Search

Skip to main content Accessibility help

Home
Search

Only show content I have access to (0)

Chapters (1)

Last 3 years (1)

From year:

To year:

Apply

Psychology (1)

belle gunness

Cambridge University Press (1)

View selected items
Save to my bookmarks
Export citations
Download PDF (zip)
Save to Kindle
Save to Dropbox
Save to Google Drive
Save content to
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to .

To save content items to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Please be advised that item(s) you selected are not available.
You are about to save
Your Kindle email address

Please provide your Kindle email.

@free.kindle.com @kindle.com (service fees apply)

By using this service, you agree that you will only keep content for personal use, and will not openly distribute them via Dropbox, Google Drive or other file sharing services

1 results

Chapter 2 - Why Are We Interested in Serial Killers?
Marissa A. Harrison, Pennsylvania State University
Book:

Just as Deadly

Published online:

06 January 2023

Print publication:

09 February 2023, pp 17-31
- Chapter
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation
Summary

In this chapter, the author discusses interest in serial murder. She posits that interest in gruesome events such as serial killing is linked to morbid curiosity and protective vigilance and discusses her team’s research on this phenomenon. From an evolutionary psychology perspective, to survive, we are genetically preprogrammed to pay attention to that which is harmful. She discusses the lucrative murderabilia industry (i.e., murder-related artifacts for sale) and the popularity of morbid entertainment. This chapter addresses the commodification of serial murder and presents a debate about its sensitivity to the plight of victims. The cases of FSKs Dana Sue Grey and Belle Gunness are highlighted to underscore our profound interest in this disturbing phenomenon.