Hello,

Does anybody know about stories published before 1950 that deal with the theme of murders and serial killers? Stories like "The Murders in The Morgue Street" (E.A.Poe), "The Lodger" (Marie Belloc Lowndes) etc.

Serial killers seem pretty much to be a phenomenon of the 20th-21st centuries, like antibiotics, LSD, high rises, smartphones, PDF publishing, airports, and transgender surgery.

The best example of what you're looking for would be fiction about the Thuggee cult, e.g. Taylor's Confessions of a Thug.

[en.wikipedia.org])

Serial killers have been around forever, and the most notorious practitioners from the twentieth century were rank amateurs compared to the likes of Gilles de Rais and Elizabeth Bathory. There should be plenty for you to find if you dig for it. Jack the Ripper has definitely been storied pre-1950. Eusebius Pieydagnelle aka “The Blood Freak” was one of many inspirations behind Grand Guignol plays (pre-1950), but I can’t say if his name made it into the scripts. Bathory must have hit fiction early on. Gille de Rais is thought to be the inspiration behind the 17th century fairy tale Bluebeard. More interestingly, he is featured as an evil lord in command of a werewolf legion in Samuel Crockett’s 1899 fantasy novel The Black Douglas. Some believe that depiction inspired Tolkien’s Sauron, while Tolkien himself said the werewolf battles in that book inspired the warg fight scenes in The Hobbit.

I don't want to spoil the ending, but your definition of "serial killer" must be fairly broad, if you include "Murders in the Rue Morgue". Does it exclude supernatural beings who kill?

- "The Vampyre" (1819) by Poldori, has strong serial killer themes. The culprit seems to be a sorceror with at least some supernatural powers.
- "Carmilla" (1872) by L. Sheridan Le Fanu, has "serial killer themes"; but the culprit is supernatural and "undead".
- "The Lottery (1948) by Shirley Jackson, turns out to be about killings that are definitely "serial". But perhaps not what you have in mind (thugh this time fully human).
- "Dreams in the Witch House" (1934) by H.P. Lovecraft, involves the ritualistic serial murder of countless children over a great many years. Both humans and supernatural entities are involved in the ritual killings.
- "Gabriel-Ernest" (1909) by Saki, where Gabriel commits at least two child murders (at different times) in the neighborhood, and presumably will go on to commit more in other neighborhoods, as he seems to be a rather incorrigible young fellow. But, again, Gabriel is rather supernatural.

Maybe I'll let Minicthulhu narrow the definition before I try to think of more examples.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 20 Mar 24 | 01:25PM by Platypus.

- Uncle Silas (novel) by L. Sheridan Le Fanu. He has murdered before and now plots to do a similar murder again. Le fanu has short story versions of th4 same tale.
- Lost Hearts, by M.R. James. Occultist has murdered 2 children before, and now plots to do it again.
- The Terror, by Arthur Machen. A series of mysterious killings and a number of theories. The murders are blamed on animals or unsolved, depending on whether you believe the narrator's theory voiced at the end.
- The Beast of Averoigne, by CAS. A sort of werewolf story. But it is fair to guess that many serial killers were classed as werewolves, historically.
- A Terribly Strange Bed, by Wilkie Collins.

The Waxwork (1931) by A.M. Burrage

Thanks a lot for the tips.

- The Thousand and One Nights (1400?), by Galland/Anonymous. Frame story is about a king who takes a new bride every night and murders her every morning.
- Captain Murderer (1860), by Charles Dickens. About a Bluebeard type character.
- A Pastoral Horror (1890), by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In which a homicidal maniac with a pickaxe terrorizes a quiet community.
- Good Lady Ducayne (1896), by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. Her maids tend to die in her service.
- The ABC Murders (1936), by Agatha Christie. In which Hercule Poirot tracks a serial killer with a penchant for alliteration.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 25 Mar 24 | 09:53PM by Platypus.

I suppose, even today, the most likely form of serial murderer is the killer for cash, whether solo or part of a criminal gang. However, modern society seems more pre-occupied with the solo operator, whose motives either relate to some sexual fetish or otherwise hard to categorize rationally.

Possibly, the OP is looking more for the latter rather than the former. But here are some stories of the "criminal gang" variety:

- Spalatro, by Anonymous (J. Sheridan Le Fanu?) - the first part of this involves a murderous innkeeper. The second part gets weird, and perhaps supernatural (if it is not just madness).

- The Room in the Dragon Volant (1872), by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. Mystery whose denoeuement reveals a trio of murderers-for-cash, whose victims all end up being buried alive.

- Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson. About pirates of course; who are of course serial-murderers for gold who operate on the high seas.

- The Italian Banditti (1824) by Geoffrey Crayon (that is, by Washington Irving). Connected series of tales, often very grim, about a truly awful gang of bandits operating in some mountains in Italy.

When young women get murdered in Victorian fiction, it seems a common motive is money. I have already mentioned UNCLE SILAS. Also:

"Hunted Down", by Charles Dickens. A villain, having murdered his niece, plots to murder two more people.
"The Speckled Band", by Arthur Conan Doyle. In which Holmes saves a young woman from a man who has already murdered her younger sister, and a servant.

Just stumbled across this and thought this might be helpful; I can't vouch for its veracity, but include the link: "Thanks partly to the debt many serial killer narratives have to the Gothic literary tradition multiple murder is quite a common feature of Gothic-influenced early American literature. As Philip Simpson explains in one of the most useful analyses of fictional texts about serial killers, Psycho Paths: Tracking the Serial Killer Through Contemporary American Film and Fiction (2000), such novels as Ormond (1799), Nick of the Woods (1835),The Partisan (1835), and The Quaker City: or, The Monks of Monk Hall (1845), all “present multiple body counts and Shadow villains in which one can see the literary prototypes of the contemporary American serial murderer." [www.crimeculture.com]