Harold Schechter
Encyclopedia
Harold Schechter is a true crime
writer
who specializes in serial killers. He attended the State University of New York
in Buffalo
, where he obtained a Ph.D.
He is professor of American literature
and popular culture at Queens College of the City University of New York
He is married to poet Kimiko Hahn
.
True crime
True crime is a non-fiction literary and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people.The crimes most commonly include murder, but true crime works have also touched on other legal cases. Depending on the writer, true crime can adhere strictly to...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
who specializes in serial killers. He attended the State University of New York
State University of New York
The State University of New York, abbreviated SUNY , is a system of public institutions of higher education in New York, United States. It is the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States, with a total enrollment of 465,000 students, plus...
in Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, where he obtained a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
He is professor of American literature
American literature
American literature is the written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and its preceding colonies. For more specific discussions of poetry and theater, see Poetry of the United States and Theater in the United States. During its early history, America was a series of British...
and popular culture at Queens College of the City University of New York
City University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
He is married to poet Kimiko Hahn
Kimiko Hahn
Kimiko Hahn is an American poet and instructor of poetry.-Personal:Hahn received a bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa and an M.A...
.
True crime
- Depraved: The Shocking True Story of America's First Serial Killer, the story of Chicago serial murderer Herman Mudgett, alias Dr. H. H. HolmesH. H. HolmesHerman Webster Mudgett , better known under the alias of Dr. Henry Howard Holmes, was one of the first documented American serial killers in the modern sense of the term...
- Deranged: The Shocking True Story of America's Most Fiendish Killer!, the story of New York serial murderer Albert FishAlbert FishHamilton Howard "Albert" Fish was an American serial killer. He was also known as the Gray Man, the Werewolf of Wysteria, the Brooklyn Vampire, the Moon Maniac and The Boogey Man. A child rapist and cannibal, he boasted that he "had children in every state," and at one time put the figure at...
- Fiend: The Shocking True Story of America's Youngest Serial Killer, the story of Jesse PomeroyJesse PomeroyJesse Harding Pomeroy was the youngest person convicted of the crime of murder in the first degree in the history of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.-Background:...
, child murderer. - Bestial: The Savage Trail of a True American Monster, serial murderer Earle Leonard Nelson, who killed in Canada and the United States.
- Deviant: The Shocking True Story of the Original "Psycho", the story of Ed GeinEd GeinEdward Theodore "Ed" Gein - July 26, 1984) was an American murderer and body snatcher. His crimes, committed around his hometown of Plainfield, Wisconsin, gathered widespread notoriety after authorities discovered Gein had exhumed corpses from local graveyards and fashioned trophies and keepsakes...
, the killer who inspired PsychoPsycho (1960 film)Psycho is a 1960 American suspense/psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. The film is based on the screenplay by Joseph Stefano, who adapted it from the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch...
, The Texas Chain Saw MassacreThe Texas Chain Saw MassacreThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a 1974 American independent horror film directed and produced by Tobe Hooper, who cowrote it with Kim Henkel. It stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, and Gunnar Hansen, who respectively portray Sally Hardesty, Franklin Hardesty, the...
and The Silence of the LambsThe Silence of the Lambs (novel)The Silence of the Lambs is a novel by Thomas Harris. First published in 1988, it is the sequel to Harris' 1981 novel Red Dragon. Both novels feature the cannibalistic serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter, this time pitted against FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling.- Plot summary :The novel takes... - Fatal : The Poisonous Life of a Female Serial Killer, the story of 19th century murderess Jane ToppanJane ToppanJane Toppan , born Honora Kelley, was an American female serial killer. She confessed to 11 murders in 1901. She is quoted as saying that her ambition was "to have killed more people — helpless people — than any other man or woman who ever lived...".-Early life:Though scant records...
- A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers (co-written with David Everitt)
- The Serial Killer Files : The Who, What, Where, How, and Why of the World's Most Terrifying Murderers
- Panzram: A Journal of Murder (Introduction)
- "The Devil’s Gentleman: Privilege, Poison, and the Trial that Ushered in the Twentieth Century," New York: Random House/Ballantine Books, 2007.
- Killer Colt: Murder, Disgrace, and the Making of an American Legend(2010), the story of 19th century murderer John C. ColtJohn C. ColtJohn Caldwell Colt , the brother of Samuel Colt, was a fur-trader, book keeper, law clerk, and teacher. He became an authority on double-entry bookkeeping system and published a textbook on the subject. He was convicted of the murder of a printer named Samuel Adams, to whom Colt owed money over...
, brother of arms maker Samuel ColtSamuel ColtSamuel Colt was an American inventor and industrialist. He was the founder of Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company , and is widely credited with popularizing the revolver. Colt's innovative contributions to the weapons industry have been described by arms historian James E...
, and the trial
Mystery
- Nevermore - Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
joins Davy CrockettDavy CrockettDavid "Davy" Crockett was a celebrated 19th century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S...
to solve a series of shocking murders in Baltimore in 1835. - The Hum Bug (2001) - Poe teams with Showman PT Barnum to solve a series of murders in New York.
- Mask of the Red Death (2004) - Poe joins forces with Kit CarsonKit CarsonChristopher Houston "Kit" Carson was an American frontiersman and Indian fighter. Carson left home in rural present-day Missouri at age 16 and became a Mountain man and trapper in the West. Carson explored the west to California, and north through the Rocky Mountains. He lived among and married...
to track down a liver-eating murderer. Like the previous book, this one also takes place in New York. - The Tell-Tale Corpse - Poe groups with author Louisa May AlcottLouisa May AlcottLouisa May Alcott was an American novelist. She is best known for the novel Little Women and its sequels Little Men and Jo's Boys. Little Women was set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, and published in 1868...
to put down yet another murderer. This time, he takes his mystery to Massachusetts. - Outcry - A Novel based on the fictional son of Ed Gein, and his path of destruction
Popular culture
- The Manly Movie Guide
- Savage Pastimes: A Cultural History of Violent Entertainment
- Real to Reel
- Patterns in Popular Culture: A SourceBook for Writers
- Film Tricks: Special Effects in the Movies
- The Manly Handbook
- Kidvid: A Parents' Guide to Children's Videos
- American Voices: A Thematic/Rhetorical Reader
- Start Collecting Comic Books
- "The Whole Death Catalog: A Lively Guide to the Bitter End"
Academic works
- Discoveries: Fifty Stories of the Quest
- Bosom Serpent: Folklore and Popular Art
- New Gods: Psyche and Symbol in Popular Art
- Original Sin: The Visionary Art of Joe Coleman
- "Conversation Pieces: Poems that Talk to Other Poems," editor with Kurt Brown, New York: Knopf/Everyman, 2007.
External links
- Harold Schechter's website, http://www.haroldschechter.com
- “Harold Schechter’s Dangerous Pastime, “ by Gary Shapiro, http://www.nysun.com/on-the-town/harold-schechters-dangerous-pastime/13904/
- “Murder by Mail:in gilded Age New York” book review by William Grimes, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/24/books/24grim.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
- Poison Served His Purpose: a murder in New York gives us a landmark case and one gripping story,” book review by Nathan Ward, http://www.opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110010807
- Harold Schechter’s “Five Best Killer Stories: sensational murder trials…,” http://www.opinionjournal.com/weekend/fivebest/?id=110010848
- Review of Savage Pastimes: A Cultural History of Violent Entertainment at Reason magazineReason (magazine)Reason is a libertarian monthly magazine published by the Reason Foundation. The magazine has a circulation of around 60,000 and was named one of the 50 best magazines in 2003 and 2004 by the Chicago Tribune.- History :...