Murderabilia
A History of Crime in 100 Objects
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4.7 • 3 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
From veteran true crime master Harold Schechter comes a unique look into the history of crime told through the dark objects left behind.
The false teeth of a female serial killer from 1908, the cut-and-paste confession of the Black Dahlia killer, the newly cracked cipher of the Zodiac killer, the shotgun used in the Clutter family murders, which were made famous by Truman Capote's true crime classic In Cold Blood—these are more than simple artifacts that once belonged to notorious murderers. They are objets of fascination to the legion of true crime obsessives around the world. And not merely for fleeting dark thrills, but because they represent a way to better understand those who we typically label monsters in lieu of learning how they actually became one.
In Murderabilia, veteran true crime writer Harold Schechter presents 100 murder-related artifacts spanning two centuries (1808–2014), with accompanying stories of various lengths. A visual and literary journey, it presents a history unlike any previously told in the true crime genre, one that speaks to the dark fascination of true crime fans while also presenting a larger historical timeline of how and why we continue to be captivated by the most sensational crimes and killers among us.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
True crime writer Schechter (Butcher's Work) spotlights objects linked to acts of violence in this eccentric volume. According to Schechter, the practice of holding on to such keepsakes dates back to at least 1827, when an English hangman cut up a noose from a notorious killer and sold one-inch sections of it for a guinea each. Here, the author pillages evidence lockers, universities, museums, and private collections for morbid mementos, using them as launching points into a bevy of bloody real-life tales. He discusses artworks by serial killers John Wayne Gacy and Danny Rolling, and examines the mummified head of Germany's Peter Kürten, who in the 1930s killed at least nine people and drank their blood. After his execution, Kürten's head was split open so researchers could dissect his brain; the empty head wound up in a Ripley's Believe It or Not museum in Wisconsin. Schechter's prose has the punch of a campfire ghost story ("He arrived around midnight when the women were asleep"), and the objects run a satisfying gamut from intriguing curios to the stuff of nightmares. It adds up to a strange and fascinating tour of the macabre. Photos.
