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Serial killers evoke a mix of intense emotions, from fear to morbid curiosity. While countless fiction and nonfiction books explore their lives, the most controversial are those penned by the killers themselves. These works range from autobiographies to what appear to be fictional tales.
In 1997, New York introduced the first 'Son of Sam Law,' now adopted by over 40 states. This legislation emerged after reports that David Berkowitz, the infamous Son of Sam, was offered substantial sums for his story. The law bans convicted criminals from profiting from works detailing their crimes, redirecting any earnings to compensate victims or their families.
Despite being barred from financial benefits, serial killers still gain notoriety through their writings. While these books are highly contentious, they provide an unparalleled glimpse into the minds of these criminals.
10. Zekka2015
Sakakibara Seito, a pseudonym for a Japanese teenage serial killer, took the lives of two children and injured three others in 1997. At just 14, he was apprehended for the brutal murder of 11-year-old Jun Hase, whose decapitated head he left at a Kobe school entrance. He later admitted to killing 10-year-old Ayaka Yamashita. Released provisionally in 2004 and fully in 2005, his true identity remains undisclosed to the public.
Seito’s memoir, Zekka, sparked immediate outrage, especially as the victims’ families were not informed prior to its publication. Seito allegedly mailed copies to the families, including an apology note. In the book, he confessed to his teenage sexual deviance and described how his fascination escalated from killing cats to murdering humans during junior high.
Despite Mamoru Hase, Jun Hase’s father, publicly condemning the book for exacerbating their pain and demanding its removal, the publication continued. Seito earns royalties from the book but claims he will use them to settle the $1.6 million in civil damages owed to the victims’ families.
9. The Trinity Of Superkidds2010
Charles Kembo was found guilty of murdering four individuals—his wife, business partner, girlfriend, and stepdaughter—between 2002 and 2005. His wife Margaret vanished in 2003, and her remains were never recovered. In November 2003, his business partner Ardon Samuel was discovered strangled and mutilated in a Vancouver park. Nearly a year later, his girlfriend Sui Yin Ma’s body was found stuffed in a hockey bag in Richmond. Lastly, his stepdaughter Rita Yeung’s body, wrapped in garbage bags, was located in July 2005. She was 20. Shortly after this discovery, Kembo was arrested and is currently serving a life sentence.
The Trinity of Superkidds: Book One: Quest for Water, attributed to J.D. Bauer, is allegedly authored by Kembo. Amazon’s product details indicate the 372-page book was published by Publish America on January 20, 2010, during Kembo’s trial. He was convicted in June of that year. Kembo reportedly confirmed in an interview that he wrote this children’s fiction.
8. Son Of Hope2006
David Berkowitz, an infamous American serial killer, murdered six individuals and injured seven others over 14 months from July 1976 to August 1977. Operating exclusively at night, he often targeted women with long, dark hair and couples in cars. During the 1977 Summer of Sam, many women changed their hair color to blonde, cut it short, or tied it up to avoid his attention. He earned the moniker “the .44-caliber killer” due to his preferred weapon.
He is most famously known as Son of Sam, a name he used in a letter to the police. The letter opened with:
Greetings from the gutters of NYC, filled with dog waste, vomit, stale wine, urine, and blood. Greetings from the sewers of NYC, which consume these remnants when swept away by cleaning trucks.
Berkowitz’s capture was triggered by a parking ticket near his final crime scene. After confessing to the murders, he was sentenced to six life terms and remains imprisoned at Sullivan Correctional Facility in Fallsburg, New York.
Berkowitz claimed that his murders were influenced by demonic forces. He believed he received commands from his neighbor’s dog, Sam, and experienced vivid hallucinations. Although he briefly associated with a Satanist group in his youth, he insists he sensed the influence of evil even as a child.
However, the Son of Sam transformed into the “Son of Hope.” While incarcerated, he discovered solace and liberation through faith. His book, Son of Hope, compiles his prison diaries, detailing life in confinement and his spiritual conversion to Christianity. Berkowitz does not earn from the book’s sales, and a share of the proceeds supports the victims of his crimes.
