Review: Interviews with serial killers

Serial killers have been a lifelong interest for me which is pretty macabre I know but millions of other people have the same fascination.

I jumped at the chance to go to the Lancaster Grand theatre for a talk by ex-bobbie Paul Harrison (pictured top right)who has interviewed more than 70 of the world’s worst serial killers and mass murderers.

Cue the most interesting three hours I’ve ever spent in a theatre.

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Paul started off the talk with a little history of how he came to be a serial killer profiler which was just as fascinating as hearing about the killers he has interviewed.

Although it is a serious subject, Paul still managed to interject humour into the talk which lightened the mood.

He talked about his interviews with some of the world’s worst serial killers, from John Wayne Gacy and Ted Bundy to mass killer Ronald DeFeo and the Yorkshire Ripper.

He talked about how he got Aileen Wuornos, dubbed the world’s worst female serial killer, to open up to him and tell him about her childhood and what led her to commit the crimes she did.

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Serial killer Ted Bundy, who is currently being portrayed in the film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile by Zac Efron, exhibited some strange behaviour in his interview with Paul and while Paul told how Ted recounted how he murdered and mutilated a small child, licking his lips and relishing the memory, I got a chill down my spine and goosebumps all over my arms.

Paul also introduced the audience to killers they may not have heard of. One of them, Paul Maudsley, became a serial killer in jail killing two paedophiles who he detested. Maudsley is still in an underground glass cell in Wakefield Prison and will likely remain there until he dies.

The finale of the talk was perhaps one of the most horrific serial killers of them all -Joe Metheny who after his wife and son left, ended up on a revenge-driven killing spree and turned his victims into burgers. I really enjoyed this whole talk and came away with more knowledge about serial killers and their psyche.

For more information visit www.paulharrisonbooks.co.uk.