Human Monsters An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World's Most Vicious Murderers

The Worst Killers of All Time A murder of passion is ugly enough. But murder for no apparent reason, other than to satisfy a thirst for blood, is truly horrifying. History is replete with such vicious, senseless killings, committed by twisted men and women who are the living embodiment of our worst nightmares. What made them do it? Human Monsters presents one hundred gripping case studies of the most cold-blooded killers of all time, infamous for their method, motivation, and madness. Included are: * Gilles de Rais, the fifteenth-century French nobleman who was both Joan of Arc's gallant comrade in arms and the man who came to be known as Bluebeard, a torturer and killer of children * Elizabeth Bathory, the Blood Countess, a seventeenth-century real-life vampire who bathed in the blood of young women * Herman Webster Mudgett, a.k.a. H. H. Holmes, the nineteenth-century Chicago druggist who butchered fifty people in what became known as his "Murder Castle" * Belle Gunness, the turn-of-the-century Indiana Black Widow who killed and chopped up at least ten mates * Peter Kurten, the "Monster of Dusseldorf," the killer-rapist whose exploits served as the basis for Peter Lorre's portrayal of the psychopathic child killer in the 1931 film M * Mass murderers of recent years, including Charles Manson, David Berkowitz, Ted Bundy, and John Wayne Gacy Author David Everitt places these crazed executioners within the contexts of their times, providing fascinating facts about their backgrounds, relationships, and purported reasoning. He discusses each crime, including cases of unbelievable atrocities before or after killing, the number and nature of the victims, and how-if ever-the killers were brought to justice. Photographs and portraits reveal both the homicidally desperate and the seemingly ordinary faces that mask the world's most evil murderers.Everitt, David is the author of 'Human Monsters An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World's Most Vicious Murderers' with ISBN 9780809239948 and ISBN 0809239949.