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Cannibal Killers
ISBN: 184529792X
310 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
11 people are currently reading
259 people want to read
About the author
Peter Haining
331 books99 followersPeter Alexander Haining was an English journalist, author and anthologist who lived and worked in Suffolk. Born in Enfield, Middlesex, he began his career as a reporter in Essex and then moved to London where he worked on a trade magazine before joining the publishing house of New English Library.
Haining achieved the position of Editorial Director before becoming a full time writer in the early Seventies. He edited a large number of anthologies, predominantly of horror and fantasy short stories, wrote non-fiction books on a variety of topics from the Channel Tunnel to Sweeney Todd and also used the pen names "Ric Alexander" and "Richard Peyton" on a number of crime story anthologies. In the Seventies he wrote three novels, including The Hero (1973), which was optioned for filming.
In two controversial books, Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a real historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800, was tried in December 1801, and was hanged in January 1802. However, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims. A check of the website Old Bailey at for "Associated Records 1674-1834" for an alleged trial in December 1801 and hanging of Sweeney Todd for January 1802 show no reference; in fact the only murder trial for this period is that of a Governor/Lt Col. Joseph Wall who was hanged 28 January 1802 for killing a Benjamin Armstrong 10 July 1782 in "Goree" Africa and the discharge of a Humphrey White in January 1802. Strong reservations have also been expressed regarding the reliability of another of Haining's influential non-fiction works, The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack.
He wrote several reference books on Doctor Who, including the 20th anniversary special Doctor Who: A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), and also wrote the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes on the screen, The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991) and several other television tie-ins featuring famous literary characters, including Maigret, Poirot and James Bond. Peter Haining's most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews: The Jail That Went To Sea (2003), The Mystery of Rommel's Gold (2004), Where The Eagle Landed (2004), The Chianti Raiders (2005) and The Banzai Hunters (2007).
He won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001.
Haining achieved the position of Editorial Director before becoming a full time writer in the early Seventies. He edited a large number of anthologies, predominantly of horror and fantasy short stories, wrote non-fiction books on a variety of topics from the Channel Tunnel to Sweeney Todd and also used the pen names "Ric Alexander" and "Richard Peyton" on a number of crime story anthologies. In the Seventies he wrote three novels, including The Hero (1973), which was optioned for filming.
In two controversial books, Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a real historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800, was tried in December 1801, and was hanged in January 1802. However, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims. A check of the website Old Bailey at for "Associated Records 1674-1834" for an alleged trial in December 1801 and hanging of Sweeney Todd for January 1802 show no reference; in fact the only murder trial for this period is that of a Governor/Lt Col. Joseph Wall who was hanged 28 January 1802 for killing a Benjamin Armstrong 10 July 1782 in "Goree" Africa and the discharge of a Humphrey White in January 1802. Strong reservations have also been expressed regarding the reliability of another of Haining's influential non-fiction works, The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack.
He wrote several reference books on Doctor Who, including the 20th anniversary special Doctor Who: A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), and also wrote the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes on the screen, The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991) and several other television tie-ins featuring famous literary characters, including Maigret, Poirot and James Bond. Peter Haining's most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews: The Jail That Went To Sea (2003), The Mystery of Rommel's Gold (2004), Where The Eagle Landed (2004), The Chianti Raiders (2005) and The Banzai Hunters (2007).
He won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
May 11, 2020
Could not make it past the introduction. This author seems to think that the movie Cannibal Holocaust was an actual film documentary as he mentions exactly that in the introduction of this book. I'm not going to even humor such ignorance and give myself a headache with reading the rest of the book which was obviously not very well researched.
February 6, 2017
This book had only one good point to it, it was filled with content. It lacked a true list of resources. He loosely referenced different sources through the writing but it take considerable amount of digging to find the information that was used and if it was correct information. He often misspelled words and names. Names are very important to a story. Words are forgivable. Names should hold more importance. He held a lot of opinions towards the killers in this book. If I am reading this book, I want more information about the killers. I do not want the writers opinion at all unless it is theoretical situation or something like that not opinions on the killers and authorities meant to capture the killers. I was disappointed in the book overall. As I said, the only good point of this book was that it offered content.
