A serial killer doesn’t kill out of hate or anger. A serial killer moves from victim to victim, purely out of a desire to kill. For them, it’s a joy, or at least a compulsion. That’s where the terror of serial killer stories truly lies. It’s not just the gore and the violence of the act – it’s the joy. It’s the disturbing glee that a man like Edmund Kemper gets when he drives a blade through another person’s neck.
