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Mar 25, 2008

Suzanna rated it:

This is one of the scariest things I have ever read--it kept me up a few nights, to be sure. However, it was really cool (and oddly reassuring) reading how the prosecuting attorney helped the LAPD close in on these people and bring them to justice. After reading this I understand why people often say that the Manson killings for them represented the death of the hippie era of peace and love. Despite the fact that the Manson Family was not comprised of hippies, people were much more fearful an More...

5 comments like (10 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

marki added it

My friend is obsessed with Charles Manson, so much so that I decided I needed to understand what the hell was going on. I got this book for my trip to New Hampshire with my family to stimulate myself while sitting in a condo wishing I had nine dollars to go see Harry Potter alone due to my sorta sick crush on the character who plays Ron Weasley.
I am learning about my new interest in terrible but insanely interrelated crimes committed by and against high-profile persons. I don't know what More...

0 comments like (8 people liked it)

Mar 02, 2009

Lauren rated it:

One of the most fascinating things about Jesus, if you ask me, isn't how he could have walked on water or was born of a virgin. Whether I believe that those thing happened or not is a different story. What is amazing (and completely proven) is that thousands of years ago Jesus was able to attract the attention of Jews and convince them that he was their savior -- and today, thousands of years later, that legend has survived. The question is, what exactly did Jesus do to make such an impact? The More...

2 comments like (8 people liked it)

Jul 02, 2008

Erin rated it:

scary and amazing story. true crime isn't generally one of my interests, but this had been recommended to me numerous times. it was well-written, and managed to make almost all of the murderers far more sympathetic characters than i would have imagined possible. the part that frightens me the most, i think, is that manson's philosophy was based on such simple and easily accessible things as the bible and the white album. i mean, who hasn't heard a song that felt like it was written specifica More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 03, 2008

Teri rated it:

When a friend was readin g it while in the hospital, she highly recommended it, but I thought it would be too greuesome to read, but I went out and bought the book and absolutely devoured it. My parents couldn't understand how I could read such a gruesome book, but they read it, absolutely riveted with all the details. I would highly recommend this great true story to anyone that likes a true crime story, esp one that I was around for and lived within an hour of where this grisly event happen More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 04, 2010

Scott rated it:

I read this book as a teenager. This is great book.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 15, 2009

Matt rated it:

"Truth is stranger than fiction" is a truism made so frequently it verges on becoming a platitude. Yet, there is a logic behind the maxim - fiction, by the very nature of it's unreality, must make a certain claim to believability. This rules out certain levels of absurdity, which would cause the fiction to be written off as fantasy. The real world, on the other hand, has no such restrictions.

Nothing illustrates this better than Helter Skelter, an account of the investiga More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 15, 2008

Julie rated it:

This was an irrisistable story from the first page. Being extraordinarily busy as a first-year teacher with absolutely no free-reading time, I chose this book from my to-be-read pile because it seemed like one I could read in small pieces over an extended period of time. However, I was unable to stop once I had started, and I felt it unfortunate that it was so LONG and I'm such a slow reader! So my schoolwork suffered a little bit as I indulged night after night in the recreation of the solving More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 13, 2011

Lisa rated it:

I am so crazy I can remember almost exactly when I read this. It was either November or December of 2007.

I think it's 4 stars, maybe 4 and a half. I did love it but I think my only problem with it was I wanted to know more about the case. I know the author wrote this huge book about his personal involvement with the case(he was the prosecutor in the Manson trials)

I guess I really wanted to know everything about what happened in that cult. Something about the Manson family ha More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 02, 2011

Hinch rated it:

Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders is quite possibly the definitive work of true crime literature. At over 700 pages, and written by Vincent Bugliosi, who served as the prosecution attorney, the book not only provides an exceptionally detailed account of the now infamous Tate/La Bianca murders, and the subsequent investigation and trial, but also a deep insight into the mind and philosophy of Charles Manson.

Motivated by diverse influences including Scientology, the Bo More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 18, 2011

Marilyn rated it:

Three stars because I did not want to unfairly bring down the rating, even though I could not finish the book. This is the story of the Charles Manson-Sharon Tate-LaBianca murders in 1969. I remember the news stories clearly. The nation was very caught up in the story, even in those days when the evening news (your choice of 3 channels) lasted for 15 minutes and the TV quit broadcasting at 11:00 p.m. The horror of it all was inescapable.