April 27, 2015
Overall this is an entertaining read. There is one big problem with the book that I want to get out of the way and then we can get to the good stuff:
There is no bibliography. It would be nice to know where Haining got his facts. I say this because some of the facts seem off. The first error I found was in the preface where he states that the film Cannibal Holocaust is a documentary. The film is fictional. There are other instances in the book where I feel he wants to ascribe reality to urban legends and folklore. I think a nice bibliography would have demonstrated that he checked his facts and wasn't just working off of memory and personal prejudices. Yes, we would all like Sweeney Todd to have been real, but he probably wasn't. This would have been a four star book for me, but I took off a star because I questioned the veracity of a few of the chapters in the book.
2. I sort of wish the book were illustrated. Not barf out Polaroids, but some nice classy woodcuts of medieval and renaissance cannibals. Maybe a few maps of Scottland, a country which seems to have a lot of cannibals in their history.
The good stuff:
If you only buy one book on the subject of Cannibal Killers this is probably the one to buy. The book is a nice comprehensive history of various murderers throughout the ages who either ate their victims or drank their blood. I find, that having read this book, I am much more informed when listening to several of my death metal albums.
This is a great book to read on public transportation. The cover proudly displays the title of the book, and I found that was sufficient to either get a seat on the bus, or have people give me a nice bit of personal space on the days I had to stand. On one bus trip the woman sitting next to me looked at the book with definite distaste. I don't know if she was more appalled by the subject matter or the lack of a bibliography and illustrations.
In conclusion, if you don't take this book too seriously I think you should enjoy it.
There is no bibliography. It would be nice to know where Haining got his facts. I say this because some of the facts seem off. The first error I found was in the preface where he states that the film Cannibal Holocaust is a documentary. The film is fictional. There are other instances in the book where I feel he wants to ascribe reality to urban legends and folklore. I think a nice bibliography would have demonstrated that he checked his facts and wasn't just working off of memory and personal prejudices. Yes, we would all like Sweeney Todd to have been real, but he probably wasn't. This would have been a four star book for me, but I took off a star because I questioned the veracity of a few of the chapters in the book.
2. I sort of wish the book were illustrated. Not barf out Polaroids, but some nice classy woodcuts of medieval and renaissance cannibals. Maybe a few maps of Scottland, a country which seems to have a lot of cannibals in their history.
The good stuff:
If you only buy one book on the subject of Cannibal Killers this is probably the one to buy. The book is a nice comprehensive history of various murderers throughout the ages who either ate their victims or drank their blood. I find, that having read this book, I am much more informed when listening to several of my death metal albums.
This is a great book to read on public transportation. The cover proudly displays the title of the book, and I found that was sufficient to either get a seat on the bus, or have people give me a nice bit of personal space on the days I had to stand. On one bus trip the woman sitting next to me looked at the book with definite distaste. I don't know if she was more appalled by the subject matter or the lack of a bibliography and illustrations.
In conclusion, if you don't take this book too seriously I think you should enjoy it.
January 22, 2017
I started this book with high expectations. I was left with a bad taste in my mouth ... and it wasn't due to the meat.
"Cannibal Killers" is supposed to be true accounts of "murderers who kill and eat their victims." That's an easy enough book to research and write, but I believe I did more research for my own fictional novel "Nothing Men" (shameless plug) than Haining did for his non-fiction work. It all starts to go wrong in the book's introduction where he calls the film "Cannibal Holocaust" a "documentary." Less than five minutes of research would have led him to the true story behind the 1980s Italian horror/exploitation film.
Things don't get any better from there, as he gets facts from famous cases wrong, seems to have either not seen or revisited "The Silence of the Lambs," and includes cases that just involve the drinking of blood. Even the timelines he quotes seem to have escaped an editor's hand. (How is it that someone who was killed in March of 2001 kept up correspondence with his admitted killer in the summer of 2001?)
This all makes for a book as lurid as the Pinnacle True Crime series of paperbacks from the 1980s and '90s, but less factual. If you know anything about criminal cannibalism (and this book lumps cannibalism as a survival mechanism and tribal rites in with the criminal), you would best be served by steering far clear of this rather unimpressive effort.
"Cannibal Killers" is supposed to be true accounts of "murderers who kill and eat their victims." That's an easy enough book to research and write, but I believe I did more research for my own fictional novel "Nothing Men" (shameless plug) than Haining did for his non-fiction work. It all starts to go wrong in the book's introduction where he calls the film "Cannibal Holocaust" a "documentary." Less than five minutes of research would have led him to the true story behind the 1980s Italian horror/exploitation film.