7. The Strange Case Of Dr. H.H. Holmes2005
Initially thought to be merely a con artist, Herman Mudgett, also known as Dr. H.H. Holmes, is now remembered as one of America’s earliest serial killers. While he confessed to 27 murders, some estimates suggest the number could be as high as 200. On March 9, 1896, he was sentenced to death and executed by hanging on May 7.
After relocating to Chicago, Mudgett purchased an entire city block, transforming it into a hotel that became his infamous “murder castle” at 63rd and Wallace streets. The hotel opened just before the 1893 World’s Fair and was designed for killing. It featured windowless rooms lockable from the outside, maze-like hallways, staircases leading nowhere, and hidden gas jets. The basement contained a kiln, a disposal chute, and a padded soundproof room with a gas pipe for suffocation. Victims’ bodies were moved to the cellar via a secret shaft, where police later discovered a butcher’s table, bones, bloody clothes, and a crematory. The hotel attracted many visitors during the fair, particularly young women.
The Strange Case of Dr. H.H. Holmes includes three illustrated primary source books and, crucially, Mudgett’s confessions, published just before his execution. Holmes’ Own Story (1895) is his autobiography, detailing his childhood and life struggles. Additionally, The Confession of H.H. Holmes (1896) features his written confession.
6. The Gates Of Janus2001
Ian Brady, part of the infamous Moors Murderers duo, was convicted in 1966 alongside Myra Hindley for killing three children, later admitting to two more murders. Their victims, aged 10 to 17, were subjected to horrific acts, including sexual assault. At least three bodies were hidden on Saddleworth Moor.
The murders came to light after a tip from Myra’s brother-in-law, David Smith. Brady and Hindley had attempted to recruit Smith, but he doubted Brady’s capacity for murder. Brady disproved this by brutally killing Edward Evans with a hatchet and strangulation. Police discovered Evans’ body and the weapon, followed by luggage tickets leading to suitcases containing nude photos of a victim, audio of her pleading for her life, and images of Saddleworth Moor, which helped locate another body.
In The Gates of Janus, Brady delves into the psyche of a serial killer, arguing that they possess unique insights into their own behavior. He explores the origins of modern serial killers and profiles notorious figures like Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy.
5. The Making Of A Serial Killer1996
Danny Rolling, Florida’s most infamous serial killer since Ted Bundy, murdered five college students in 1990. He arrived in Gainesville just before the University of Florida’s fall semester, setting up camp in nearby woods. Over 48 hours, he stabbed four women and one man, sexually assaulting some of his victims. One of the most chilling details was how he posed Christa Hoyt’s body, placing her severed head on a shelf.
In 1994, Rolling pleaded guilty and was sentenced to death for the five murders. He also confessed to killing three people in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1989, though he was never tried for those crimes. He was executed by lethal injection, reportedly singing a hymn-like song before the drugs took effect.
The Making of a Serial Killer was penned by Rolling during his imprisonment, co-authored with his former fiancee, Sondra London. Released in 1996, the book contains graphic images and accounts, including Rolling’s description of raping a woman in Sarasota. The following year, London and Rolling faced legal action under Florida’s Son of Sam Law for profiting from the book. In 1999, London was ordered to pay $15,000 to the victims’ families, who were hesitant to accept the “blood money.”
4. A Question Of Doubt1993
John Wayne Gacy, one of history’s most infamous serial killers, murdered 33 individuals aged 9 to 20. In 1968, Gacy was convicted of sodomy but served only 18 months of a 10-year sentence due to good behavior. After his release, he moved to Chicago, becoming a successful contractor and engaging in social and political activities. He even performed as “Pogo the Clown” at children’s events. However, he also began his killing spree.
While some victims were acquaintances or employees, Gacy primarily targeted runaways and hustlers. He used various methods to lure them, such as posing as a police officer or inviting them for drinks. Once inside his home, he would handcuff them under the pretense of a magic trick, then torture, rape, and strangle them. Most bodies were buried in his crawl space, but as space ran out, he resorted to dumping them in a nearby river.
A few victims survived, but even after Jeffrey Rignall reported him, the case stalled. Gacy was finally caught when police investigated the disappearance of 15-year-old Robert Piest. The stench from his crawl space led to the discovery of 28 bodies on his property and five more in rivers. Convicted in 1980, he was executed by lethal injection in 1994.
In A Question of Doubt, co-authored with Shane Bugbee, Gacy insists that others were responsible for the bodies found under his house. As he states in the preface:
This is not a full autobiography but a detailed chronicle of the nightmare I endured from December 11, 1978, to March 13, 1980. It exposes the web of lies and deliberate deception spun by the police and the media . . .
The book, now out of print, had a limited run of approximately 500 copies in 1993. It inspired a play titled 33: A Question of Doubt.
3. Killer1970
Carl Panzram claimed to have killed 21 people, committed countless robberies, burglaries, and arsons, and sexually assaulted over 1,000 men across 30 countries and at sea. At just 11 years old, he stole from a neighbor, leading to his placement in the Minnesota State Training School. From then on, his life was a cycle of reform schools, jails, and prisons.
Using funds stolen from William Howard Taft’s home, Panzram purchased a yacht named Akista. Onboard, he robbed, assaulted, and murdered 10 passengers. He often hired sailors, got them drunk, assaulted them at sea, then shot them with a .45-caliber Colt and disposed of their bodies by tying rocks to them and throwing them overboard.
While imprisoned at the Washington Asylum and Jail for burglary, Panzram met Henry Lesser, a sympathetic guard who encouraged him to write after he was beaten by fellow inmates. Panzram handed Lesser his autobiography manuscript and continued sending him letters and writings even after being transferred to another facility.
Killer: A Journal of Murder, authored by Thomas E. Gaddis and James Long, includes Panzram’s journals and letters. Although written starting in 1928, these texts took over 40 years to be published.
2. Killer Fiction1990
Although G.J. Schaefer was only convicted of two murders, there is strong evidence suggesting he was a serial killer. He boasted of killing over 80 women, but the exact number remains unknown and likely will forever, as he died in 1995 after being attacked by a fellow inmate who slit his throat and stabbed him in both eyes.
In 1973, Schaefer was found guilty of the torture and murder of 17-year-old Susan Place and 16-year-old Georgia Jessup. However, evidence indicates these were not his only victims. His letters and jail confessions frequently referenced other killings. A search of his mother’s home, where he kept a spare room, revealed items belonging to missing women. While some skeletal remains were found, the cause of death couldn’t be determined, and no additional charges were filed. The search also uncovered over 100 pages of writings and drawings depicting gruesome acts.
In 1990, Sondra London, who had dated Schaefer in high school and reconnected with him later, published some of his fiction, including the story “Murder Demons,” in Killer Fiction. While London views these works as art, law enforcement argues they contain more truth than fiction. Schaefer himself hinted at this in a 1991 letter, stating:
What crimes am I expected to confess? Farmer? Briscolina? What do you think [“Murder Demons”] is? You seek confessions but fail to recognize them when I present them, and this is just the beginning.
1. Final Truth1993
Donald Gaskins, often called Pee Wee Gaskins due to his 163-centimeter (5’4″) stature and dubbed the “Meanest Man in America,” was a notorious American serial killer. He admitted to murdering 13 people through methods like drowning, stabbing, and shooting, burying their bodies in remote graves near Prospect, South Carolina. While he was convicted of eight murders after his 1975 arrest, his autobiography claims he killed up to 110, including a toddler he raped before killing.
In 1991, Gaskins was executed via the electric chair for the murder of fellow inmate Rudolph Tyner. Tyner's death was orchestrated by the son of one of Tyner’s victims, who had enlisted Gaskins to carry out the killing. Gaskins devised a bomb cleverly concealed as a radio, which detonated when Tyner brought it near his ears.
Gaskins’s autobiography, Final Truth: The Autobiography of a Serial Killer, co-authored with Wilton Earle, delves into the killer’s life and meticulously recounts his heinous crimes.