I did not read Helter Skelter when it was publis More...

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Jun 01, 2011

Beth rated it:

Published in 1974, Helter Skelter tells the story of the 1969 Manson murders from the perspective of the district attorney who prosecuted the case against Charles Manson and three female members of his cult known as "The Family." Bugliosi begins his book by detailing the Tate-LaBianca murders themselves; he successfully puts the crimes into context using witness interviews together with a factual blow-by-blow of events to describe the environment in which the crimes occurred, the backg More...

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Oct 22, 2010

Rob rated it:

Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry’s HELTER SKELTER is one of the most recognizable true crime titles in American history alongside Truman Capote’s IN COLD BLOOD and Anne Rule’s THE STRANGER BESIDE ME. It’s also one of the most in-depth because it’s written by the chief prosecutor who put the mercurial madman, Charles Mason away. Because he began writing this book just after the conclusion of the case, the details were not only fresh in his mind, but he had access to every ounce of evidence surr More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 02, 2010

Debbie added it

I am not even sure of how to rate this book. I only read it because my mother was a juror on the Tate Labianca Murder trial. I needed to understand her fears when she returned home after close to a year. She had a nervous breakdown shortly after the trial was over, I was twelve and mom never talked about what she went through. When I was in my twenties I bought this book. After I finished it I cried at the thought of my mother sitting as a juror and having to witness this horrible truth. Charles More...

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Apr 15, 2010

Kaela rated it:

This book scared me so badly. It was a strange sort of scared though, that left me wondering and left me wanting so badly to read more and more. Having an interest in criminal justice, I found this was a very intriguing true crime story about one of the most notorious cult leaders and killers of our century. The details were sickening and very well, detailed as to what went down before during and after the crimes were committed. The personal biography about Manson, while interesting, still did n More...

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Aug 25, 2009

Rob rated it:

I read ugly, crazy and unbelievable news stories every day but this story is just too incredible. I don't remember ever having nightmares because of something I'm reading until I read this book. And not just scary nightmares but the book just totally got into my dreams. Beyond the unbelievable, twisted and horrible crimes committed by Manson and his family - and the insanely twisted fact that an army of twenty-somethings were willing to butcher innocent people on command - the cool part of th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 23, 2009

Tiffany rated it:

This is the best true crime/courtroom drama I have ever read. The story is amazing, creepy, detailed, unparalleled, eerie, horrifying, and so well-told by the prosecuter of the Mason trials, it was hard to put it down. I have recently re-read this book, after many years of thinking about it and telling people to read it. If one doesn't want to get pulled into such groups, one must know about them. I read it when I was 16, and was looked upon very strangely by the extended family, and my mother w More...

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Aug 23, 2009

Nicola rated it:

'Enjoyed' is clearly the wrong way to categorize my response to Helter Skelter, but I can say that I was utterly consumed by it. For the five days I was reading the book, I just wanted to blow off the rest of my life, so that I could obsessively keep reading. There's a reason Helter is considered the 'best' true crime book; it makes for incredibly powerful reading.

Helter starts off in typical true crime style, with rather unpleasantly-graphic descriptions of the crime scenes where th More...

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Aug 09, 2009

Evan rated it:

This is a wholly fascinating and disturbing book. It really lead me to understand, in a way I never had before, why Charles Manson is such a big deal. I mean, all told he lead to the deaths of 9 people or so (many fewer than a lot of other serial killers) and he didn't actually kill any of them personally. But that's not really what makes Manson extraordinary. After learning about the historical context, the random choice of his victims, and the fanatical devotion of his followers, I understand More...