Things don't get any better from there, as he gets facts from famous cases wrong, seems to have either not seen or revisited "The Silence of the Lambs," and includes cases that just involve the drinking of blood. Even the timelines he quotes seem to have escaped an editor's hand. (How is it that someone who was killed in March of 2001 kept up correspondence with his admitted killer in the summer of 2001?)
This all makes for a book as lurid as the Pinnacle True Crime series of paperbacks from the 1980s and '90s, but less factual. If you know anything about criminal cannibalism (and this book lumps cannibalism as a survival mechanism and tribal rites in with the criminal), you would best be served by steering far clear of this rather unimpressive effort.
July 31, 2010
Really leaves you wondering wtf is wrong with some people!
June 18, 2018
Would be nice to have a bibliography of sources, otherwise it becomes just an interesting (unsure if true) read.
Lots of good information if you’re interested in serial/cannibal killers.
Lots of good information if you’re interested in serial/cannibal killers.
December 6, 2011
The information presented in the book was interesting and often quite gross, but that comes with the subject matter. My main complaints are more technical. It appeared that there was a lack of editing throughout the whole book (i.e. names would change spellings between paragraphs, misspelled words and punctuation, wrong words being used and countless typos). Also, the author did something that is considered a big no-no in academic writing, he used his own book as a source. That is like saying something is correct just because he said so. Anyway, as far as content, it was average. Some of the entries left me wanting more information because the particular case was so interesting and some left me wanting less because it became repetitious as if the author ran out of information to share.
January 4, 2015
I think the title should be, "A Loosely Thrown Together History of Cannibalism".
This book was all over the place and seemed rather thrown and hurried together. The stories of the crimes committed were rather vague. By this, a very informal and desensitizing perspective is painted for the reader as it portrays these very real events as Hollywood tabloid shock crap. There was little to no detail of any psychological studies or court trials which also really turned me off.
I wouldn't even recommend this for anybody who is newly curious about cannibalism or serial killers because this book is that poorly written and slopped together.
This book was all over the place and seemed rather thrown and hurried together. The stories of the crimes committed were rather vague. By this, a very informal and desensitizing perspective is painted for the reader as it portrays these very real events as Hollywood tabloid shock crap. There was little to no detail of any psychological studies or court trials which also really turned me off.
I wouldn't even recommend this for anybody who is newly curious about cannibalism or serial killers because this book is that poorly written and slopped together.
July 17, 2010
Compared to the other books in the 'Killers' series, this one is slightly more enjoyable. Not because it's well researched (it's not, really, especially in the earlier stories), but because it's not just newspaper articles and police reports. There's a lot of crossover with other stories in the 'Killers' series, particularly Jeffrey Dahmer, so some of it wasn't new, but I found I enjoyed it much more.
I also tended to read this book when I was hungry or eating. Um.
I also tended to read this book when I was hungry or eating. Um.
January 24, 2016
Meh. Most of these stories were not new to me and there was a marked lack of dramatic tension in the retelling. Worst of all, many of these characters were not cannibal killers at all. Some of tghem were penny-ante blood drinkers and some of them did didn't even do that much. Am I and Molly Lefebure the only ones on earth who know that Johnny Haigh was just a con man?
September 12, 2013
Absolutely fascinating. Loved it to death.
September 3, 2022
I have enjoyed reading this book due to liking anything that is dark, macabre, creepy, disturbing, weird or unexplained, it inspires my dark and vivid imagination.
It's interesting to read about murderers that are a Cannibal, Vampire or or Werewolf that I haven't always heard of.
This book is not for the squeamish or the faint of heart, and there is a entry about specific animals beings eaten as well, so if you can handle the gruesome & gut wrenching graphic detail in this type of book, either don't read it or listen to a audiobook version of it, so you can at least pause it if you get overwhelmed, or feel physically sick like I did while reading this book.
My favourites are:
"Ethne the Dread"
"The Rough Grey Dog-man"
"The Monster of East Lothian"
"Sawney Beane" (Alexander "Sawney" Beane)
"Bluebeard" A.K.A (Gilles de Rais)
"The Werewolf of Dole"
"The Blood countess" or "The Bloody Countess" (Elizabeth Bathory)
"The Witches' Pie"
"The Edinburgh Body-Snatcher"
"The Demon Barber of Paris"
"The Custom of the sea"
"The Bread & Butter Brides"
"The Düsseldorf Monster"
(Peter Kürten A.K.A "The Düsseldorf Vampire")
" The Vampire Killer" ("The Acid Bath Murderer") John George Haigh
"The Psycho-Killer" A.K.A "The Butcher of Plainfield" Ed Gein
"The Cannibal of Bois De Bolougne" (Issei Sagawa)
"The man that made zombies" (Zombified sex slaves)
"The Milwaukee Cannibal" Jeffrey Dahmer
"The Ripper of Rostov" Andrei Chikatilo
"Satan's Disciples"
"The Internet Cannibal" (Armin Meiwes used the Dark Web to access the "Cannibal Café")
"The real Hannibal Lector?"
