The Most Notorious Serial Killers in History: Countess Elizabeth Bathory, Jack the Ripper, the Zodiac Killer, Ted Bundy, the Boston Strangler, and the Son of Sam

by Charles River Editors

*Includes pictures *Includes accounts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents The legends of vampires like Dracula have generated massive interest throughout time. Indeed, the story of a man (in some versions a very handsome, dashing man), who feeds on the blood of virgins in order to survive, and who walks the earth only at night, has been revived throughout the centuries in different forms. However, one famous tale that has been lost among the legends is the story of a female Dracula, an educated woman from a well-known family of 16th century Hungary who was so afraid to lose her beauty and young looks that she engaged in dangerous practices, combining witchcraft with exsanguination. Countess Elizabeth Báthory is this female Dracula. She is said to have drained the blood of approximately 600 young women, in order to drink it, spread it all over her body as a nurturing blend, or simply to bathe in it. There have been a countless number of serial killers throughout history, and certainly more prolific ones, but the timing, circumstances, and unsolved nature of the case continue to make Jack the Ripper the most famous serial killer in history. The murders came at a time when media coverage could be both more acute and more widespread, and it allowed the public a closer look into how police agencies operated at the time, exposing both their strengths and shortcomings. Around the same time the Zodiac Killer was murdering people on the West Coast, the Son of Sam terrorized New York City in much the same way by killing at random and writing letters to the police. Serial killers often use a set pattern and/or rituals as part of their modus operandi, so in that regard the actions of the Zodiac Killer didn’t exactly distinguish him from other serial killers. The main difference, of course, is that most serial killers are caught, including the Son of Sam (David Berkowitz), while the Zodiac Killer’s identity remains an unsolved mystery. By both remaining unidentified and leaving seemingly tantalizing clues in his writing, the Zodiac Killer ensured his notorious legacy in American history, much the same way the attempt to identify Jack the Ripper continues to fascinate people across the world today. For most people, Ted Bundy is the quintessential serial killer - a good-looking, highly intelligent man who used his charm to lure an untold number of women to their deaths. In fact, as the judge announced his death sentence, he noted Bundy’s intellect and mused that he would have enjoyed hearing Bundy try a case before him had he remained simply the genius law student he had once been. Bundy, of course, ended up choosing a far different path, going on a historic crime spree during the 1970s so prolific that estimates of his kill count vary by dozens, a debate Bundy was only too happy to stoke. On one occasion, when the FBI estimated he was responsible for 3 dozen murders, Bundy replied, "Add one digit to that, and you'll have it." On another occasion, he claimed the estimate of 3 dozen was close to accurate. The case of the Boston Strangler is as confusing and mystifying as it is terrifying. In fact, the mythology and debate lingering over the crime spree only heightened when Albert DeSalvo confessed to the crimes, provided both accurate and inaccurate details about some of them, and had his DNA tied to several of the crime scenes. However, before DeSalvo himself was murdered by an unknown assailant in jail in 1973, he had recanted his confession, and ultimately, he was never tried for the murders in Boston.

Genres: True Crime

298 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 5, 2017

About the author

Charles River Editors is an independent publisher of thousands of ebooks on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Apple iBookstore & provider of original content for third parties.

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview, in particular the section about Bathory.

[Donadee's Corner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's more history even though it about a grisly subject. The Charles River books are my favorites, I can tear through them and you can find some of the most interesting facts about almost anything and not spend a week doing it. I highly recommend any book you can get by them.
The legends and all the up to date info….

The legends of vampires like Dracula have generated massive interest throughout time. However, one famous tale that has been lost among the legends is the story of a female Dracula, an educated woman from a well-known family of 16th century Hungary who was so afraid to lose her beauty and young looks that she engaged in dangerous practices, combining witchcraft with exsanguination. There have been a countless number of serial killers throughout history, and certainly more prolific ones, but the timing, circumstances, and unsolved nature of the case continue to make Jack the Ripper the most famous serial killer in history.

Around the same time the Zodiac Killer was murdering people on the West Coast, the Son of Sam terrorized New York City in much the same way by killing at random and writing letters to the police. The main difference, of course, is that most serial killers are caught, including the Son of Sam (David Berkowitz), while the Zodiac Killer’s identity remains an unsolved mystery. For most people, Ted Bundy is the quintessential serial killer - a good-looking, highly intelligent man who used his charm to lure an untold number of women to their deaths. The case of the Boston Strangler is as confusing and mystifying as it is terrifying. In fact, the mythology and debate lingering over the crime spree only heightened when Albert DeSalvo confessed to the crimes. All told Countess Báthory, Zodiac Killer, Son of Sam, Ted Bundy, Boston Strangler and Jack the Ripper are the headlines in this addition.

What did I like? Well murder and mayhem is not really my cup of tea but the mystery surrounding these particular ones was very interesting. I was around for the later ones but the first two, although I knew about them the details were really hazy and I don’t think I have ever read an account of Countess Báthory or at least not to the details that I read here. The really interesting one was Jack the Ripper not for what he did but for the police work that was involved.

What are you going to like? Not only will you refresh your memory about the killers and their methods but the books include photos, individual accounts of particular ones, it also includes online resources and bibliography for further reading if your so inclined. All their books have table of contents so they are easy to navigate. The photos are one of my favorites as it helps in visualizing the action of what is going on in the storyline Additional all the people that were involved with the cases and what their involvement was. You know putting a face with the whole thing really helps in pulling it into perspective. These were some really sick people and some of the photos and descriptions are really graphic, be prepared.

[K.C. Murdarasi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first page of this says "Charles River Editors provides superior editing" which is ironic because, with some decent editing, this would be a much better book. The typesetting is all over the place, with titles appearing on the wrong page and captions on a different page to the photograph they are captioning. There's no frontismatter, contents page or blurb and it is so obviously self-published. I self-publish myself, but you should try to meet industry standards!

The part about Elizabeth Bathory should have been left out altogether because late medieval/early modern history is obviously not the author's strong suit (there are some howlers, like John Calvin being a Catholic) and it doesn't fit with the rest of the book, which covers a period spanning less than a hundred years, which you might call "the age of the serial killer", from Jack the Ripper to the Son of Sam.

As I said, the editing really lets it down, with a lot of repetition, events out of order, and people being mentioned on one page only to be introduced a couple of pages later. However, there is a good book under all this, with sufficient but not overwhelming detail, candid without being deliberately gruesome, and offering a good introduction to five serial killers (and a bad introduction to Bathory). Once I got over the flaws I found it very readable and interesting.