Jack the Ripper.  'From Hell' is what got me interested in William Blake as he makes a cameo.  By taking out prostitutes, is Jack the Ripper acting righteously and in accordance with natural law?

In some ways, you could say that. But ultimately, I think what Jack the Ripper did was needless and cruel. Sure, prostitutes may not serve much of a moral purpose, but what good is killing 3-4 of them? Not to mention scaring the shit out of London's populace. Either take steps to correct the problem outright, or try to formulate a plan that will. Besides, who is to say none of those prostitutes were on the street for reasons beyond their control (unlikely, but still possible)? JTR wasn't righteous, he was sick in the head. He killed for pleasure, not to make society better.

On topic, I have a really interesting multi-disc documentary on serial killers - covers damn near all of them spanning from Jack the Ripper and Jane Toppan to Richard Ramirez and the DC Beltway snipers (I'm not at home so I don't remember what the docu is named, so I will post later with the title for those interested). One point they make about serial killers is pertinent and bears repeating; the reason for an increased amount of serial killers is the fact that humanity has lost much of its sense of community. In ye olden times, there were far less outliers of society, and people generally knew their neighbors more - by extension they CARED more. This is not so today, and it is a big part of the reason why serial killers flourish in modern times.

I always thought H.H. Holmes was interesting. The sheer volume of people he killed is mind boggling; experts aren't even sure they have a correct estimate to this day.

[scourge]

• AIDS
• Genghis Khan
• Famine
• Stalin

[Gefechtsgruppe10]

There is always this guy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasili_Blokhin

He must get up very early in the morning, hahaha.

I do recall reading a book about killers by Neuroscientist Dorothy Otnow Lewis.  She notes that the vast majority of people who commit murder have severely limited intelligence (her claims that it is due almost entirely from childhood trauma ring false.  I think the implied assumption in her analysis is that the people examined in the book 'could have been anything they wanted to be' if it had not been for the trauma.  Clearly a false statement).  She examined one prison executioner and found him to be very similar to the prisoners she examined.  I do seem to recall that serial killers tend to be a bit smarter than your run of the mill murderer. 

As far as Jack the Ripper goes, don't most serial killers go after prostitutes because they are such easy targets?  That, and most serial killers have some fucked up sexual pathologies.

[Somnambulist]

NOW we are having fun!

I can imagine writing a story about a serial killer who does not have his own signature.  Instead, each killing is a tribute to other famous serial killers.  One he does Ed Gein style, the other Jack the Ripper, the next, he leaves a Zodiac note.  He would be like a serial killer hipster!

[Humanicide]

• AIDS

Fuck scourge, I burst out laughing in the middle of a quiet study hall. Spot on.

Serial hipster? The scary thing is, Somn, that I could actually see this happening. But, hopefully there's a serial killer who targets hipsters soon.

[aquarius]

People are fascinated with serial killers because they are active participants in the big game of life, death, good, evil, insanity etc etc. In other words, the big unknowns. They make for good books and movie sales. And they make the average joe seem comparatively less screwed up.

Alternatively, and without malice, one could view them as cancer cells within the societal organism.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MameAk4FVo8

[Tralfamadorian]

It's much diffente to kill and rape a feminst than to do the same with a rightous virgin of honest castity.

What are you saying here? Killing and raping a feminist is ok? What the fuck is wrong with you? What if your sister was a feminist?

By the way, police probably keeps a record on people overtly interessted in serial killers.

I don't know if the police have the infrastructure or authority to do so. The CIA sure as hell does, though. Honestly, we've all probably made the potential terrorist list thanks to ANUS's "ALLUHA ACKBAR! AL-QEADA ARE OUR BROTHERS IN ARMS" shit. Some one over in Langley will read this post, guaranteed.

[username]

You can't get a complete list of true moral rules like the Pentateuch.

If you don't know natural morals are context dependent and diffuse compared to the Abrahamic concrete and absolute morals, you are in fact a christian.

Ofcourse I would not rape and kill my sister, as the act of doing so intertwine with the whole family and with the sheere indecensy of doing such a vile act of incest.

If you did it to my sister, I would ofcourse be morally obliged to commit blood revenge.

[indjaseemun]

What society can survive without prostitution? I know of none who have. Excess is another thing, of course.

About serial killers, it always "kills" me here how much people use excuses to endorse maniacs like serial killers, with the excuse that they may be contributing to cleaning society of degenerates. I mean, last time I checked degenerates were the ones who randomly killed and harmed people for their own selfish reasons (and sometimes those reasons hide behind "goals" too). People here are like "Oh, did you check out that new murderer who dropped a bomb and killed 400 people including children to make a statement about the rise of crime? It was great!"

[Humanicide]

For those interested, this is the documentary I spoke about earlier.

http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Serial-Killers-Portraits-Evil/dp/B001LN6NRE

It's pretty good - I wouldn't go in expecting new insight into serial killers, but its quite comprehensive and covers a lot. If you can download it or grab it cheap, it's worth a watch. Keep in mind though - I believe it was made for TV so there's a short title sequence which replays before each separate part. Irritating, but not the end of the world.