I'm surprised that there hasn't been any entry so far about a cannibal or Vampire murderer that specifically drank the blood of babies, infants or animals blood.
Or the symbolic aspect of Christianity that is Vampiric & Cannibalistic.
Gilles de Rais was a cannibal, Vampire, that was a Occultist/Satanist & he practiced black magick, he committed Vampirism & Cannibalism as part of a ritual, to summon demons.
He used Alchemy to attempt to create gold to gain more wealth for himself.
Except possibly Elizabeth Bathory he is the only other
cannibal-vampire/Occultist/Satanist that was a cannibal & vampire for a spiritual reason & purpose.
The spiritual aspect of Vampirism, Cannibalism or Lycanthropy is not often mentioned but it is interesting to me at least to read about.
I'm not sure why Elizabeth Bathory never attempted to gain immortality because it seems like she would have wanted to live forever if it was possible.
Some of the entries about cannibals in the book are disturbing and disgusting to read about, Gilles de Rais, Elizabeth Bathory, Ethne the Dread and the cannibal troops the "Babe-eaters" & "Bloodybones" as they were referred to.
So if you don't like reading about people historically & ritualistically sacrificing babies, children, animals drinking their blood or eating them then maybe this book isn't for you.
It made me feel sick & disgusted sometimes, but I have a dark and vivid imagination so it inspires my dark & vivid imagination 🙂
Some of the entries in the book weren't as interesting due to speculation, similarities to the Sawney Beane incestuous/cannibalistic clan & there wasn't much to prove it actually happened whereas the legend of Sawney Beane seems plausible.
The least interesting entry about a person that was a cannibal but not a murderer was (in my opinion) was "The White Cannibal of New York"
It was boring to read, however I would read some of the books that William Seabrook wrote about witchcraft, cannibalism & various tribes.
Peter Kürten was known as The Düsseldorf Vampire (in Germany 1930's) and there is a book about him with that exact name if your interested in reading about him.
There is also a similar Vampire killer named Fritz Haartman that might be of interest to anyone that reads this book or my review 😊
He killed people then sold their "meat"
"Two-Legged Mutton" It's been awhile since something I have read has absolutely disgusted me, made me feel physically sick and pissed me off, this entry about Chinese Cannibalism is disgusting!
If you love animals then avoid reading this entry in the book.
There was a video on youtube.
(I don't even want to know how or why the cat was cooked, but it was a Mukbang video on youtube & they were eating a whole fucking cat, literally!
It fucking horrified & disgusted me! 😖)
Most people by not know who Manuela & Daniel Ruda are especially if they are from Germany, they are now infamous for being Sanguinarian Vampires/Satanists or Devil-worshippers that sacrificed Daniel's friend to Satan to please Satan, before he was murdered they drank his blood.
Both of them are delusional & mentally ill, but I like their alternative/Gothic style of clothing, their rebelliousness & individuality but they are murderers.
Armin Meiwes used the Dark Web to access the Cannibal Café & Flesh & Bone (the second website/online forum I haven't heard of but I already know about this Cannibalistic murderer.
Armin's victim Bernd Brandes was a willing victim they had a fetish Vorarephilia (a person is turned by by the idea/roleplaying that they will be consumed by another person or by a creature) that involved wanting to be consumed by a a person & being sexually turned on by that.
Armin filmed the whole process of drugging, mutilating, butchering/dissecting and dismembering Bernd Brandes's corpse so he could save the limbs/body part that he wanted to preserve so he could eat later.
It's disturbing that Armin sat & read a Star Trek book while he waited for Bernd Brandes to bleed out in the bathtub, or that this crime seemed perfectly normal & acceptable to him due to the violent, and perverse fantasies he had since childhood, he was finally living out one of his most dark & perverse fantasies in real life.
