I have a morbid curiosity when it comes to true crime and serial killers — I feel like the more I know, the less likely I am to get got.
So, naturally, when I came across this Reddit thread about interesting facts about serial killers, I immediately dove in.
So, here are some of the most interesting, yet bone-chilling things people shared:
1. When the police arrested Ed Gein, his house was a "pigsty. They found countless body parts from his various grave digging excursions, including a bag of wilted vaginas and...the infamous skin lampshade and half-finished woman suit made of human skin." However, his mother's room was "pristine" and untouched.
2. While being interrogated, Gein asked for a cup of coffee and a slice of apple pie with cheese on top — years later, Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver ordered this exact same meal.
3. "PeeWee Gaskins, [the] most prolific serial killer in South Carolina, drove around in a hearse with a bumper sticker that read 'We haul anything, living or dead.'"
4. The bodies buried beneath John Wayne Gacy's house were "crammed" together so tightly, the bones fused together and it took over two years to separate all of the skeletons.
5. "The Hillside Stranglers picked up a young woman to murder. Then they discovered that her father was Peter Lorre, a legendary Hollywood character actor. They let her go because they feared that killing a celebrity's daughter would bring too much attention."
6. "Jeffrey Dahmer gave the people in his apartment building sandwiches that could've possibly been made from his victims’ flesh."
7. Jeffrey Dahmer worked in a chocolate factory.
8. "The BTK killer installed alarms at several people's houses because of their fear of the BTK killer."
9. "Mack Ray Edwards was a serial killer who worked for CalTrans. He'd kill his victims and then bury the bodies in places he would later help build the highways over. Not all his victims have been found, and many are very likely still under some of the California highways you may have driven over countless times."
10. "Albert Fish would stick needles into his pelvis when he was masturbating."
11. "Brazilian serial killer 'little Petey' murdered over 40 people in prison. He began by murdering the gang that killed his girlfriend and then stabbing his father, who was in prison for killing his mother, during a visit. He was well liked because he was considered a sort of vigilante avenger, despite killing indiscriminately within prison (no difference between drug possession and a murderer)."
12. "Jeffrey Dahmer didn't eat people with tattoos because he said the ink made the flesh taste weird."
13. "[The BTK] actually makes people fill out an application to write him in prison."
14. "Ted Bundy worked at a suicide prevention hotline center."
15. "[The FBI] estimates anywhere between 150–2,000 active serial killers in the US."
16. "Ted Bundy helped in the investigation of the Green River Killer and made a psych profile which ended up being closer to the actual Green River Killer than the FBI's own psych profile."
17. "Charles Manson's mother once traded him for a pitcher of beer."
18. "Randall Woodfield, the I-5 Killer, was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 17th round of the NFL Draft."
