Like our first Killer book—The Killer Book of True Crime—this book aims to serve up facts about serial murderers in an entertaining way. As such, some of the information is served up in small bites: quotes, brainteasers, lists, matching games, facts, and factoids permeate the book and make the gruesome information a little more, well, palatable. The meat of the book, chapters 2 to 36, is comprised of long stories that delve deeply into the lives of the most infamous serial murderers, the dark stars of our time and times past.
This book is designed both for people who are relatively unfamiliar with serial killers and their crimes and for those who have already devoured books and websites dedicated to all the grisly details. We think that the quality and depth of the research will enable both groups to enjoy it. Enjoy may seem like a strange word to use when talking about murder— particularly serial murder—but the plain fact is that there is a certain subset of ghouls out there (yours truly included) who love reading about it. As in the first book, however, we have drawn a line on the morgue floor: There are some things that are so awful that they are not enjoyable to read. We have tried to exclude that material without taking the bite out of the book. For example, there was one close-up photo that showed a young female victim with her vaginal vault gone, which could make, as they say, a goat barf. If the book were for goats that like to barf, we would have used it, but it isn’t.
We hope you enjoy the book and come away with a better understanding of the creature known as the serial killer—and trust us, they aren’t really human, not like you and I are.
Yours in blood, death, depravity, and piquer acts,
—Tom Philbin and Michael Philbin