In my opinion the inspiration for Hannibal Lecter was "The Monster of Florence" the unknown serial killer was mentioned in the Hannibal tv series, so Hannibal may have had known of them, since it takes a Cannibal/murderer to recognize another Cannibal/serial killer or murderer.
Nothing is taboo, or shocks Hannibal Lecter since Cannibalism is the last taboo, in the modern world.
I don't understand why Hannibal Rising the film or book wasn't mentioned, it's about Hannibal Lecter as a teenager & young adult which is a important aspect of his character & about why he became a Cannibal.
I did enjoy reading this book, but sometimes it was quite gruesome & gut wrenching to reading due to the graphic accounts of torture, murder, mutilation, Vampirism & Cannibalism.
Some entries about a Vampire or Cannibal murderer were more interesting that others, while some entries completely disgusted me/pissed me off due to the disgusting "delicacies" or the incompetence of the police really pissed me off.
Albert Fish isn't really that interesting to me, not sure why he is considered as inspiration for the fictional character Hannibal Lecter because to me he seems like he would have been a patient of Hannibal Lecter, Jeffrey Dahmer and Ed Gein seem like more plausible inspirations or "The Monster of Florence" due to their violent & unprovoked attacks, the real serial killer is unknown.
In my review I have included honourable mentions of other Vampires, Cannibals that are a murderer/serial killers, some have a book or film made about them, some don't, but you can still do your own research about them. Some things that were tedious to me were the very long sentences that were a paragraph long or the author kept using the term "flesh-eater" when a Cannibal drinks the blood of their victims & eats their flesh so I prefer the term Cannibal instead.
If you don't already know about the Vampires/Cannibals mentioned in this book then it is worth reading, but only if you have a very strong stomach or are stubborn enough to read the entire book despite feeling physically sick sometimes due to the graphic details of what the Vampires or Cannibals did to their vitims or what their motivation for doing it was. Enjoy reading it I know I did 🙂
Honourable mentions (People that are/were a Vampire or Cannibal murderer)-
Shake off the Devil (a couple stayed in their home during Hurricane Katrina, he somehow became possessed and then killed, cooked & ate his girlfriend)
Matthew Hardman (He wanted a German foreign exchange student to bite him & turn him into a Vampire, he was obsessed with Vampires. He stabbed a 90-year old woman Mabel Leyshon, cut out her heart & drank her blood from a ladle. He believed this ritual would turn him into a "real Vampire")
A book by Jack Rosewood about Jeffrey Dahmer is worth readng if you have a strong stomach & your not squeamish or disturbed/disgusted or uncomfirtable reading about animal being dissected, people being drugged, their corpse being raped, they are cannibalised, dismembered but the skulls, some of their flesh, organs were frozen and saved for later/the rest of the remains were disposed of.
Armin Meiwes (The Cannibal of Rotenburg, there is a book about him called Cannibal and a film based on what he did called Grim Love the German actor Thomas Kretschmann is Armin in the film)
There is a book about Armin Meiwes called Cannibal by Lois Jones
Issei Sagawa (Japanese Cannibal)
Tamara Samsova (A terrifying Russian Cannibal/murderer)
Dmitry & Natalia Baksheevy (A murderous Cannibal couple)
Manuela & Daniel Ruda (They are a German couple & were married and Sanguinarian Vampires/Satanists that lived a alternative Vampire, Goth, Satanist lifestyle)
The Vampire rapist
Nico Claux "The Vampire of Paris"
Metal Fang (A Russian serial killer)
The Vampire of Krakow Karol Kot
(A Polish Vampire/murderer, there is only a book written about them in Polish unfortunately)
Albert Fish ("The Brooklyn Vampire")
There are Occult crimes in various books about crimes that involves witchcraft, Satanism or Devil-worship, Vampirism & Cannibalism so it ties in to the theme of the book.
It's interesting to read about murderers that are a Cannibal, Vampire or or Werewolf that I haven't always heard of.
This book is not for the squeamish or the faint of heart, and there is a entry about specific animals beings eaten as well, so if you can handle the gruesome & gut wrenching graphic detail in this type of book, either don't read it or listen to a audiobook version of it, so you can at least pause it if you get overwhelmed, or feel physically sick like I did while reading this book.
