A completely revised and expanded edition of a classic study from the authority on serial killers.

Hunting Humans is Elliott Leyton’s classic study of six of the world’s most notorious serial killers. It established him as a leading authority on one of crime’s most disturbing phenomena and as an expert consultant for the FBI, New Scotland Yard, and Interpol.

Now well into the twenty-first century, the broad social factors Leyton identifies as the breeding conditions for serial killings have only intensified. While mass murderers occupy the role in the public consciousness once held by evil spirits, Leyton looks beyond the hysteria, delving further into the often alarmingly human motivations of multiple killers. He shows how serial and mass murders are not simply the acts of deranged minds but are the personalized protests by alienated men against the society they believe has excluded them. While uncovering the central themes of modern culture that motivated their deeds, Leyton provides portraits of Bundy, De Salvo, Kemper, Essex, Starkweather, and Berkowitz that are as vivid and chilling as ever. This completely updated edition, with more than 50 per cent new material, confirms its place as the foundational work on the subject.

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WINNER 1987 - Arthur Ellis Award for Best Non-Fiction

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“Clearly written, thoroughly readable and deliberately free of sociological jargon, [Hunting Humans] is an important contribution to its field and to the public at large.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Leyton has become probably the world’s most widely consulted expert on serial killing — his books are required reading for homicide detectives.”
—Sunday Telegraph

“Fascinating and thought-provoking.”
—Psychology Today

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Elliott Leyton is currently Professor Emeritus at Memorial University in Newfoundland. He holds research and faculty appointments in Ireland and England and is a past president of the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association. His books include Men of Blood, Touched by Fire (with photographer Greg Locke), Dying Hard, and The Myth of Delinquency.

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