Helter Skelter (book)
Encyclopedia
Helter Skelter is a true crime
True crime (genre)
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...

 book by Vincent Bugliosi
Vincent Bugliosi
Vincent Bugliosi is an American attorney and author, best known for prosecuting Charles Manson and other defendants accused of the Tate-LaBianca murders. His most recent books are Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy , The Prosecution of George W...

 and Curt Gentry
Curt Gentry
Curt Gentry is an American writer. He is best known for co-writing the book Helter Skelter with Vincent Bugliosi , which detailed the Charles Manson murders...

. The subject of the book is the 1969 Manson Family murders and Bugliosi's own prosecution of Charles Manson
Charles Manson
Charles Milles Manson is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction...

 and his followers.

Helter Skelter was first published in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in 1974
1974 in literature
The year 1974 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics is founded by Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman.-New books:*Richard Adams - Shardik*Kingsley Amis - Ending Up...

 and became a bestseller. The book takes its title from the song by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

, with which Manson was obsessed. Manson used the phrase for an anticipated race war
Helter Skelter (Manson scenario)
The murders perpetrated by members of Charles Manson's "Family" were inspired in part by Manson's prediction of Helter Skelter, an apocalyptic war he believed would arise from tension over racial relations between blacks and whites...

. Helter Skelter won a 1975 Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...

 for Best Fact Crime book and was the basis for two television films, released in 1976 and 2004
Helter Skelter (2004 film)
Helter Skelter is a 2004 TV film directed by John Gray based on the murders of the Charles Manson Family. The film was a remake of the 1976 two-part TV movie...

.

According to the director of the 2008 movie The Strangers
The Strangers
The Strangers is a 2008 American horror film written and directed by Bryan Bertino, and starring Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman, Glenn Howerton, Gemma Ward, Laura Margolis, and Kip Weeks...

, this book was the main influence for the story line of the movie, contrary to any other stories that have been posted around the Internet since the film's release.

External links

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