My favourites are:
"Ethne the Dread"
"The Rough Grey Dog-man"
"The Monster of East Lothian"
"Sawney Beane" (Alexander "Sawney" Beane)
"Bluebeard" A.K.A (Gilles de Rais)
"The Werewolf of Dole"
"The Blood countess" or "The Bloody Countess" (Elizabeth Bathory)
"The Witches' Pie"
"The Edinburgh Body-Snatcher"
"The Demon Barber of Paris"
"The Custom of the sea"
"The Bread & Butter Brides"
"The Düsseldorf Monster"
(Peter Kürten A.K.A "The Düsseldorf Vampire")
" The Vampire Killer" ("The Acid Bath Murderer") John George Haigh
"The Psycho-Killer" A.K.A "The Butcher of Plainfield" Ed Gein
"The Cannibal of Bois De Bolougne" (Issei Sagawa)
"The man that made zombies" (Zombified sex slaves)
"The Milwaukee Cannibal" Jeffrey Dahmer
"The Ripper of Rostov" Andrei Chikatilo
"Satan's Disciples"
"The Internet Cannibal" (Armin Meiwes used the Dark Web to access the "Cannibal Café")
"The real Hannibal Lector?"
I'm surprised that there hasn't been any entry so far about a cannibal or Vampire murderer that specifically drank the blood of babies, infants or animals blood.
Or the symbolic aspect of Christianity that is Vampiric & Cannibalistic.
Gilles de Rais was a cannibal, Vampire, that was a Occultist/Satanist & he practiced black magick, he committed Vampirism & Cannibalism as part of a ritual, to summon demons.
He used Alchemy to attempt to create gold to gain more wealth for himself.
Except possibly Elizabeth Bathory he is the only other
cannibal-vampire/Occultist/Satanist that was a cannibal & vampire for a spiritual reason & purpose.
The spiritual aspect of Vampirism, Cannibalism or Lycanthropy is not often mentioned but it is interesting to me at least to read about.
I'm not sure why Elizabeth Bathory never attempted to gain immortality because it seems like she would have wanted to live forever if it was possible.
Some of the entries about cannibals in the book are disturbing and disgusting to read about, Gilles de Rais, Elizabeth Bathory, Ethne the Dread and the cannibal troops the "Babe-eaters" & "Bloodybones" as they were referred to.
So if you don't like reading about people historically & ritualistically sacrificing babies, children, animals drinking their blood or eating them then maybe this book isn't for you.
It made me feel sick & disgusted sometimes, but I have a dark and vivid imagination so it inspires my dark & vivid imagination 🙂
Some of the entries in the book weren't as interesting due to speculation, similarities to the Sawney Beane incestuous/cannibalistic clan & there wasn't much to prove it actually happened whereas the legend of Sawney Beane seems plausible.
The least interesting entry about a person that was a cannibal but not a murderer was (in my opinion) was "The White Cannibal of New York"
It was boring to read, however I would read some of the books that William Seabrook wrote about witchcraft, cannibalism & various tribes.
Peter Kürten was known as The Düsseldorf Vampire (in Germany 1930's) and there is a book about him with that exact name if your interested in reading about him.
There is also a similar Vampire killer named Fritz Haartman that might be of interest to anyone that reads this book or my review 😊
He killed people then sold their "meat"
"Two-Legged Mutton" It's been awhile since something I have read has absolutely disgusted me, made me feel physically sick and pissed me off, this entry about Chinese Cannibalism is disgusting!
If you love animals then avoid reading this entry in the book.
There was a video on youtube.
(I don't even want to know how or why the cat was cooked, but it was a Mukbang video on youtube & they were eating a whole fucking cat, literally!
It fucking horrified & disgusted me! 😖)
Most people by not know who Manuela & Daniel Ruda are especially if they are from Germany, they are now infamous for being Sanguinarian Vampires/Satanists or Devil-worshippers that sacrificed Daniel's friend to Satan to please Satan, before he was murdered they drank his blood.
Both of them are delusional & mentally ill, but I like their alternative/Gothic style of clothing, their rebelliousness & individuality but they are murderers.
Armin Meiwes used the Dark Web to access the Cannibal Café & Flesh & Bone (the second website/online forum I haven't heard of but I already know about this Cannibalistic murderer.
Armin's victim Bernd Brandes was a willing victim they had a fetish Vorarephilia (a person is turned by by the idea/roleplaying that they will be consumed by another person or by a creature) that involved wanting to be consumed by a a person & being sexually turned on by that.
Armin filmed the whole process of drugging, mutilating, butchering/dissecting and dismembering Bernd Brandes's corpse so he could save the limbs/body part that he wanted to preserve so he could eat later.
