# WHat are your favorite/most disturbing True Crime books? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-most-disturbing-true-crime-books/672767 "2013-10-31T17:46:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-most-disturbing-true-crime-books/672767/41 "2013-11-04T17:41:28Z")
Sylvia Likens horrible torture murder was also covered in Kate Millet’s The Basement, and Patty Wheat wrote a fictionized version called By Sanction of The Victim. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-most-disturbing-true-crime-books/672767/42 "2013-11-04T17:59:23Z")
> [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](#): > > [Buried Dreams](http://www.amazon.com/Buried-Dreams-Tim-Cahill/dp/0553258362) - Tim Cahill’s account of the crimes of John Wayne Gacy The reason I “like” this book is that Cahill himself was so disturbed after finishing the book that he turned to adventure/nature writing to clear his head. His career change turned out to be good for him and readers alike. ---
**Author:** ![theR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@theR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theR)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-most-disturbing-true-crime-books/672767/43 "2013-11-04T18:06:01Z")
I haven’t read it, but _The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder_ has gotten pretty good reviews and is quite recent. It is about [Charles Cullen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Cullen), perhaps the most prolific serial killer in US history. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-most-disturbing-true-crime-books/672767/44 "2013-11-04T19:04:14Z")
I read this book a long time ago when I was a kid (and probably shouldn’t have because it really affected me–and I read things like _Helter Skelter_ without any ill effects at the same age): _83 Hours Till Dawn_, by Gene Miller. It’s the story of Barbara Mackle, who was kidnapped and buried alive (she survived). It might be tame by today’s standards–like I said, I read it as a kid in the '70s–but the thought of being buried alive just freaked me out. ETA: I see it was already mentioned upthread, so I’ll just second it. ---
**Author:** ![Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kansas_Beekeeper)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-most-disturbing-true-crime-books/672767/45 "2013-11-05T03:41:39Z")
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. > **[Amazon.com: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil eBook : Berendt, John:...](https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Garden-Good-Evil-Berendt-ebook/dp/B003JMFKVK)** > > Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - Kindle edition by Berendt, John. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Midnight in the Garden of... ---
**Author:** ![yawuntz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a5b964/32.png) [@yawuntz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yawuntz)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-most-disturbing-true-crime-books/672767/46 "2013-11-05T06:19:39Z")
The Iceman by Philip Carlo. The story of hitman Richard Kuklinski. The usual Mafia hitman stuff, most of it reasonably entertaining and interesting. Except for one hit, which was long and drawn out and filmed by motion-activated camera. He kidnaps and kills a guy at the behest of a particular mafioso, and presents his film as proof of the hit. Two mafiosi walk out of the screening. They couldn’t handle it. It was so gruesome I can’t even bring myself to tell anybody about it. Which is unusual for me. I thought it was hilarious how he stabbed a persistent panhandler to death while on his way back to the car from another hit. But the other thing, the thing he filmed, I wish I’d never heard of it, quite frankly. There’s one very valuable lesson to take from reading this book: if you’re in a public place and somebody holds a gun to your head and tells you that you must come with him to a less public place or he will kill you - do not go with him. Just let him kill you. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-most-disturbing-true-crime-books/672767/47 "2013-11-05T19:23:11Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > I read this book a long time ago when I was a kid (and probably shouldn’t have because it really affected me–and I read things like _Helter Skelter_ without any ill effects at the same age): _83 Hours Till Dawn_, by Gene Miller. It’s the story of Barbara Mackle, who was kidnapped and buried alive (she survived). It might be tame by today’s standards–like I said, I read it as a kid in the '70s–but the thought of being buried alive just freaked me out. > > ETA: I see it was already mentioned upthread, so I’ll just second it. I first read “Helter Skelter” when I was about 14 years old. I regularly baby-sat for a family that had it, and would read it after I put the kids to bed. I re-read it a few years ago, and understood it better - and was just as scared. As for Barbara Mackle, someone did an update on her a few years ago. Her “best friend”, a young man who was a major player in her rescue, is now her husband of over 40 years. They have two grown sons. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-most-disturbing-true-crime-books/672767/48 "2013-11-05T20:35:07Z")
Read anything by Max Haines. The stories are short enough for my fly-like attention span and he writes as if you’re sitting across from him having a coffee. He used to write a column for the Toronto Sun. [Max Haines - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Haines) ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-most-disturbing-true-crime-books/672767/49 "2013-11-05T21:06:10Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I first read “Helter Skelter” when I was about 14 years old. I regularly baby-sat for a family that had it, and would read it after I put the kids to bed. I re-read it a few years ago, and understood it better - and was just as scared. I have a feeling that if I re-read it now, it would probably affect me _more_ than it did as a kid (and I was even younger than you–I remember my fifth-grade teacher looking at me funny when I brought it in to read in the library). I had no frame of reference–to me, it was just another horror book, and I loved those. Good to hear Barbara Mackle ended up with good things happening to her. After that ordeal, she deserves to. ---
**Author:** ![Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kansas_Beekeeper)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-most-disturbing-true-crime-books/672767/50 "2013-11-05T21:43:57Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > . . . > > p.s. The new book about Charles Manson, the one with the bright yellow cover and Manson as a smiling adolescent, is quite interesting too. 99% of the people who met him throughout his life hated him instantly; the other 1% worshipped him and this was how he managed to have his little mini-cult. I just finished reading it and found it fascinating. It provides a lot of historical context. Manson was certainly in the right time and place to recruit his “family;” Haight Ashbury as the Summer of Love collapsed into hard drugs and despair. I thought the book almost sad, not just for the victims of his crimes, but also for the members of the “family” who gave up everything to literally worship him. He destroyed many lives. > **[Amazon.com: Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson eBook : Guinn, Jeff:...](https://www.amazon.com/Manson-Life-Times-Charles-ebook/dp/B00A2813WE)** > > Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson - Kindle edition by Guinn, Jeff. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Manson: The Life and... ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-most-disturbing-true-crime-books/672767/51 "2013-11-05T22:23:09Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Actually, true crime books [seem to be more popular with women](http://crime.about.com/od/women/a/women_books.htm). > \ According to South Park, it’s called _murder porn_. I liked most of John Douglas’ FBI profiler books, although he’s sometimes full of himself. He was the character that Jack Douglas in _Silence of the Lambs_ was based on. His books go through some of the classic crime cases, so it’s interesting seeing the evolution of procedures used through the years. But yeah, _In Cold Blood_. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-most-disturbing-true-crime-books/672767/52 "2013-11-06T15:23:05Z")
I’ve only just started this one, but it’s good so far: **[People Who Eat Darkness](http://amzn.com/B007RMYAPA)**. It’s about Lucie Blackman, a Western girl who lived in Tokyo, who disappeared in 2000, and the man accused of killing her. ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-most-disturbing-true-crime-books/672767/53 "2013-11-27T19:28:52Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > The reason I “like” this book is that Cahill himself was so disturbed after finishing the book that he turned to adventure/nature writing to clear his head. His career change turned out to be good for him and readers alike. That too. He is an _excellent_ travel writer. One of the best. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-most-disturbing-true-crime-books/672767/54 "2013-11-28T03:44:07Z")
[Blood and Money](http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Money-Thomas-Thompson/dp/0786709472/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385609974&sr=8-1&keywords=blood+and+money), by Thomas Thomson. I believe I have mentioned elsewhere on the Dope that I went to high school with one of the major witnesses in the Lilla Paulus trial: her daughter Mary Jo. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-most-disturbing-true-crime-books/672767.md?page=2)