Psycho Paths : Tracking the Serial Killer Through Contemporary American Film and Fiction

Philip L. Simpson

28 ratings by Goodreads

Language: English

Published by Southern Illinois University Press Okt 2000, 2000

080932329X / 9780809323296

  • Softcover
  • New
See all details

Seller: AHA-BUCH GmbH, Einbeck, GermanyAHA-BUCH GmbH

5-star seller

AbeBooks seller since August 14, 2006

Softcover

Condition: New

£ 42.80

£ 29.57 shipping 
Ships from Germany to U.S.A.

Quantity: 2 available

Add to basket
Free 30-day returns

Item description from seller

Neuware - This is a broad overview of the evolving serial killer genre in the two media most responsible for its popularity: literature and cinema of the 1980s and 1990s. The fictional serial killer, with a motiveless, highly individualized modus operandi, is the latest manifestation of the multiple murderers and homicidal maniacs that haunt American literature and, particularly, visual media such as cinema and television. The author theorizes that the serial killer genre results from a combination of earlier genre depictions of multiple murderers, inherited Gothic storytelling conventions, and threatening folkloric figures reworked over the years into a contemporary mythology of violence. Updated and repackaged for mass consumption, the Gothic villains, the monsters, the vampires and the werewolves of the past have evolved into the fictional serial killer, who clearly reflects American cultural anxieties at the start of the 21st century. Citing numerous sources, the author argues that serial killers' recent popularity as genre monsters owes much to their pliability to any number of authorial ideological agendas from both the left and the right ends of the political spectrum. Serial killers in fiction are a kind of debased and traumatized visionaries, whose murders privately and publicly reempower them with a pseudo-divine aura in the contemporary political moment. The fascination with serial killer narratives can thus be explained as the latest manifestation of the ongoing human fascination with tales of gruesome murders and mythic villains finding a receptive audience in a nation galvanized by the increasingly apocalyptic tension between the extremist philosophies of both the New Right and the anti-New Right. Faced with a blizzard of works of varying quality dealing with the serial killer, Simpson has ruled out the catalogue approach in this study in favour of an in-depth analysis of the best American work in the genre. He has chosen novels and films that have at least some degree of public name-recognition or notoriety, including: ''Red Dragon'' and ''The Silence of the Lambs'', by Thomas Harris; ''Manhunter'', directed by Michael Mann; ''Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer'', directed by John McNaughton ''Seven'', directed by David Fincher; ''Natural Born Killers'', directed by Oliver Stone; ''Zombie'', by Joyce Caol Oates; and ''American Psycho'', by Bret Easton Ellis.…

Seller Inventory # 9780809323296

Title
Psycho Paths : Tracking the Serial Killer Through Contemporary American Film and Fiction
Author
Philip L. Simpson
Publisher
Southern Illinois University Press Okt 2000
Publication year
2000
Condition
Neu
Binding
Taschenbuch
Language
English
ISBN 10
080932329X
ISBN 13
9780809323296
Item weight
398 grams
Dimensions
233x156x17 mm

AHA-BUCH GmbH

Einbeck, Germany

5-star seller

AbeBooks seller since August 14, 2006

Shipping rates from Germany to U.S.A.

Item7 to 10 business days5 to 7 business days
First item£ 29.57£ 38.02
Delivery times are set by sellers and vary by carrier and location. Orders passing through Customs may face delays and buyers are responsible for any associated duties or fees. Sellers may contact you regarding additional charges to cover any increased costs to ship your items.

Payment methods

  • Visa
  • Mastercard
  • American Express
  • Apple Pay
  • Google Pay
  • Bank Wire Transfer
  • Check
  • Paypal

Store description

Das Unternehmen AHA-BUCH GmbH: Seit der Gründung von AHA-BUCH im Juli 2005 ist unser Hauptziel, zufriedenen Kunden so schnell und so preisgünstig wie möglich ihren Bücherwunsch zu erfüllen. Unsere Firma beschäftigt 16 Mitarbeiter, die nur ein Ziel kennen: den Kunden und seine Wünsche! Auf über 3700 m2 Fläche haben wir über 100.000 Bücher, Modernes Antiquariat und Spiele auf Lager.

Specialty

Kinderbücher & Kinderhör Casetten, German Books, Software, Natur & Tiere, Ratgeber, Sachbücher, Englische Bücher, Medizin & Gesundheit, Universität & Studium

Seller's business information

AHA-BUCH GmbH

Garlebsen 48
Einbeck, Germany 37574