Psycho

A movie called M was released in 1931. It is considered to be one of the best crime thrillers. This movie was very special because it introduced to the cinema world the idea of serial killers. And since then, the movie industry has not looked back; serial killers almost have a genre of their own. The photo shown above reads 'Bates Motel', which was the scene of crime in probably the best known serial killer movie, Psycho.

Serial killers in movies these days are extremely dramatic. But real-life serial killers didn't stand out so much. Britannica claims that H. H. Holmes, or to give him his real name, Herman Mudgett, is the first known serial killer in the United States. He confessed to 27 murders, is believed to have committed around 200, but was convicted and sentenced to death for only one.

Anyway, who exactly is a serial killer? Dictionaries define them as 'people who commit several murders one after the other in a similar manner.' Almost all movies portray serial killers as psychopaths. In Indian movies of course, the serial killer would have undergone a harrowing experience in childhood, causing him to seek the blood of others in vengeance. All this makes us think that they are insane and of unsound mind. But that depends on what we define as an unsound mind. Psychopaths are not considered to be insane by judicial systems, because for the person to be 'insane', he should not be aware of the fact that he is committing a crime. However, most serial killers know that murder is a crime. John Wayne Gacy worked as a clown at birthday parties, and other celebrations in Chicago. He was executed in 1994 for the assault and murder of 33 men and boys. He had 'an overwhelming compulsion to kill', and was fully aware that he was committing a crime. Similarly, Aileen Wuornos was a prostitute in Florida who killed seven of her clients in by shooting them at point blank range.

Then again, nobody is sure why serial killers feel this insatiable urge to kill. Psychiatrists agree that they have some sort of psychological disorder, which they often call psychopathy or sociopathy. The difference between the two is that sociopaths are more impulsive and 'hot-headed', compared to psychopaths, who are more 'cold and calculating' (that sounds like it's straight out of a novel). Many psychopaths have one thing in common - an urge to be known. Dennis Rader, better known as BTK, tortured and killed 10 people in Kansas. He sent letters to the police and newspapers with full details about his crimes. BTK was the name he used for himself. It stood for "bind, torture, kill".

The famous Zodiac killer (immortalised through David Fincher's movie Zodiac) also sent similar taunting letters.

Surprisingly, similar to movies, many serial killers suffer trauma during childhood. A number of them have undergone abuse and violence. But there are a lot of people who have undergone such trauma, and not all of them become killers. All this makes it virtually impossible to ascertain the cause of psychopathy (or sociopathy, for the angry ones).

Even though serial killers are dramatised and villainised in movies, a real serial killer represents all that law and order do not. They don't play by rules, and often have an illogical hatred of the law.

The identities of some of the most famous serial killers like Jack the Ripper (who committed the famous Whitechapel murders) and the aforementioned Zodiac killer, remain unknown.

Apart from the huge media hype, serial killers remain a huge threat to society, primarily because of the 'indescribable' urge to kill.