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2:38 p.m. | Friday, Jul. 11, 2003
serial killer book rant The Making of a Serial Killer is a very strange book. It's written by Danny Rolling and Sondra London. Danny Rolling is the serial killer the book is about so it's fairly autobiographical. For that it's interesting. The strange comes with the rest of the book. It's starts out with an introduction by Colin Wilson. I have no idea who that guy is but his idea about what causes criminal behavior is just bizarre. Basically he thinks that "spirits wander in and out of a human beings" easily and that those people that are on the spirit's "wave length" can be possessed. He also seems to believe that multiple personalities are very common. This all explains criminal behavior; the devil inhabits rapists and serial killers. I had my eyebrows raised at this point but hoped that only the introduction was this ridiculous. It is also worth noting that Sondra London, the other author of the book, fell in love with Danny (the serial killer) and became engaged to him while they wrote the book. On the back of the book it says that writing the book was an intensely personal experience for her. Yeah I bet it was. Next is the author's note by Sondra London. I think at this point I was ready for just about anything. She describes the book as therapy for Danny Rolling and that writing it helped him come to terms with "the dark forces that had driven him in the past". I don't know how she could possibly fall in the love with the man she describes as insecure, needy and self-hating. Apparently she was determined to be open minded, forgiving and sympathetic to the serial killer. I guess this is the kind of guy she likes? Who knows, in any case, I have to question her role as being forgiving. I don't think it's her place to forgive him for anything. She talks about how it's unconstitutional that the "Son of Sam" laws prevent her or Danny from profiting from the book and hopes one day this law will be overturned. She dismisses diagnosis of any number of psychiatrists that have examined Danny and her own opinion of multiple personality disorder is the one she accpets (big surprise). He apparently has 3 or 4 personalities. Yeah ok, whatever. Danny Rolling author's note is short and basically what you would expect, sorta. He says he's telling his story and it's not censored. His childhood was bad, blah, God saves all, etc... prayer might have stopped him from doing what he did, wishes he could take it back, sorry to the families, etc. By this time I've prepared myself for the fact that this book is basically self-serving for both authors. It's not a confession and it doesn't look like good therapy. Danny Rolling (who was convicted of the Gainesville, Florida murders and fully admits to them) is basically excusing himself for what he did and Sondra London helps him and believes that he should be able to do this. It's obviously his way of dealing with what he did; he tells himself (and other people tell him) that he was insane (multiple personalities) and possessed by a demon (who is in fact one of the personalities). Well if he was possessed by a demon, it's not his fault. I personally think that's bullshit. He may have had some sort of break with reality (he did see strange visions and hear voices), but he appears basically sane throughout most of his life. He just couldn't hold a job and couldn't stay in one place, had a problem with looking in other people's windows, had an abusive father and a weak mother. He fully admits rape and killing gave him a feeling of power. After describing his crimes he pleads lack of memory to the more gruesome parts and says that he wasn't in control of himself, that his demon was in control. In fact at one point the demon opened a door for him so he could kill and rape two women (he didn't check before this miracle to see if the door was unlocked so I'm pretty sure the "demon" had nothing to do with it). In any case the book is interesting for it's personal account, but stupid for it's self-serving and excusing language. Hearing voices and seeing things might indicate schizophrenia, but it must be very mild because he is clearly not insane. The entire book is filled with his strange poetry and drawings, neither of which stands out as being brilliant. Though apparently he's written and illustrated a book of fables as well. I don't pretend to know why serial killers do what they do. It seems to me that it ends up being weak people with strange ideas escalating their search for power in a life where they have none. I think at some point everyone (outside of true insanity) has a choice and Danny Rolling made his. I just wish this book wasn't filled with "what I did was terrible but it wasn't really me being terrible because..."
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Canada, Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, , English, , Female, 26-30, Reading.