From Lucifer on down, we are culturally attracted to beautiful killers. The list is lengthy, but for many, it starts and ends with serial killer Ted Bundy, who was notorious for his personal charisma and who has been portrayed in numerous films by a string of Hollywood hunks, including Mark Harmon, Billy Campbell, Cary Elwes, James Marsters, Zac Efron, and Luke Kirby.
In a post on Lit Hub, Vanessa Willoughby asks why we are so drawn to handsome but vile men. Ann Rule, author of the Bundy true crime book The Stranger Beside Me, says we’re not interested in ugly killers. “We’re not interested in the kind of person who looks like he would commit murder,” Rule said. “We want to know about the kind who you could not imagine having this monstrous self behind the pleasant face.”
Beauty has its privileges, and getting away with murder is one of them. People couldn’t believe Bundy had committed such awful crimes, because he was so handsome and charming. When the mask finally fell, we were even more fascinated, because we had to know what made this handsome killer tick.