It's disturbing that Armin sat & read a Star Trek book while he waited for Bernd Brandes to bleed out in the bathtub, or that this crime seemed perfectly normal & acceptable to him due to the violent, and perverse fantasies he had since childhood, he was finally living out one of his most dark & perverse fantasies in real life.
In my opinion the inspiration for Hannibal Lecter was "The Monster of Florence" the unknown serial killer was mentioned in the Hannibal tv series, so Hannibal may have had known of them, since it takes a Cannibal/murderer to recognize another Cannibal/serial killer or murderer.
Nothing is taboo, or shocks Hannibal Lecter since Cannibalism is the last taboo, in the modern world.
I don't understand why Hannibal Rising the film or book wasn't mentioned, it's about Hannibal Lecter as a teenager & young adult which is a important aspect of his character & about why he became a Cannibal.
I did enjoy reading this book, but sometimes it was quite gruesome & gut wrenching to reading due to the graphic accounts of torture, murder, mutilation, Vampirism & Cannibalism.
Some entries about a Vampire or Cannibal murderer were more interesting that others, while some entries completely disgusted me/pissed me off due to the disgusting "delicacies" or the incompetence of the police really pissed me off.
Albert Fish isn't really that interesting to me, not sure why he is considered as inspiration for the fictional character Hannibal Lecter because to me he seems like he would have been a patient of Hannibal Lecter, Jeffrey Dahmer and Ed Gein seem like more plausible inspirations or "The Monster of Florence" due to their violent & unprovoked attacks, the real serial killer is unknown.
In my review I have included honourable mentions of other Vampires, Cannibals that are a murderer/serial killers, some have a book or film made about them, some don't, but you can still do your own research about them. Some things that were tedious to me were the very long sentences that were a paragraph long or the author kept using the term "flesh-eater" when a Cannibal drinks the blood of their victims & eats their flesh so I prefer the term Cannibal instead.
If you don't already know about the Vampires/Cannibals mentioned in this book then it is worth reading, but only if you have a very strong stomach or are stubborn enough to read the entire book despite feeling physically sick sometimes due to the graphic details of what the Vampires or Cannibals did to their vitims or what their motivation for doing it was. Enjoy reading it I know I did 🙂
Honourable mentions (People that are/were a Vampire or Cannibal murderer)-
Shake off the Devil (a couple stayed in their home during Hurricane Katrina, he somehow became possessed and then killed, cooked & ate his girlfriend)
Matthew Hardman (He wanted a German foreign exchange student to bite him & turn him into a Vampire, he was obsessed with Vampires. He stabbed a 90-year old woman Mabel Leyshon, cut out her heart & drank her blood from a ladle. He believed this ritual would turn him into a "real Vampire")
A book by Jack Rosewood about Jeffrey Dahmer is worth readng if you have a strong stomach & your not squeamish or disturbed/disgusted or uncomfirtable reading about animal being dissected, people being drugged, their corpse being raped, they are cannibalised, dismembered but the skulls, some of their flesh, organs were frozen and saved for later/the rest of the remains were disposed of.
Armin Meiwes (The Cannibal of Rotenburg, there is a book about him called Cannibal and a film based on what he did called Grim Love the German actor Thomas Kretschmann is Armin in the film)
There is a book about Armin Meiwes called Cannibal by Lois Jones
Issei Sagawa (Japanese Cannibal)
Tamara Samsova (A terrifying Russian Cannibal/murderer)
Dmitry & Natalia Baksheevy (A murderous Cannibal couple)
Manuela & Daniel Ruda (They are a German couple & were married and Sanguinarian Vampires/Satanists that lived a alternative Vampire, Goth, Satanist lifestyle)
The Vampire rapist
Nico Claux "The Vampire of Paris"
Metal Fang (A Russian serial killer)
The Vampire of Krakow Karol Kot
(A Polish Vampire/murderer, there is only a book written about them in Polish unfortunately)
Albert Fish ("The Brooklyn Vampire")
There are Occult crimes in various books about crimes that involves witchcraft, Satanism or Devil-worship, Vampirism & Cannibalism so it ties in to the theme of the book.
August 16, 2024
I’ve been attempting to read this book for probably 3 months. I’ve made it to page 130 and I just can’t go further. I am extremely bored the chapters go on and on with unnecessary information. Although things have changed I feel like I’ve read the same thing over and over. I hate not getting through a book but this one is just about impossible to finish for me.
