Harold Schechter Books

Set in the 1830s Baltimore, this fictional work intricately weaves the dark atmosphere of Edgar Allan Poe's world with a gripping true-crime narrative. Harold Schechter, celebrated for his detailed writing, explores a complex and chilling crime, immersing readers in the historical context and psychological depth reminiscent of Poe's genius. The story promises a riveting journey through a labyrinth of intrigue and horror, showcasing Schechter's talent in blending fiction with the essence of true crime.

Exploring the controversial legacy of Dr. Fredric Wertham, this work delves into his impact on pop culture and the comic book industry. Known for his critical stance on comics, Wertham's views sparked significant debate about censorship and artistic freedom. The book combines insightful analysis with the unique storytelling style of its award-winning creators, offering a thought-provoking look at the intersection of media, morality, and societal values during his time.

As a child in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, Herman Mudgett was seen as a promising boy, masking dark fantasies of his parents' demise. By eleven, he was conducting secret experiments on animals, honing his skills in incapacitating them. In 1886, he arrived in Englewood, Illinois, introducing himself as Dr. H. H. Holmes and quickly gaining employment at Holton's drugstore, which thrived under his management. However, after a failed attempt to buy the store from Mrs. Holton, she vanished without a trace. While Jack the Ripper terrorized London, Holmes constructed his notorious "Castle," a fortress filled with trapdoors, hidden passageways, and dark chambers. He cycled through numerous workers, effectively silencing any potential witnesses to its sinister design, which included torture rooms and a crematorium. Holmes played various roles—doctor, druggist, inventor—and was a bigamist with three wives and many lovers, one of whom became a skeletal specimen sold to a medical college. His reckless behavior ultimately led to his capture and the sensational "Trial of the Century," where he confessed to twenty-seven murders. Although he later recanted, he maintained his innocence until death, securing his legacy as one of history's most notorious criminals.

An encyclopedia of the serial killer phenomenon addresses the historical, psychological, social, and cultural aspects of such criminals and their crimes, providing more than one hundred individual profiles of serial killers.

Offering a unique blend of bizarre and fascinating insights, this newly revised and updated guide serves as an ultimate resource on its subject. It promises to engage readers with its intriguing content, making it a captivating read for those seeking both knowledge and entertainment.

The heinous bloodlust of Dr. H.H. Holmes is notorious -- but only Harold Schechter's Depraved tells the complete story of the killer whose evil acts of torture and murder flourished within miles of the Chicago World's Fair. "Destined to be a true crime classic" (Flint Journal, MI), this authoritative account chronicles the methods and madness of a monster who slipped easily into a bright, affluent Midwestern suburb, where no one suspected the dapper, charming Holmes -- who alternately posed as doctor, druggist, and inventor to snare his prey -- was the architect of a labyrinthine "Castle of Horrors." Holmes admitted to twenty-seven murders by the time his madhouse of trapdoors, asphyxiation devices, body chutes, and acid vats was exposed. The seminal profile of a homegrown madman in the era of Jack the Ripper, Depraved is also a mesmerizing tale of true detection long before the age of technological wizardry.

From Harold Schechter, one of the principle chroniclers of the world's greatest psychopathic killers comes the definitive account of Ed Gein, whose ghoulish crimes stunned an unsuspecting nation.

From veteran true crime master Harold Schechter comes a unique look into the history of crime told through the dark objects left behind.

A Civil War veteran who perpetrated one of the most ghastly mass slaughters in the annals of U.S. crime. A nineteenth-century female serial killer whose victims included three husbands and six of her own children. A Gilded Age "Bluebeard" who did away with as many as fifty wives throughout the country. A decorated World War I hero who orchestrated a murder that stunned Jazz Age America. A quartet of gripping historical true-crime narratives, Butcher's Work restores these once-notorious cases to vivid, dramatic life.

Relates how respected local farmer and school board treasurer Andrew P. Kehoe blew up the new primary school in Bath, Michigan in 1927, an act of vengeance that killed thirty-eight children and six adults in one of the first and worst mass murders in American history.

Bestselling true-crime master Harold Schechter explores the real-life headline-making psychos, serial murderers, thrill-hungry couples, and lady-killers who inspired a century of classic films. The necktie murders in Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy; Chicago's Jazz Age crime of passion; the fatal hookup in Looking for Mr. Goodbar; the high school horrors committed by the costumed slasher in Scream. These and other cinematic crimes have become part of pop-culture history. And each found inspiration in true events that provided the raw material for our greatest blockbusters, indie art films, black comedies, Hollywood classics, and grindhouse horrors. So what's the reality behind Psycho, Badlands, The Hills Have Eyes, A Place in the Sun, Arsenic and Old Lace, and Dirty Harry? How did such tabloid-ready killers as Bonnie and Clyde, body snatchers Burke and Hare, Texas sniper Charles Whitman Jr., nurse-slayer Richard Speck, and Leopold and Loeb exert their power on the public imagination and become the stuff of movie lore? In this collection of revelatory essays, true-crime historian Harold Schechter takes a fascinating trip down the crossroads of fact and fiction to reveal the sensational real-life stories that are more shocking, taboo, and fantastic than even the most imaginative screenwriter can dream up.

