serial killers

They disgust us. They terrify us. They fascinate us. Veritable monsters in human form, serial killers represent some of the scariest and yet most interesting people on Earth, ones whose grisly deeds leave us wondering “why?”

Some were victimized themselves, some suffered from serious mental disorders, and some actually may have just been plain evil. Whatever the psychological makeup of these murderers, serial killer stories are filled with the kind of macabre and shocking elements that always leave us coming back for more, even if we’re chilled to the bone.

Take the story of Ted Bundy, the handsome charmer who killed at least 30 victims and even referred to himself as “the most cold-hearted son of a bitch you’ll ever meet.” Then there’s the story of David Parker Ray, “The Toy-Box Killer” who brutalized his victims with a ghastly array of implements inside a homemade torture chamber in his truck trailer.

If that’s not enough, discover the story of Ed Gein, the man who inspired both Norman Bates from Psycho and Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Or learn the story of female serial killer Aileen Wuornos, whose own film adaptation, Monster, tells you much of what you need to know about her in the title.

From those immortalized onscreen to those too brutal for the movies, these are the worst serial killer stories you won’t be able to stop reading.