The existence of criminals who kill repeatedly and involuntarily has been known since Homer, but the official figure of a serial killer has been around ever since. Robert K. Ressler He gave the FBI that name in 1977. During his 13 years of service with the FBI, he revolutionized and later devoted himself to criminology through his investigations and interrogations, exploring the minds and motivations of some of the last century’s most notorious killers. Travel the world as a private consultant. Meanwhile, he collaborated on the design of the author’s signature character, Hannibal Lecter. Thomas Harrisinspired one of the heroes of the monumental novel ‘2666’ written by Roberto Bolano; Moreover, the ‘Mindhunter’ series recreated his successes as a federal agent long after he had detailed his successes as a federal agent in the pages of the ‘best-selling’ ‘The Person Who Fights Monsters’ (1992). ‘Inside the Beast’, which he later published as a sequel and was published in Spain in 2003, was re-released by Alba Editorial in bookstores.
It compiles the conclusions Ressler drew from the cases he worked on after leaving the police, which confronted him with particularly gruesome forms of immorality. Its pages describe crime scenarios, explain murder patterns and methods, and penetrate the minds of the perpetrators in search of the emotions that drive them to continue killing. They’re full of hideous details unsuitable for sensitive stomachs, and plenty of evidence of both the wit of their authors and their disposition to display it to the reader.
The serial murder, which means “Inside the Beast”, understood as a social phenomenon, emerged nearly 150 years ago largely as a result of the global interconnections created by the media, the blurring of cultural distinctions and the increasing alienation of the individual. “What overshadows the United States, which is probably the most ‘advanced’ country in terms of this type of violence, extends to less developed countries such as Britain, Japan, the former Soviet Union, other high-tech countries, and even South Africa. Resler. “The same action movies and television shows, the same phones and other technological devices, and often the same pornographic material, highlight the similarity of the darker, seemingly intertwined aspects of intertwined cultures. The seeds of violence”.
The book draws a very clear profile of the prototypical ‘serial killer’. It is about a grown man who suffers from an annoying sex life, is emotionally or physically abused, and tends to masturbate where he kills, preferably using a knife to do so. Serial killers are lonely, cruel to animals, and control freaks who fantasize about corpses. They live in urban environments because big cities are full of easy prey – prostitutes, runaway teenagers, drug addicts, lone singles – and “opportunities for the killer to blend in with the crowd, hide his identity and maintain his anonymity.” Ressler concludes that there is no effective treatment for these people. “There is no possibility to rehabilitate them because their fantasies cannot be erased or altered.” The author likewise spends an extraordinary amount of energy in associating these criminals with perverted beings born in literature, cinema, or folklore, possibly because in this way he dehumanizes them, allowing the reader to nurture their sickest inclinations without escaping them. the risk of feeling identified with them.
Some of the people portrayed in ‘Inside the Monster’ will be no more familiar than those already knowledgeable in the world of serial killers; like Iwao Nomoto, the doctor who killed his wife and two children in 1994; or Norman Afzal, known as the “train station strangler” who demonstrated in Cape Town (South Africa) from 1986 to 1993, who raped and murdered twenty black children aged 9 to 15. But the real stars here – besides Ressler – are two subjects so famous that they both have their own series on Netflix. The book, in fact, completely reproduces his interviews with the criminologist. John Wayne Gazy He was executed in 1994 for the rape and murder of 33 minors, some of whom were underage, and was confirmed as a pop icon after the 2022 premiere of 10 episodes, along with Jeffrey Dahmer.Dahmer‘.
Between the late 70’s and early 90’s “known as”Milwaukee CannibalHe committed the murder and dismemberment of 17 adult or adolescent males, and most of his crimes subsequently involved necrophilia and the preservation of all or part of the victim’s skeleton. Dahmer, who tortured some of their prey by punching holes in their skulls, admits, “Hiding their bones was a way of feeling that I was at least recovering some of their essence, that killing them wasn’t completely wasted.” by pouring acid directly into the brain with a drill, with the intent of “killing one’s mind, but keeping one’s body alive and obedient.” He also did anthropophages with some corpses. “I held my heart. I also cut the biceps (…) into small pieces, washed them, put them in airtight bags and put them in the freezer (…) Then I cooked them and masturbated,” he explains in the book. . “So I felt more like they were a part of me. sexually stimulating.”
How should society treat people like Dahmer? In ‘Inside the monster’ Ressler doesn’t give any real answers on this, but he invites reflection. “When someone is crazy, we expect them to be crazy-eyed, drooling, and unable to control their abilities. However, there are many disturbed people who seem like sane and functional people. Society has not developed an adequate way to treat them,” he adds. Focusing on concepts like good and bad is not even an approximation to the complex reality of what they do.
The empathy implied by these words is confirmed in other parts of the book; here the author is uncomfortably aware of the connections between monsters and their predators. For example, in one of them, Ressler explains his biographical ties to Gacy: “We grew up four blocks away. Gacy reminded me of when my mom made a delivery to the IGA grocery store where she used to shop, and she remembered my home because of some of our special flower pots on the patio; In addition, the scout groups that we were part of separately met every week in the same country house, next to some sports facilities, and we went to the same cinema. In another, recalling an interview with Dahmer, he writes: “He even hinted that I might be a good serial killer. I said I’ve been among the criminals for a long time. And we laughed”.