»Psycho«, »Das Schweigen der Lämmer«, »The Texas Chainsaw Massacre« – Geschichten über Serienkiller üben eine unwiderstehliche Anziehungskraft auf uns Menschen aus. Es ist die Lust am Blick in die tiefsten Abgründe unserer Psyche, der Reiz über das Undenkbare nachzudenken, und nicht zuletzt der Nervenkitzel, der darin liegt, dass Serienkiller mehr sind als Fiktion. Denn auch wenn Norman Bates, Buffalo Bill und Leatherface erfundene Figuren sind: Ed Gein, der »Plainfield Ghoul« war real. Harold Schechter, Experte für True Crime-Stories und Professor für amerikanische Literatur, lässt uns hautnah am Leben und Wirken von Edward Theodore Gein teilhaben. Zwischen einem alkoholkranken, gewalttätigen Vater und einer fanatisch religiösen, herrischen Mutter wuchs Gein zu einem Mann heran, dessen psychische Probleme in mindestens zwei nachgewiesenen Morden sowie Leichendiebstahl und -schändung in zahlreichen Fällen mündeten. Mit Eric Powell (»The Goon«) zeichnet einer der profiliertesten US-Comickünstler unserer Zeit für diese grafisch exzellente Graphic Novel verantwortlich.

Ce récit révèle la véritable histoire d'un malade mental sous l'emprise d'une mère bigote et abusive. Cette biographie factuelle d'Ed Gein se focalise sur son enfance et sa vie de famille malheureuses, et sur la façon dont elles ont façonné sa psyché. Il explore aussi le choc collectif qui entoura l'affaire et la prise de conscience que les tueurs peuvent être des citoyens ordinaires.

WSTRZĄSAJĄCA HISTORIA EDA GEINA, RZEŹNIKA Z PLAINFIELD, KTÓREGO ZBRODNIE STAŁY SIĘ INSPIRACJĄ DO POWSTANIA TAKICH FILMÓW JAK PSYCHOZA CZY MILCZENIE OWIEC JEST ROK 1957. NA ZDJĘCIACH ZAPREZENTOWANYCH CAŁEMU ŚWIATU WIDAĆ DROBNEGO MĘŻCZYZNĘ Z POŁUDNIOWEGO ZACHODU O KRZYWYM UŚMIESZKU; CZŁOWIEKA, KTÓRY PRZEZ DZIESIĘĆ LAT ŻYŁ WE WŁASNYM ŚWIECIE MORDERSTW I DEPRAWACJI. Oto autentyczna i przerażająca historia Eda Geina, zabójcy, którego bestialskie fantazje zainspirowały Alfreda Hitchcocka do nakręcenia „Psychozy”. To także szokujący portret dobrze wychowanego, spokojnego farmera przywiązanego do despotycznej matki, który popełnił serię krwawych i odrażających zbrodni wykraczających poza ludzkie zrozumienie. W mrożących krew w żyłach detalach Schechter opisuje niewiarygodną karierę jednego z najbardziej obłąkanych szaleńców, jaki zapisał się na kartach amerykańskiej zbrodni. A także tego, w jaki sposób zamienił niewielki dom na farmie w Wisconsin w prywatny świat krwawej zbrodni.

Vražda nebola jeho najzávažnejším zločinom... Píše sa rok 1957 a celá Amerika hľadí na fotografiu štíhleho muža zo stredozápadu – s pokriveným úsmevom a temným tajomstvom. Na muža, ktorý svoju malú farmu vo Wisconsine premenil na vlastný súkromný svet krvavých zločinov. Toto je skutočný príbeh Eda Geina, vraha, ktorého brutálne fantázie inšpirovali Alfreda Hitchcocka k natočeniu filmu Psycho. Je to tiež šokujúci portrét zdanlivo slušného, tichého farmára, ktorý bol naviazaný na despotickú matku a spáchal sériu činov, presahujúcich ľudské chápanie. Kniha Psychopat v mrazivých detailoch skúma neuveriteľnú cestu jedného z najvyšinutejších šialencov v americkej kriminálnej histórii, ktorého meno sa stalo synonymom pre vraha odvedľa.

V panteonu sériových vrahů zaujímá Belle Gunnessová jedinečné místo. Byla to všemu se vymykající psychopatka, žena, která vraždila ve velkém, zčásti z chamtivosti, ale hlavně z čirého potěšení. Mezi lety 1902 a 1908 nalákala na svou „vražednou farmu v Indianě“ řadu nic netušících obětí. Někteří byli nájemní dělníci. Jiní nic netušící staří mládenci. Všichni zmizeli beze stopy. Poté, co byla jejich těla vykopána, se zjistilo, že byli nejen otráveni, jako oběti jiných vražedkyň, ale byli také doslova poraženi jako na jatkách. Pekelná princezna je strhující popis jednoho z nejsenzačnějších řádění masového vraha v análech amerického zločinu: šokující série vražd spáchaných ženou, která vešla ve známost jako Lady Modrovousová. Napínavá a poutavě napsaná kniha Harolda Schechtera je jediným autoritativním popisem tohoto notoricky známého případu a první, která o tématu, jež v sobě nese veškeré prvky klasického záhadného příběhu a děsivé hororové zvraty, přinesla dosud neznámé informace.