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The Devil's Haircut
A crime that shocked a nation.
The Devil’s Haircut is an intimate case study from the tragedy of one of New Zealand's worst mass shootings.
The Raurimu Massacre, as it came to be known, happened on 8 February 1997 and saw six everyday New Zealanders die. Another four were left with serious gunshot injuries, and they and many others live today with deep psychological scars.
In Steve’s own words, learn how he found himself at the nucleus of events that day. He shot dead his father and five friends of the family. Floridly psychotic at the time, he would later be found ‘not guilty by reason of insanity’.
In the lead up to the deaths and in the 26 years since, Steve remembers everything. He has had to find ways to live with what has happened. His walk has brought him into contact with many others, both in mental health circles and in the
community, and each has been able to teach him something.
This is a rare insight into the mind of another. Steve lets us into his thoughts, before, at the time, and after the shootings on that day.
Buy your copy of The Devil's Haircut today.
The Devil’s Haircut is an intimate case study from the tragedy of one of New Zealand's worst mass shootings.
The Raurimu Massacre, as it came to be known, happened on 8 February 1997 and saw six everyday New Zealanders die. Another four were left with serious gunshot injuries, and they and many others live today with deep psychological scars.
In Steve’s own words, learn how he found himself at the nucleus of events that day. He shot dead his father and five friends of the family. Floridly psychotic at the time, he would later be found ‘not guilty by reason of insanity’.
In the lead up to the deaths and in the 26 years since, Steve remembers everything. He has had to find ways to live with what has happened. His walk has brought him into contact with many others, both in mental health circles and in the
community, and each has been able to teach him something.
This is a rare insight into the mind of another. Steve lets us into his thoughts, before, at the time, and after the shootings on that day.
Buy your copy of The Devil's Haircut today.
374 pages, Paperback
Published May 1, 2023
4 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Steve Anderson
157 books29 followersLibrarian note:
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There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
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May 13, 2023An intense read including comprehensive and detailed research around cannabis use, anti psychotic drugs and the treatment of various forms of insanity. The Raurimu Massacre was a notable and shocking event in NZ history and gaining some insight into the before and after for Steve Anderson was fascinating
November 9, 2023
This sounded promising but most of the first half of the book was about the history and science of cannabis, I flicked through most of this, then read the four chapters covering the events of the massacre, then gave up.
January 15, 2025
In a way, this is a fascinating insight to a mind that is still 'other'.
Steve Anderson's ongoing obsession with cannabis as being what he perceives to be a cure-all for most of society's ills (to which he dedicates approximately half the book) was contrasted with a brief description of how animal-based drug studies have found that mind-altering substances are typically only used by those in distress, and are otherwise ignored by 'healthy' subjects. Imagine if he could appropriately nest these two points... Cannabis, though! Cannabis, cannabis, cannabis - early on in the book he recollects a psychiatrist telling him "there is more to life than cannabis" - this has not yet sunk in.
He also spends a portion of the book expressing his apparently ongoing belief that the events at Raurimu were planned - even destined - to happen due to him being manipulated by the shadow media; he was, and is, a pawn to greater powers. I hope I misunderstand and that he doesn't still believe this, but a few sentences sprinkled here and there imply this has not entirely been put to bed. He then starts a line in a subsequent chapter with "call me paranoid, but (...)". Yes - I believe you still are.
His insight into life as an inpatient of psychiatric care and some of the studies he mentions are poignant, even though I take it with a grain of salt. Yes, once you are in psychiatric care, it is hard to be seen as sane (e.g. the Rosenhan experiment), seemingly largely due to confirmation bias of the healthcare workers employed there; and yes, psychiatric medication can be a brutal and sometimes entirely ineffective tool, even when used willingly and with full awareness of potential side-effects. I would absolutely believe that Steve has been on the receiving end of some abhorrent treatment.
That said, the entire way through, it is clear he is not mentally well. He knows this, and yet full awareness seems to skate by at times (e.g., the aforementioned shadow media he still seems to believe in); I'll accept his claim that he doesn't think schizophrenia is quite the right diagnosis, and while to me it feels like splitting hairs, respect that when you are essentially incarcerated, this sort of acknowledgement can be very important.
