Why do some serial killers seem to have fan groups?

[Soubriquet]

Been watching CSI, Law and Order and stuff like they, and it made me ponder it. In the real world, some serial killers seem to have a very avid fan base. Why is that?

Why do some people enjoy writing to killers in prison and then finding sympathy for them and even loving them with the notion of “they must have been pushed into it” instead of the obvious, they are a killer

And no shortage of women wanting to marry them 🙄 God knows what the attraction is!!

Because human beings are highly complex, which often comes with flaws, maladjustment, a need for validation, mental health problems and so on, all of which cause behaviour that seems baffling to those looking in.

I wonder if most serial killers have a "fan base", or should that be a fanatical base. Perhaps it isn't as common as it seems.

I was going to go with because some people are fucked up but ^

I think people get interested in the criminology and stick around if the killer is attractive. It's generally the reasons these killers were so prolific - average/attractive looks with a LOT of charm.

I remember reading once that women who are attracted to murderers are generally malignant narcissists:

• she loves the idea that he's misunderstood by the rest of society and that she alone is pure and kind-hearted enough to see the goodness in him
• because most people consider him scum, she thinks he'll have undying love and gratitude to her for loving him despite what he's done
• because he's in prison, she think she'll be the only good thing in his life and he'll spend his days pining for her
• she feels a sense of self-righteousness for having "forgiven" him (even though you can't really forgive someone on another person's behalf) when most other people judge him

As for men who fanboy after serial killers... I imagine a decent number of them are serial killers-in-waiting themselves, frankly. There have been quite a few spree killers whose search history has shown that they were obsessed with the Columbine massacre, for example.

Also, is some cases, it may be simply be a case of someone being so shallow that she prioritises physical attraction above all else. Someone once posted on PostSecret that they found Ian Huntley hot, even though they hated "what he did".

That's actually what "fan" means. It's an abbreviation for fanatic.

In common usage it's morphed into "Something I like quite a lot" and usually refers to something inoffensive like a celebrity or sports team.

But originally the word did imply that a fan was irrational and maybe not quite sane.

@Forhecksake I know ;-) I thought perhaps the "full" or original term would be better as it would emphasis the strange nature of those who adore or pine for serial killers.

I notice that a PP listed some traits within the women that seem self-aggrandizing, e.g. only they are pure hearted enough to see the good in them or they have the power to forgive. It's an interesting point to consider - are they low in self esteem and needy yet needing the safety of captivity (whether that means the killer at a physical safe distance or emotionally captive) or are they indulging in an exercise in ego?

God alone knows why this is a thing. There are men who are fans of female killers too. It’s beyond me.

They should see these men on the daily in their grubby little cells.... won't be so fixated on them then believe me!

The Venn diagram between these women and women who believe the Joker and Harley Quinn, from the Batman comic universe, have a relationship to strive for, is like two completely overlapping circles.

But even without the veneer of fiction, there are plenty of women who insist on loving the “wrong” man because they can “save” him - career criminals, abusers, dealers, ex-cons with an abusive past who’ve had no counseling, etc. It’s sad enough to watch it happen, but when any of these women are mums with young children, it’s even more heartbreaking.

That's really fucked up ,how would you even begin to separate the person from the crimes especially a double murder.

I also think sometimes they are just sickoes who are turned on by violence themselves. There have been lots of cases in Europe where a husband and wife team have murdered children/teens together - I can only think of Rose and Fred West in the UK, but they are definitely not the only couple.

Its called ‘Hybristophilia’:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybristophilia

That’s a new word for me

They love the bad boys. Or just have hybristophilia.

I follow someone on TikTok who read out loads of the letters Chris Watts got.

Lots of women saying it was clear he was driven to do it by his awful wife, that they know he's a good guy who's taking the blame for what his mistress did. Saying they couldn't stand the thought of him being lonely in there, that they are thinking about him daily and just want to offer a small bit of comfort to him.... literally all these women know for sure about this man is that he killed his wife and kids.

They have to have some type of saviour complex, or think if they marry these guys and don't get murdered they have changed him. It's so fucked up.