To think DS's obsession with serial killers is concerning?

[oxfordyvonne]

I know this is a strange title but recently DS has been displaying some behaviours and interests that are a little weird. We're a family of avid readers and are always recommending new reads to each other, and DS is old enough now to read more sophisticated novels so I suggested Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry which is a book about Charles Manson and his crimes. Fascinating read if you ever get the chance. Anyway, he finished reading a week ago and told me how much he loved it and how fascinating it was to him.

Since then he's gone absolutely serial killer mad. Every day he'll talk endlessly about killers he's researched like Ed Gein and John Wayne Gacy, and more obscure ones such as Aileen Wuornos (who I didn't even know myself, had to research her). He'll tell me statistics, how many people they killed and the circumstances, which prison they're currently in and how long their sentences are. I understand all kids have their obsessions but this is far more morbid than playing with LEGO or The Sims. I know it's my fault too for recommending the novel, didn't think it would lead to this though. AIBU? Deary me. I need a glass of wine!

I wouldn't worry, he sounds just like me :-) I'm fascinated by all extremes of humanity even the very darkest aspects.

Only worry if he starts admiring and exalting them or becoming obsessed with the details and what it would feel like to be committing those acts.

Both mistress. The owner tells an utterly bullshit story about nearly getting abducted by Bundy. She's incredibly litigious and threatens to sue anyone who looks at her funny.

They ban anyone who disagrees on threads (imagine if MN were like that? There would only be about four people on the whole site)

One of the mods running the site is a convicted paedophile.
It's an absolute shit show basically.

I was fascinated by serial killers as a teen (still am, tbh) - it's horrific, but weirdly compelling to learn about their behaviour. And also appalling to learn about how useless the police were in some cases (yes, officers who dealt with Jeffrey Dahmer over the years, I'm looking at you!).

Oh and websleuths like to harass family members of missing and murdered people in an attempt to 'solve' cases. Even the FBI have had to warn them off.

Metal, I'm currently reading a book about Peter Sutcliffe by Michael Bilton. It's incredible that he got caught at all considering the police efforts.

Haven't read all your thread but I was like this. I can tell you the ins and out of Fred and Rose West. I've probably read every book going on Peter Sutcliffe. I've been to see Dennis Neilson old house. I love all that stuff. I'm a normal person.

I watch every crime thriller on TV and love police drama.

Nothing to worry about.

The books about where the police cases went tits up are completely addictive.

I was hooked on making a murderer recently.

I was really into charles bronson a while back after i saw the weird film i was googiling and reading everything i could about him its strangely fascinating all that

meh... I used to read all about serial killers - absolutely fascinated with forensic psychology. Still am!

I actually read a fab article on why themes like this are popular and one of the suggestions was that we read about them to explore things, events we would never want to see in the flesh or even have the compulsion to act out. Thats why fictional TV shows like Dexter, CSI and american horror story are so popular and why the documentaries - making a murderer, jinx, true crime are compulsive viewing.

geekandsundry.com/why-are-we-obsessed-with-serial-killers/ maybe this will help with understanding our 'morbid' fascination ;)

morbid fascination that's what I call it too.

Basically marking my place for these recommendations of books and websites. Love all this. I record all sorts on true crime and prisons and DH frequently asks me what cheerful programme I'm watching now! Utterly obsessed with Making a Murderer.

I started Criminology at uni. I ended up leaving because I was worried I'd have a degree I'd never use. It was a huge mistake. My interest is stronger than ever and in hindsight, my dream job would be criminal psychologist.

Your son's interest at this age is nothing to worry about at all. It could be the beginning of a career for him if his interest is strong enough.

I'm like this. I love reading all about mysteries.

/r/unresolvedmysteries is a great place to read, there are some amazing case studies there.

If this is his first foray into serial killers then the topic could be capturing his attention purely because it's an interesting and varied subject. I find the subject interesting (and often horrifying) I also find interesting such macabre subjects as torture devices, both ancient and recent, and toxicology - the study of poisons.

I can assure you I have zero desire to either torture, poison or kill anyone. No more desire than any other healthy human being anyway.

I used to read all manner of gruesome stuff, when I was that age! I had a subscription to a monthly magazine about serial killers. And I turned out, perfectly normal....

