SOURCE: "The Interest in Murder Multiplies But Serial Killer Buffs Say It's Not a Crime to Be Fascinated with the Dark Side of Human Nature," in Chicago Tribune, February 3, 1994, p. 1.

[In the essay below, Herrmann considers society's interest in serial killers and true crime. Herrmann argues that the growing interest among teenagers and young adults stems from their desire to shock adults.]

Who's your favorite serial killer? Jeffrey Dahmer? John Wayne Gacy? Ed Gein?

Or, if you're really in the know, maybe you'd say Jerome Brudos, Aileen Wuornos, Robert Hansen or the tag team of Leonard Lake and Charles Ng.

Whether such discussion over serial killers seems strange—or even sick—it's not all that uncommon.

In fact, with all the recent hoopla over the Charles Manson song on the latest Guns N' Roses album, the fascination with serial killers, which was once just a thing for true...