Fictional Serial Killers
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The stereotype of serial killer has been widely used in fiction over the years, either as a antagonist or protagonist of different media, such as the literature, the cinema (mainly in the Slasher sub-genre), television series, etc. The first examples date back to the time of modern tragedy and Renaissance literature, such as the character of Macbeth, a character from the homonymous tragedy written by William Shakespeare. However, due to Macbeth's behavior throughout the work – which is far from the current definition of a serial killer – he is not usually considered a representative of the genre. For its part, the fairy tale Bluebeard written in 1693 by Charles Perrault, is more commonly recognized as the first fictional serial killer,[1] because the character follows certain patterns of behavior and victims, which makes it closer to the current definition.
The use of the serial murderer would not be further exploited within literature until the end of the 19th century, with the popularity that the case of Jack the Ripper[2] would obtain. With examples such as the novel The strange case of doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of 1886, and Dracula of 1897. Already entered the XX century, the serial killer would become the mainstay of many works of its time, including the newly formed genres of horror film and suspense. The first examples of murderers during this era were monsters and non-human creatures, such as Frankenstein's Monster, The Invisible Man, The Wolf Man , Dracula, etc. This infamous era is known as the Age of Universal's Classic Monsters. [3]
The use of 'ordinary' people as murderers instead of creatures in the world of cinema would not gain notoriety until the release of Psycho, a 1960 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. In this story we are introduced to Norman Bates, who shows a deeper psychology and better constructed motivations than the murderers of the moment, in addition to highlighting the fact that he is a real person, instead of a monster. Therefore Psycho is currently considered by experts in the field as the pioneer in the use of a serial killer in the world of cinema.[4] [5]
The use of serial killers within the world of movies would have a golden age from the 1970s to the late 1980s, with the creation of the Slasher genre. Thus being born characters that are already part of popular culture, such as Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Chucky, Leatherface, etc.
List of fictional serial killers[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ "A Summary and Analysis of the 'Bluebeard' Fairy Tale". Interesting Literature. May 13, 2018.
- ↑ "Serial Killer Fiction – Crimeculture".
- ↑ "Los primeros sustos del cine | Cultura | elmundo.es". www.elmundo.es.
- ↑ "AFI's 100 YEARS…100 HEROES & VILLAINS". American Film Institute.
- ↑ Lealos, Shawn S. (June 21, 2019). "15 Iconic Horror Villains Ranked by Kill count". ScreenRant.
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