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Jun 03, 2009

Charity rated it:

I actually picked this book up after reading a review on here about it. I was glad it was a short book. Even tho' I'm a Criminal Justice Major I have a hard time reading TRUE CRIME but this book was well written and it captured me from page one. I love a good puzzle and Charles Manson is a puzzle. I believe it's become A-Typical for people to be judged by their upbringing and that upbringing makes them who they turn out to be. I only believe that 80% of the time I think. However, I do believe th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 11, 2010

Talulah rated it:

This one’s not for the faint of heart, y’all: it’s exactly 8 million pages long in teeny, tiny little font. Ahem. Anyway, it is, as the title says, the true story of the Manson Murders. I vaguely remember seeing this book on my parents’ shelves when I was a kid, which wouldn’t be surprising: my mom is from California, and she would have been a young woman during the Manson trial, if not the murders. So I grew up with this book, and I grew up with the whole idea of “Charles Manson” as this More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 15, 2010

John rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Aug 13, 2011

Georgette rated it:

Easily one of the scariest true crime books I've ever read. I read this in high school- just for fun, no joke. I spent three days completely hooked and sleep-deprived as a result. The nail-biting true story of the emergence of the Charles Manson Gang off a deserted movie ranch(Spahn Ranch) into nationwide headlines with the brutal murders of Sharon Tate, friends of hers, and The LoBianco family in 1969. It launched a terrifying period in the Hollywood Hills with the sheer brutality. Bugliosi not More...

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Jun 13, 2009

Stephen rated it:

A too young divorced bridegroom, I was still living alone in a log cabin on an East Tennessee ridgeline, when I chose to read two disturbing books back-to-back. “In Cold Blood” was the first, this one the second.

“Helter Skelter,” the story of the Manson family murders, is unbelievably disturbing. Unconsciously mad. Thinking about it today, so many years later, it is still so. Author Vincent Bugliosi was the prosecutor for the case and lays out the story as any good DA lays out his mu More...

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Jun 18, 2009

Lori rated it:

"Helter Skelter" gives you fair warning when opening its cover. It tells you that you are about to have the hell scared out of you. And it's not kidding.
Prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi wrote this granddaddy of true crime back in 1974 and even after 30+ years, "Helter Skelter" remains a true crime classic. The book is a hefty one (over 700 pages)and dissects not only the crimes, but also Charles Manson's background and the Family's various travels and journeys, including ru More...

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Dec 04, 2008

Kristofer rated it:

One of the top 5 best books I've ever read. I read this book everywhere: toilet, in class, at red lights...just couldn't put it down. I never knew or cared anything about Charles Manson, but from the first paragraph I got a chill up my spine and couldn't put it down. The book is a true story filled with murder, hippies, drugs, sex, police, serial killers, presidents, conspiracies...essentially, everything good you need in a good story, PLUS it is told be an ingenious lawyer who solved a ridiculo More...

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Sep 23, 2011

Atrocity rated it:

I read Helter Skelter more than fifteen + years ago, yet Bugliosi's writing sticks with me. Reading the book provided me with an insiders view of the warped goings on of Charlie Manson and his band of easily lead mental deficients.

I have glimpsed information about celebrities possibly being mixed up with the gang at the ranch, but Bugliosi does not go into that. Its just as well, as is the book is a solid read of true crime; both investigation and the legal / political wrangling th More...

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Sep 12, 2007

Jessica rated it:

I never actually finished this book. I liked the parts that detailed out the lives of Manson and his crew and how messed up they were. When it came down to the crime scenes and the details of the trial, I couldn't read it. I always read before bed, and it was too much gore and weirdness right before falling asleep.

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Dec 26, 2011

Margie rated it:

This book brings into focus the very real and horrifying events that took place during the summer of 1969 in Los Angeles. While terrifying at first, the initial shock of the crimes gives way to fascination at the bizarre motive and the power Manson held over the people who carried out his plan. Written by the prosecuting attorney/investigator in the case, it is also a discomforting look at incompetency in law enforcement and criminal investigation, even for one of the most gruesome murders in hi More...

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Jul 28, 2011

Misti rated it:

The Manson Family murders were brutal, bloody, and unthinkable. What is most scary is the power Manson had over his "family" of runaways looking for acceptance. In order to ensure a race war for the ages, he spread his lies and misconceptions and led others to kill for him. This is the true story as told by one of the attorneys that prosecuted the vicious crimes on the LaBianca and Tate households. Although we will never know all the details of the rampage committed by Manson's followe More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

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