15/16 is fine. Perhaps recommend things that are also good on the realities - I'd suggest he does a free Future Learn session on forensic crime here - really good online learning courses led by universities and that one comes up quite often - starting next April 18th: www.futurelearn.com/courses/introduction-to-forensic-science

And possibly the recent Dunblane documentary. It's devastating but I would suggest that if he is old enough to read about killers he is old enough to hear about the victims.

Just as long as you tell him not to write on his UCAS form that he's applying for a criminology degree because he's fascinated by serial killers - that makes us roll our eyes at yet another one who doesn't know anything about the degree they want to do

Unless he has a history of starting fires, late bed-wetting, and cruelty to animals, he'll probably pass on the practical side of it all - I think a fascination with the darker sides of human nature is exceedingly common.

I have a PhD in criminology and, like your DS, was fascinated by this stuff since my early teens. There's a great book that is all about why we are fascinated by killers, called The Subject of Murder by Lisa Downing. It's an academic book and might be a challenging read for him at 16 but it could make him think about why he is so obsessed, what his interest says about our culture, etc., rather than just wallowing in it, iyswim. It's got a feminist slant to it too and, if I remember correctly, there's a chapter on Aileen Wuornos.

Agree with Tophat too about recommending the Dunblane documentary. It's really important to balance a young person's interest in murderers with an awareness of, and empathy for, the victims.

Not rtft but agree with last post, make sure he remembers there were people that were victims too.

There's a girl who survived the Ted Bundy sorority house killings carol darunch I think? There's documentaries and books on her, also survivors of the hillside stranglers and of course the families of those murdered have spoken out. There's also documentaries and books by the police officers who worked on these cases.

I'm fascinated by it myself but ultimately the victims are more important and worthy of our attention, we need to make their names more famous than their killers.

I wouldn't worry at this stage. He is showing scientific interest, presumably not exhibiting psychopatic traits!

I did become obsessed by serial killers after I exhausted the pool of detective movies/series that interested me (Wire in the Blood, True Detective, Taggart, Waking the Dead, all of CSI etc). I was constantly asking my friends to recommend more series. Then I moved to real stories and documentaries.

My interest is purely a fascination from a detective/psycological point of view.

I think it is normal to try and make 'sense' of the pshyce of a serial killer and learning about how they work/think and that in most cases it was not circumstantial, but purely a character trait. And I guess armed with this knowledge, one becomes more aware and learns how to watch out for themselves so that they do not happen to become a victim of a serial killer. I do believe they are around us even nowadays. There will always be such people...

I love this kind of stuff. There's an Aileen Wuornos documentary on Netflix that explains her (massively fucked up) childhood and which goes some way towards "explaining" to some extent why she did what she did. It's really interesting.

I am fascinated by these sort of stuff. I love reading about it. It is very interesting.

Unless he is starting to display worrying behaviour, like torturing small animals, I wouldn't worry.

I've been obsessed with them since I was about ten . I wanted to be a forensic scientist at that age. Stemmed from watching crime dramas and endless Agatha Christie with my Nan. I've always been a bit of a weirdo also... As a teenager I was enthralled by serial killer documentaries and still very much am now. I'm not a psychopath I hope. It's a pretty normal fascination. It's also worth noting I've had sex with a serial killer docu in the background a couple of times in the past . Maybe I am weird...

No but seriously, the teen years are prime time for weird obsessions. I was absolutely obsessed with Hitler and nazi Germany around that age. My mum was concerned about it but it's just because we were doing it at school! As long as he isn't sacrificing cats in the garden I wouldn't worry about it.

I am very gentle to the point that I hate people even talking about gory violence and yet, Stephen King was one of my favourite authors at that age, I was fascinated by Jack the Ripper, and I still love a good psychological horror film. Hate gore though.

Has your DS read From Hell? It is a graphic novel about Jack the Ripper by Alan Moore and I think he's about the right age for it. It has a large focus on the victims though there is a slightly bizarre conspiracy theory in it so bear in mind it is a fictionalised account.

Perfectly normal op, as 70 odd MNers have just proved!

I was obsessed with stuff like this, my favourite subject was Elizabeth Bathory ffs!!

I loved and still love researching and reading about killers and criminals. I did my degree in criminal behaviour, I've not slaughtered anyone yet.

Many people read up on such horrors, it's just a bit different but nowt to worry about