1 online resource (viii, 327 pages)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 285-310) and index.

The Victorian killer as media star : Jack the Ripper and H.H. Holmes -- Defining the enemy within : the FBI and serial murder -- Natural born celebrities : serial killers and the Hollywood star system -- Out of this world : aliens, devils, and serial killers in television crime drama -- Next door monsters : the dialectic of normality and monstrosity in true-crime narratives -- The unbearable straightness of violence : queering serial murder in true crime.

Print version record.

Jeffrey Dahmer. Ted Bundy. John Wayne Gacy. Over the past thirty years, serial killers have become iconic figures in America, the subject of made-for-TV movies and mass-market paperbacks alike. But why do we find such luridly transgressive and horrific individuals so fascinating? What compels us to look more closely at these figures when we really want to look away? Natural Born Celebrities considers how serial killers have become lionized in American culture and explores the consequences of their fame. David Schmid provides a historical account of how serial killers became famous and how that.

Serial murderers -- United States -- Public opinion.

Crime in popular culture -- United States.

Serial murders in mass media.

Fame.

TRUE CRIME -- Murder -- General.

Print version: Schmid, David (David Frank). Natural born celebrities. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, ©2005 0226738671 9780226738673 (DLC) 2004026467 (OCoLC)56967148

9780226738703 (electronic bk.)

0226738701 (electronic bk.)