Show Notes
Explore the dark recesses of the criminal mind as true crime legend Harold Schechter joins us in the Crypt. Listen closely as we dissect the intriguing world of collecting murder memorabilia, hear never-before-released audio of Ed Gein’s voice, and unravel the psychology behind our fascination with monsters and serial killers.
In this expansive conversation, we peel back the layers on his captivating new book, 'Murderabilia: A History of Crime in 100 Objects’, get details on Harold Schechter's real-time reaction of hearing Ed Gein’s voice, and find out if this alters the psychological profile of Gein.
We also tackle the defining 'signature crimes' of each era, the media's role in glamorizing them, the horrific tales of Albert Fish, BTK, Son of Sam, John Wayne Gacy, and Harold's selection process when it comes to choosing the deranged subjects of his novels.
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Order a copy of Harold’s newest book, “Murderabilia: A History of Crime in 100 Objects” – https://haroldschechter.com/books/murderabilia
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CHAPTERS:
00:00 – Warning 00:28 – Introduction 01:25 – Harold & Brandon’s Bad Luck 02:08 – Murderabilia: A History of Crime in 100 Objects 05:50 – Collecting “Murderabilia” Dates Back to the 1600’s 10:11 – The Moral Issues Surrounding True Crime & Collecting Murderabilia 12:35 – Murder Ballads 15:11 – Telling a History of Murder in 100 Random Objects 16:22 – Items Harold Could Not Use In His Book 19:08 – Augusta Gein’s, Ed Gein’s Mother, Crucifix Was Gifted 22:55 – New Ed Gein Evidence, Voice Heard For the First Time 24:31 – Harold Schechter Reacts to Hearing Ed Gein’s Voice For The First Time, what he thought it would sound like, vs. what it actually sounded like 27:30 – Did hearing Gein's voice change anything in his psychological profile? 32:33 – Ed Gein Was NOT a Serial Killer, what the term means and where it came from 37:12 – Will Plainfield Ever Exhume More Bodies? 39:12 – Did Ed Gein ever dig up his mother? / HH Holmes Was Afraid That He Woulds Be Grave Robbed 40:56 – The Growing Interest In Ed Gein 42:18 – Robert Bloch (Author of Psycho) only lived 30 miles from Ed Gein When It Happened 44:25 – Albert Fish, Who He Is and Why More People Don’t Know of Him 47:41 – Albert Fish’s Insane Masochism 49:27 – How Long Albert Fish Got Away With His Crimes & How He Got Caught 54:53 – How Albert Fish Preyed & Murdered 55:58 – Harold Was In Contact With Albert Fish’s Legendary Defense Lawyer 59:41 – Harold Visited The Murder Location of Grace Budd 1:03:06 – The Psychological Function of True Crime 1:06:53 – The “Boogeyman” of Harold’s Generation / His Love For Horror / What Scared Him Growing Up 1:09:47 – Signature crimes that define each era / Living in the era of mass murderers 1:14:31 – The Difference Between Mass Murderers & Serial Killers 1:16:07 – History of Mass Murderers / Howard Unruh (The first mass shooting) 1:18:23 – How Much Media Glamorizes Crime / BTK, Son of Sam 1:23:28 – How Harold Schechter Chooses A Killer To Write About 1:27:03 – The Psychological Reason We Are Fascinated By Monsters 1:30:49 – Verifying Stories as far back as the 1800’s / HH Holmes 1:33:05 – AI / ChatGPT Taking Over The World / ChatGPT Wrote Harold A Fake True Crime Story 1:36:59 – Does a fascination in horror & true crime make us more okay with death or more scared of it? 1:42:36 – Why Harold Doesn’t Have Social Media / Go Buy Murderabilia: A History of Crime in 100 Objects 1:44:36 – Outro
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