Serial Killer Narratives and Their Rise to Canon

Serial Killer Narratives and Their Rise to Canon is a multidisciplinary work that combines seminal criminology research and extensive media analysis to discuss the celebrity serial killer.The work argues for the establishment of so-called canonical serial killers, who across our current true crime culture have achieved a higher degree of celebrity status than their contemporaries. Through literary, media, and news media analysis, the potential causes behind this rise to celebrity are considered, culminating in the proposal of the more-dead principle. This argues that alongside previously acknowledged factors – including but not limited to the sociocultural climate of the crimes, behaviour of the criminal, and trial proceedings – that victim typology is a significant but often overlooked causal factor in any serial killer’s celebrity status. Atypical victims of serial killers – those who are not signposted as socially disadvantaged – prompt a heightened degree of collective mourning which not only contributes to a serial killer’s memorability, but also their notoriety.With true crime culture now a global phenomenon, the book offers timely and essential insights for anyone seeking to understand why certain serial killer narratives achieve canonical status and are returned to repeatedly across generations. It will also engage researchers and students studying crime representation, media ethics, and the intersection of violence and popular culture.