I struggled with this book. The length and breadth he goes to over his love and respect of cannabis was, at best, boring; to spend pages discussing whether NZ should grow radiata pine or hemp was frankly pointless in a book that's touted to be about the Raurimu Massacre, for example. There is also his ongoing cherry-picking of studies about psychiatry - yes, there are significant flaws with the system (I remember learning about them myself as a psychology student), but his account is still highly biased.
I am left asking - was there an editor here at all? Apparently not, judging on another reviewer's comment that this appears to have been essentially self-published.
Steve Anderson's ongoing obsession with cannabis as being what he perceives to be a cure-all for most of society's ills (to which he dedicates approximately half the book) was contrasted with a brief description of how animal-based drug studies have found that mind-altering substances are typically only used by those in distress, and are otherwise ignored by 'healthy' subjects. Imagine if he could appropriately nest these two points... Cannabis, though! Cannabis, cannabis, cannabis - early on in the book he recollects a psychiatrist telling him "there is more to life than cannabis" - this has not yet sunk in.
He also spends a portion of the book expressing his apparently ongoing belief that the events at Raurimu were planned - even destined - to happen due to him being manipulated by the shadow media; he was, and is, a pawn to greater powers. I hope I misunderstand and that he doesn't still believe this, but a few sentences sprinkled here and there imply this has not entirely been put to bed. He then starts a line in a subsequent chapter with "call me paranoid, but (...)". Yes - I believe you still are.
His insight into life as an inpatient of psychiatric care and some of the studies he mentions are poignant, even though I take it with a grain of salt. Yes, once you are in psychiatric care, it is hard to be seen as sane (e.g. the Rosenhan experiment), seemingly largely due to confirmation bias of the healthcare workers employed there; and yes, psychiatric medication can be a brutal and sometimes entirely ineffective tool, even when used willingly and with full awareness of potential side-effects. I would absolutely believe that Steve has been on the receiving end of some abhorrent treatment.
That said, the entire way through, it is clear he is not mentally well. He knows this, and yet full awareness seems to skate by at times (e.g., the aforementioned shadow media he still seems to believe in); I'll accept his claim that he doesn't think schizophrenia is quite the right diagnosis, and while to me it feels like splitting hairs, respect that when you are essentially incarcerated, this sort of acknowledgement can be very important.
I struggled with this book. The length and breadth he goes to over his love and respect of cannabis was, at best, boring; to spend pages discussing whether NZ should grow radiata pine or hemp was frankly pointless in a book that's touted to be about the Raurimu Massacre, for example. There is also his ongoing cherry-picking of studies about psychiatry - yes, there are significant flaws with the system (I remember learning about them myself as a psychology student), but his account is still highly biased.
I am left asking - was there an editor here at all? Apparently not, judging on another reviewer's comment that this appears to have been essentially self-published.
April 23, 2024
This book angered me beyond belief. Multiple, and I mean, MULTIPLE, long chapters about weed and its history with mental health, 1 or 2 chapters on this topic I'd be able to deal with since his usage was a major part of his life yet it felt like this book was written purely to critique NZ's stance on cannabis and how he doesn't agree with it. Only having four chapters on the actual EVENT that HE did and then having 1 or 2 on the after on his trial was horrible. It was hard to read how he was talking about his trial and then it was endless pages on cannabis. A hard read for sure and left me feeling so angry at the end of it. RIP to the individuals he so brutally took the lives of, he should've never been given the right to publish a book this disgusting.
January 17, 2024
Very astute and insightful. Not looking for retribution but an interesting critique of the NZ mental health system and good glimpse into the experience of severe psychological episodes/symptoms.
February 8, 2024
Terrible book to read. The Naration is awful. Could not finish
December 20, 2024
Extremely average. Would have benefited from a good edit. When looking up the publisher, it appears to be one that helps self-publishing... this should have been the first clue, in hindsight.
May 30, 2023
The first 17 chapters are basically a lecture about drugs. Then, he glosses over the actual crime and the trial. I was disappointed by how little his crime features in a book about his crime.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews