A chilling exploration of the intersection between real-life serial killers and their portrayal in cinema. Christopher Berry-Dee's analysis offers a fascinating yet sobering look at the influence of media on our understanding of violence and criminal behavior.

"Serial Killers at the Movies" by Christopher Berry-Dee ventures into a chilling and macabre territory, delving into the lives of notorious criminals who later became subjects of cinematic portrayals. Berry-Dee's extensive research is evident, providing readers with a detailed account of the individuals in question. The author's firsthand interactions with some of these criminals add a unique perspective to the narrative.

However, the book's premise may be unsettling for some readers, as it blurs the line between true crime and sensationalism. While Berry-Dee attempts to shed light on the psychological complexities of these criminals, the focus on their transition to movie screen fame may be discomforting for those seeking a more traditional exploration of true crime.

Furthermore, the writing style occasionally veers towards sensationalism, which may detract from the serious nature of the subject matter. Some readers may find the tone to be exploitative or gratuitous, rather than providing a balanced and insightful examination of the individuals involved.

I was provided an advanced copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I really can't read any more books by this author.

The title, the front cover and the premise of this book look interesting and exciting for true crime fans. But this book, was just like all the others I've read by this author- very bad.

As with all of his books, Christopher mentions books he has previously written which is incredibly annoying and repetitive.

This book provided very little insight or interesting information. It's incredibly opinionated.

As with a lot of his books, the titles are misleading. This book starts with chapters about films based on real life serial killer's but ends with just a list of films based on any crime. Some of which weren't even films.

This author is so lazy. As the book goes on you get less and less actual information about the crimes and the cases, and instead just repeated information, unwanted opinions and short paragraphs which add nothing to the book at all.

Its like he had an idea to talk about the Silence of the lambs and amityville horror and then realised he needed another 200 pages to fill this book.

And don't get me started on amityville horror, he didn't like it, fine. But we don't need to be reminded again and again, outside of the chapter you dedicated to the franchise.

I refuse to read any more books by this author.

This book takes the reader on a cinematic journey through some very famous films in history. The author shines a light on the individuals and the stories behind those who have influenced these films over the years. This is done in a way that at times, sends chills down your spine. This is a book that is packed full of information and references on the serial killers who's crimes have made it to the big screen.

Berry-Dee joins the rest of us in pointing out how poorly devised the cinematic presentation of serial killers is. He takes his time to extract the details of the crimes these individuals have committed. The narrative itself is strong, along with the way he builds up the discussions on both the true events and the events presented on the big screen.

I don't want to go into too much more detail on the details of what is discussed throughout this book as I know the details can be hard to read at times.

Overall, this is another interesting and insightful read by the serial killer expert. There are plenty of references throughout that can lead to even more further reading!

This is the second book I have read by Christopher Berry-Dee and I just don't think he is the man for me. Although the subjects he writes about are fascinating (which is why I keep coming back to his books) and the facts provided are both interesting and well presented, he cannot help but worm his own opinions (usually bad) into practically every page of his books, This by itself is not something that worries me much but when it is mixed with his self righteous and self centred attitude it makes for difficult reading. He has a very high opinion of himself as a writer and journalist and the constant name dropping and awards he has won are not in any way relevant to the subject matter but he makes it his mission to include them . He took great delight in telling the reader about an award he won from the police for his help with a case and a tv movie that he collaborated on was the best of all the movies he had mentioned early in the book. The serial killers he spoke of in this book were interesting but it really was just a list of films that the author liked or didn't like.

Christoper Berry-Dee will fulfil all your serial killer needs. The king of all serial killer books, the ins and outs of their lives, family, crime and brain function. Another book that you can't book down. Not for the faint hearted.

Really enjoyed this. I do enjoy Christopher’s previous books and found this one was finished in a couple of sittings. Christopher’s writing and style is totally unique and I love it

Not quite what I expected. Lots of self publicity for the author and I felt it lost the plot quite early on. Difficult to follow for me personally, not the informative read I was hoping for it to be

Again I love true crime, and this one is fairly good. I could have done without the long intro and also the long descriptions after we learn who they were and then hear how they influenced the movies. I wish it was more to the point. I wanted to hear the history and how they inspired but it felt drawn out in some. However, it was still an interesting read.

Equally uncomfortable and fascinating read about the serial killers who have inspired some of the most memorable cinematic villains. Uncomfortable both because its filled with lurid details and because it shows our culture's fascination with gristly death. Fascinating for the exact same reasons, again showing how much people love to read/see/imagine others dying terrible deaths.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."
I think the stories were too reduced. It just wasn't my preference.

Dear Ad Lib Publishers.

Firstly, thanks very much for the opportunity to read and review this title.

Unfortunately, I just wanted to let you know that I won't be reading and reviewing this title due to the large number of titles that I currently have on my shelf, and my inability to read them all. For this reason, I've decided to tidy up of my Netgalley shelf and I won't be able to read and review this title for you as I had hoped to do.

I hope to be able to read and review further titles for you in the future, and I wish both you and the author every success with this release.

Thanks and Regards
Kim

This is very interesting, as I am a true crime fanatic. I enjoyed reading this book. But I think that this book kind off fel flat. I felt like there was something missing.

This book had so much potential. I mean, look at that cover! It pulls you in and you want to hear all about movies that were inspired by serial killers. But you just never really get that full effect. I felt like the author went off on different tangents when discussing the movies. He often started with one movie, talked about it and then mentioned other movies and finally in the last paragraph of the chapter, he'd mention a serial killer that the movie was loosely based off of. I think it would have been more enjoyable to hear about the serial killers and their crimes and then tie that into the movie rather than stating with the movie. I did enjoy the true crime parts and hearing about different criminals. However, this author repeatedly mentions his other book and it seems like most of the research on the serial killers was done for that book. This book references the other book way too much in my opinion and he should have added more information on the serial killers here rather than pointing you to his other book. At times this one just felt disorganized. If you're in to true crime like I am, you might get some enjoyment out of this one but if you're looking for more info on serial killers that inspired movies, this really isn't the book you want to pick up.

A truly gripping, utterly chilling read.
Delving in to the minds of some of the worlds most notorious serial killers, and how they ended up on the screen.
Brilliantly written and full of detail.

Sadly this wouldn’t download correctly and I was unable to read so I can’t leave a review

Thanks netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to try to read

Another fascinating deep dive into what makes serial killers tick by Berry-Dee. Although incredibly well researched, I found this book to be a bit more scattered than his previous entries. Much of the book will jump from topic to topic and then loop back to the beginning of the chapter but not necessarily in a succinct manner which is a shame because the content is incredibly interesting and I was really excited to get started on this book. Unfortunately I’ve rated it lower because of this.

I have to be honest, I was rather disappointed by this book. For one, I found the title to be misleading. While the author does reference previous talks with mass murderers, you don’t get much of the juicy details in this book. Instead, he refers you to a previous book of his.

But that’s ok; that wasn’t what I was expecting from this book. What I was expecting was to learn of the real people that influenced some of the greatest horror/thriller films of all time. It got off to a good start with Silence of the Lambs and there were some other chapters scattered throughout that showed a good correlation. However, I felt that most of the chapters were written with a real stretch to make a link, while some had no link at all. It lacked the level of detail that I was looking for.

The reason why I give this book a 3-star review rather than 2 stars is because I did learn of some new films to watch and some serial killers I never heard of before to investigate. Beyond that, I’m sad to say that this book fell flat for me.

⭐⭐⭐⭐Thanks to #netgalley and #adlib publishers for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. An interesting read into some well known and lesser well known serial killers and what movies their cases inspired. An interesting read for true crime buffs or even just movie buffs. #netgalley #serialkillersatthemovies #tea_sipping_bookworm #goodreads #litsy #thestorygraph #amazonkindle #truecrime #bookqueen #bookstagram #christopherberrydee