December 16, 2024
Meh, if I wasn't so fascinated with true crime I don't think I would have finished this one. I felt like I was reading a Wikipedia page on serial killers. Vague quotations and a lack of sources made me doubt some of the claims the writer makes.
October 12, 2018
Many stories here that is very interested, the way he wrote is very confortable special for me who not an english native and read in english love it.
December 5, 2024
Great book
April 7, 2023
So, I came across this little gem when I was browsing the $5.00 rack at my local used bookstore some years back. I think I went in trying to get the "Left Behind" series, and somehow ended up with this as well....go figure.
This book is comprised of 30 or so case studies of various cannibal murderers over the ages.
It starts off in the 3rd Century AD in the British Isles with the first known cannibal, a woman named Ethne the Dread, and moves through the years giving detailed accounts of murderous cannibals including but not limited to:
Sweeny Todd, Albert Fish, Jeffrey Dahmer, an enterprising sausage vendor circa WWII Germany, and that well documented, and made into a movie "internet" cannibal" somewhere in Europe who recorded his multi-hour encounter with a stranger who agreed to meet up for the intent to be killed and eaten. This is just a small sampling of what kind of people you will read and learn about.
Honestly? This is one of the guilty pleasure reads that I freely admit to because it is an easy read but filled with fascinating accounts of people I have never heard about and people who I only knew by name but not by details, and people I recall seeing in the news when it happened.
Cannibal Killers is non-fiction, but reads like a fiction anthology, and delivers more than enough examples of how man has killed and eaten man over the ages. The bonus of reading this book is becoming knowledgeable in such an esoteric topic that the information learned will surely win you bar bets and rounds of Jeopardy and Who wants to be a Millionaire.
For those of you still in school and looking for a book or topic source to write a paper for sociology, psychology, criminology, history or even philosophy this is the book for you..tons of citable sources and lots of great details...
I would suggest getting the dead tree version of this book since it has pictures and illustrations and can easily be found used. The best part is the conversation it starts when friends come over and see it parked between your "Learning Python for Dummies" and "What to Expect When Your're Expecting" on the bookshelf..Like that white collar worker who has piercings and tattoos under his shirt.
This book is comprised of 30 or so case studies of various cannibal murderers over the ages.
It starts off in the 3rd Century AD in the British Isles with the first known cannibal, a woman named Ethne the Dread, and moves through the years giving detailed accounts of murderous cannibals including but not limited to:
Sweeny Todd, Albert Fish, Jeffrey Dahmer, an enterprising sausage vendor circa WWII Germany, and that well documented, and made into a movie "internet" cannibal" somewhere in Europe who recorded his multi-hour encounter with a stranger who agreed to meet up for the intent to be killed and eaten. This is just a small sampling of what kind of people you will read and learn about.
Honestly? This is one of the guilty pleasure reads that I freely admit to because it is an easy read but filled with fascinating accounts of people I have never heard about and people who I only knew by name but not by details, and people I recall seeing in the news when it happened.
Cannibal Killers is non-fiction, but reads like a fiction anthology, and delivers more than enough examples of how man has killed and eaten man over the ages. The bonus of reading this book is becoming knowledgeable in such an esoteric topic that the information learned will surely win you bar bets and rounds of Jeopardy and Who wants to be a Millionaire.
For those of you still in school and looking for a book or topic source to write a paper for sociology, psychology, criminology, history or even philosophy this is the book for you..tons of citable sources and lots of great details...
I would suggest getting the dead tree version of this book since it has pictures and illustrations and can easily be found used. The best part is the conversation it starts when friends come over and see it parked between your "Learning Python for Dummies" and "What to Expect When Your're Expecting" on the bookshelf..Like that white collar worker who has piercings and tattoos under his shirt.
June 23, 2013
Overall it was pretty good, although there were a few glaring errors fact-wise. And the whole part at the end regarding Hannibal Lector was not needed at all. The author could have told the story of Albert Fish without trying to imply that Thomas Harris was incapable of coming up with an original character.
December 28, 2010
The truth is definitley stranger than fiction. The accounts are broken down into chapters so its easy to pick up and put down when you feel like it. Just dont read it while your eating!!
December 13, 2013
I've read better true crime books, this one was okay but I'm not overly impressed.
September 5, 2014
Boring boring boring boring. Next time, don't spare us the grisly details - perhaps it would lend to a more interesting book.
January 20, 2016
Easy read and insight into these horrific crimes
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