Creating a Serial Killer

Creating a Serial Killer

Who is Stowy Jenkins?

If you didn't know his killing background, you'd meet a handsome, charismatic man. Born in West Virginia, he's a transplant to Alaska, but he hates cold weather. Stowy owns his own computer design company and is an avid hunter and taxidermist. He lives with his mother but has a private cabin in the woods. He loves his toys, vehicles, hunting paraphernalia, and, especially, his killing tools.

In The Snowman, Stowy is convinced his killing is art, but once caught, the world imprisons him instead of appreciating him or his art. In Murder, Just Because, it’s ten years later, and Stowy Jenkins has escaped prison. His resentment has built, and his brutality has escalated. Revenge is his goal.

But why does he kill? Where did this man and his motives come from?

Obviously, from my imagination, but he's not wholly unique. His body count may be astronomical, and it is, but here in America, we had Henry Lee Lucas, the most prolific serial killer of all time with at least 350 deaths attributed to him and the possibility that the number could be as high as 600.

Stowy's charismatic persona helped him lure most of his victims to their death. Just as the handsome killer Ted Bundy did before his death by electric chair. However, Stowy took after Gary Ridgway in that he preferred a willing sexual partner, the prostitute, a person ready to climb into his truck.

Stowy's admiration and desire for blood were influenced by The Vampire of Sacramento, Richard Trenton Chase. Richard used to drink the blood of his victims and blend their body parts with soft drinks to make his favorite “milkshake” and was a known necrophiliac.

However, I set Stowy's underlying motivation for his desire to kill, at the feet of his abusive mother. A lifetime of sexual abuse by his own loving mother warped his sense of self and love.

If you're looking to create a notorious serial killer, do your research and know your antagonist from birth. I've found that whatever you can imagine, someone else already has, and the worst part of that statement--they exist and are ten times worse than anything you envisioned.

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Photo by Reza Hasannia on Unsplash

Murder, Just Because - Tour Schedule

April 1            Denise Covey – Guest Post - Writing Your Real Life Experiences Into Your Novel
                        Mythical Books – Q & A with the Author & Excerpt

                              Rockin’ Book Reviews – Feature

April 2            Constantine – Feature

April 6            Mystery Writing is Murder – Guest Post How I Wrote My Mystery
                               Spunk on A Stick – Feature

April 7            Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews – Q & A
April 8            The Warrior Muse – Feature
                        Random Thoughts –  Feature

April 10          I Think Therefore I Yam - Susan Flett Swiderski - Interview With A Monster
                        Ellen Jacobson Author – Q & A 

April 13          Christine Rains – Writer – Review & Excerpt
                              Alex J. Cavanaugh – Guest Post -Top Ten Murder Movie List

April 15          Elizabeth Seckman, Author Guest Post - Heaven on Earth

April 17          Writer’s Gambit – Q & A & Excerpt

April 20          Tara Tyler Talks – Interview

                        H.R. Sinclair – Guest Post - How to Write a Thriller 

April 24          Write with Fey – Guest Post - Evil Exists

April 27          Just Jemi – Q & A 

April 29          Thoughts in Progress – Review

May 1             Celticlady’s Reviews – Feature

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