TRUE CRIME
Alex Ness
December 11th, 2023
This will be brief, as my schedule is overwhelming me, along with some health issues that have sapped my strength, deleted my endurance and distracted my focus.
But, I was asked by someone who I like a great deal, why do people like True Crime, after all isn't it kind of icky? They are of the same opinion of horror, but we've discussed that enough of recent, but even more, I think True Crime isn't the tawdry, graphic, vulgar or dirty police stories you hear of, or read, no are they gritty Mickey Spillane hard boiled detective stories, however much I love his writing. The best true crime writers write/wrote in ways that allow the reader to delve into the subject, without the bias of a fiction writer's desire to have you follow where they lead. Also while there are many individual events and True Crime subjects, I'll aim here on the big ones, and explain why you should consider them. Also, perhaps surprisingly to you, there are more than just books or documentaries featuring True Crime. As television and film documentaries are well known I'll leave them for now, but Music CDs and Books about True Crime can literally consume you with their depth, and power.
GREAT TRUE CRIME BOOKS
This section does focus on books regarding true crime, but isn't my main focus. That it isn't so much about each book shown, but a look at the best books within each of the events and a quick guide to the events by finding a work that leads to others in the bibliography of each book.
Helter Skelter has a reputation for being somewhat tawdry rather than purely factual, but that is due to the Manson family using the term to be a key phrase meaning the events that precede a race riot, worldwide, where the Manson's will end up being the White leaders to guide the victorious Blacks afterward. The topic is bloody, dark and racist, but Bugliosi wrote a highly detailed work with reasonable conclusions. THE MANSON FAMILY MURDERS
The Zodiac Killer captured by Robert Graysmith might be wrong in his conclusions, but his work was clearly well researched, and the amazing number of coincidences, shared traits the Zodiac killer would have with the suspect in question, are such that you can't know the depth of chance and intersection of facts. But it is a powerful read. THE ZODIAC KILLER
John Gilmore's Severed is intense, amazingly insightful, and remarkably ridiculously frightening when all the information is collated of the Black Dahlia case. The city of Los Angeles's first detective of the police force believed the result, so, that is mostly good enough for me. And I must say, this case isn't nearly as famous as it should be. Especially since, there is evidence both that there were more killings, by the same killer, and there might be connections to a mafia ring and illegal abortion ring. THE BLACK DAHLIA
In The Wake of the Butcher by James Jessen Badal follows the serial slaughter of humans in the region of Cleveland's down and out, poverty row, is deeply disturbing. Tattoos, body parts, organs, were carved from the dead flesh of the victims, and then left to float down the river and be found by any who might pass by led the police of Cleveland to absolutely frustration. And there might have been a solution, but we aren't allowed to know it. This work knocks on the door and says, hey, here is what we know, and why it is important to know. (It might not have ended then and there). THE TORSO KILLINGS
I don't believe that JACK THE RIPPER: THE FINAL SOLUTION by Jack Knight is the correct answer to the question of who killed the women victims of Jack the Ripper. But it is very easily best written and intriguing, without being pornographic in violence, nor purely tawdry for the spectator outside look at a series of killings that made the world aware of the events. However, as I mentioned, these are not all the most accurate books. They are the books you won't want to put down. JACK THE RIPPER
ALBUMS/SONGS ABOUT CRIMES
The Moors Murders... Suffer Little Children by The Smiths
The Moors Murders was a dark chapter in the UK, where two evil thrill killers chose victims and would not have stopped without having allowed others to see their acts.
The Song
THE YORKSHIRE RIPPER By Siouxsie and the Banshees
During the 1970s Peter Sutcliffe killed at least 13 people, but almost certainly more than 20. Siouxsie and the Banshees created a work about him and his acts.
STARKWEATHER KILLING SPREE Bruce Springsteen
In Cold Blood's Clutter family murders and the Charles Starkweather murder spree changed America from a place where you could leave your doors unlocked, to fearing the random stranger, to distrusting your neighbors. The innocence of the golden age was lost. Springsteen's album Nebraska is raw, played in his basement studio, but so are the subjects of his focus. The Starkweather song is brutal and simple.
The Song
You might have your own most likely suspect but not only are the suspects many, not all agree upon the victims. Some suggest more, some less. It requires some degree of logic, an rejection of bias, and still, even with logic, there are far more suspects that make sense than you might think. What this CD does, is tell of the hunting days in London, and then a cross continent voyage, perhaps to create a legacy of killing elsewhere. The CD is a story, with layers, dense meaning, power and even beauty.
THE CD
TWO MOVIES TO SEEK, ALTHOUGH THEY ARE NOT EXACTLY TRUE CRIME
World famous director and writer Fritz Lang was moved by 3 different horrific killers who had made his region of Germany tremble in fear. He added a story that unites the killings with the reign of terror each inflicted, from the drinking of blood, to cannibalism, to selling the flesh for food, and worst of all he used children as the victims. The filmography included a style that made the entire work have a feel of real life in a surreal Gothic nightmare. And then add, to your own fears, the perfect acting of Peter Lorre. I watched the movie many times, until I couldn't watch it any more, it is too dark for my sensitive heart.
M IMDB Entry
IN COLD BLOOD in book and film
A family killed by two criminals. Searching for a rumored safe and angered by not finding the money they came for, the family is slain, viciously, and abused. The story in film is about the lack of compassion in one, and absolutely broken lives in both. The book is an intimate conversation with the reader how the criminals thought, and why they acted. But also, Truman Capote's brilliant prose isn't exactly True Crime, isn't exactly non fiction. He uses fictional discussions and surmises thoughts held by participants, and interjects himself into the dialogue. It is both brilliant and disturbing as hell.
IMDB IN COLD BLOOD
CONTACTING ME FOR REVIEWS OR OTHERWISE
I can be found on Facebook, Twitter or through email Alexanderness63@gmail.com. I accept hard copies, so when you inquire at any of these places, I'll follow through by telling you my street address.If you send hard copies for review I will try to always review them, but if you prefer to send pdf or ebooks to my email, I will review these at my discretion. I don't share my pdf/ebooks, so you can avoid worry that I'd dispense them for free to others.
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Published works AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com/2007/01/My-Work.html
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