Why We Are Drawn to Monsters and Serial Killers

RKO Publicity Photo, "King Kong" 1933

Source: Public Domain Wikimedia Commons

In previous blog posts, I have identified and described the public’s curious fascination with diabolical characters, particularly serial killers, in both fact and fiction. I have explained that as a society we have a tendency to transform real-life ghouls such as the infamous serial killers Jeffrey Dahmer or Ted Bundy into what I call “celebrity monsters.”

Furthermore, I have explained that these socially constructed, real-life celebrity monsters have much in common with fictional monsters such as the iconic vampire Count Dracula or the Wolf Man. To a great extent, they are all a source of curiosity and entertainment for the public.

However, this begs the question: Why exactly are we drawn to monsters and serial killers? I contend that, strangely enough, a big part of the curious appeal of monsters and serial killers (in both fact and fiction) has to do with our own empathy. Stated differently, I believe that people are driven by an innate and spontaneous tendency to empathize with everything around them.

Indeed, my own research suggests that not only do people blur the line between real and fictional serial killers, they genuinely identify with serial killers and monsters in Hollywood depictions of them. For example, numerous people have told me that they secretly root for the misunderstood monster in the classic 1931 horror film Frankenstein, as well as the cunningly brilliant Hannibal Lecter in the more recent classic film The Silence of the Lambs.

Psychologist Heath Matheson contends that empathizing with the monster or killer in a movie makes it more fun to watch and scarier, too. Empathy enables us to identify with the monster or killer. Once we grasp their needs and desires, we can then identify with their purpose, no matter how terrifying it may be. According to Dr. Matheson, a really effective movie monster or serial killer is one that we can identify with and believe is goal-oriented and able to achieve those goals (1).

A classic example is the fictional movie monster King Kong, the giant gorilla, who struggled valiantly to locate and protect his lost love after he was captured and taken to New York City. King Kong has become a frightening but lovable anti-hero in popular culture. From a functionalist sociological perspective, the ability to empathize with a monster or serial killer makes it more predictable and less scary.

I believe that the public needs to understand things that are baffling and scary to make them less frightening. I further believe that people do this to make sense out of everything foreign they encounter and, thereby, reduce their fear. Simply stated, empathetic understanding reduces fear of the unknown. Therefore, the more one can relate to, or humanize a monster or serial killer, the less scary it becomes.

Although empathizing with a monster helps us to identify with its purpose, it also exposes one of our most primal fears—that is, the fear that we could become monsters ourselves. Commenting on this point, Psychologist Dr. Raymond Mar said:

“I think that the scariest monsters are those in which we are able to see an aspect of humanity present. Evil is scary enough, but the idea that humanity, and perhaps ourselves, are capable of such evil is even more terrifying. Understanding our own capacity to be or become a monster creates true existential fear” (2).

Applying this logic to our collective perspective on serial killers, a dual process of humanization and dehumanization seems to be in effect. That is, we try to humanize the serial killer to make him less scary but we also try to dehumanize and separate him from the rest of us to create a moral boundary between good and evil. Thus, there are contradictory processes of humanization and dehumanization occurring simultaneously in the social construction of celebrity monsters. This results in further ambiguity regarding serial killers in the minds of many people.