Simon Cottee is a senior lecturer in criminology at the University of Kent (UK), a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a contributing editor at Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. He is the author of Black Flags of the Caribbean: How Trinidad Became an ISIS Hotspot (2021); ISIS and the Pornography of Violence, (2019) and The Apostates: When Muslims Leave Islam (2015).

• 1. Why We Watch2. Horror and Hysteria 3. Curators and Enthusiasts 4. Documenters and Cleaners 5. Normies6. The Poltergeist Theory of Terrorism

"Watching Murder fills a conspicuous gap in the literature by providing an authoritative dissection of one of the more prominent—and chilling—features of contemporary terrorism: so-called jihadi snuff videos. Cottee brings his usual perspicacity, verve, and clarity to explain how ISIS harnessed social media to manipulate global opinion and communicate a carefully constructed image of the group designed simultaneously to repel and appeal to its multiple target audiences." - Professor Bruce Hoffman, Georgetown University and author of Inside Terrorism"In this book, Simon Cottee interrogates himself, and his readers, about why some people find terrorist atrocity films both repulsive and irresistible. These films often contain important information for counterterrorism, but not all of us are willing to risk PTSD in order to decode them. As we have come to expect of Cottee, he is perpetually, provocatively sceptical of any and all received wisdom. Lushly written and researched." - Professor Jessica Stern, Author of 'Terror in the Name of God'

Simon Cottee is a senior lecturer in criminology at the University of Kent (UK), a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a contributing editor at Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. He is the author of Black Flags of the Caribbean: How Trinidad Became an ISIS Hotspot (2021); ISIS and the Pornography of Violence, (2019) and The Apostates: When Muslims Leave Islam (2015).

• 1. Why We Watch2. Horror and Hysteria 3. Curators and Enthusiasts 4. Documenters and Cleaners 5. Normies6. The Poltergeist Theory of Terrorism

"Watching Murder fills a conspicuous gap in the literature by providing an authoritative dissection of one of the more prominent—and chilling—features of contemporary terrorism: so-called jihadi snuff videos. Cottee brings his usual perspicacity, verve, and clarity to explain how ISIS harnessed social media to manipulate global opinion and communicate a carefully constructed image of the group designed simultaneously to repel and appeal to its multiple target audiences." - Professor Bruce Hoffman, Georgetown University and author of Inside Terrorism"In this book, Simon Cottee interrogates himself, and his readers, about why some people find terrorist atrocity films both repulsive and irresistible. These films often contain important information for counterterrorism, but not all of us are willing to risk PTSD in order to decode them. As we have come to expect of Cottee, he is perpetually, provocatively sceptical of any and all received wisdom. Lushly written and researched." - Professor Jessica Stern, Author of 'Terror in the Name of God'

Simon Cottee is a senior lecturer in criminology at the University of Kent (UK), a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a contributing editor at Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. He is the author of Black Flags of the Caribbean: How Trinidad Became an ISIS Hotspot (2021); ISIS and the Pornography of Violence, (2019) and The Apostates: When Muslims Leave Islam (2015).

• 1. Why We Watch2. Horror and Hysteria 3. Curators and Enthusiasts 4. Documenters and Cleaners 5. Normies6. The Poltergeist Theory of Terrorism

"Watching Murder fills a conspicuous gap in the literature by providing an authoritative dissection of one of the more prominent—and chilling—features of contemporary terrorism: so-called jihadi snuff videos. Cottee brings his usual perspicacity, verve, and clarity to explain how ISIS harnessed social media to manipulate global opinion and communicate a carefully constructed image of the group designed simultaneously to repel and appeal to its multiple target audiences." - Professor Bruce Hoffman, Georgetown University and author of Inside Terrorism"In this book, Simon Cottee interrogates himself, and his readers, about why some people find terrorist atrocity films both repulsive and irresistible. These films often contain important information for counterterrorism, but not all of us are willing to risk PTSD in order to decode them. As we have come to expect of Cottee, he is perpetually, provocatively sceptical of any and all received wisdom. Lushly written and researched." - Professor Jessica Stern, Author of 'Terror in the Name of God'