A story through the eyes of a killer

I, for one, would read that.
As for your question, there are many novels/stories that attract through the means of a well-developped villain. If people hate him enough, they will keep reading just to see if he eventually gets his punishment.

From third person? Hm. I'm sure it's been done, but the only examples I can think of--A Clockwork Orange, American Psycho, various Stephen King shorts--are all in first. I'll have to get back to you.

But yeah, there's totally a market for it.

I agree with Andieee and Rhoda... it is doable and there is certainly a market for it. There may be inherent issues with trying to remain in an exclusive third person POV (limited vs omniscient?). OTOH, you could have a character find a journal or diary of the serial killer that offers unanticipated insights into the twisted rationalization of a warped psyche. That would allow you to craft a balanced perspective of first and third person POVs.

It's your tale; you decide what it needs.

sophiabegum1980 said:

Hello

I have an idea for a horror story, with the story being told through the eyes of the killer, in a 3rd person limited POV.

Would this be more difficult to attract publishers with, as a result of the killer being cruel and unsympathetic, and a character that most people would hate?

In most novels, the reader has to be able to sympathise with the protagonist, right? I understand why, but I still believe I have good reasons to write this story.

I hope I'm making sense.

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I sold one mystery story to Ellery Queen that was told through the eyes of the killer, and a second is in the works. The first one was brutal, and there was no way in the world for any reader, other than a complete psychopath, to empathize with the protagonist in any way.

He murders his teenage, pregnant girlfriend by getting her drunk and placing her on a railroad. He then successfully blames it on his best friend. He tells the story years later, while munching on strawberries his wife brought back from the grocery, so readers know he never did get caught.

Not much for any reader to like there.

I'm working on a horror story with a different plot, and with horror trappings, but the same basic premise.

ironmikezero said:

There may be inherent issues with trying to remain in an exclusive third person POV (limited vs omniscient?)..

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What issues? Third person limited is the norm, regardless of who the character is.

There's definitely been enough media from the villain's perspective that I think there's a market for it. Just as a recent example, Elijah Wood was in a film called Maniac where he was a serial killer that was filmed entirely from his point of view.

As far as the POV, I'm of the opinion that first person is the best for a situation like this. Especially with a killer, it allows you to really get inside the warped psyche of the main character and know their exact rationale for everything they're doing.

But then again, I don't think I've ever read a third person story with the villain as the main character. I'm sure it's been done. Was American Psycho third person? I've heard nothing but good things about that.

Jamesaritchie said:

What issues? Third person limited is the norm, regardless of who the character is.

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Dunno yet, Jim... He has yet to write it...

OH! Just thought of this--gah, and I just read it too, which makes me wonder how I overlooked it: Red Dragon by Thomas Harris. It's actually multiple POVs, but one of them is the killer, and it's in 3rd. I would assume his other books with Hannibal Lecter are similar, but that's the only one I've read so far.

Rhoda Nightingale said:

From third person? Hm. I'm sure it's been done, but the only examples I can think of--A Clockwork Orange, American Psycho, various Stephen King shorts--are all in first. I'll have to get back to you.

But yeah, there's totally a market for it.

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The issue might be how subtle and clever you have to be and how you may have to be able to control your impulses when writing about it. Writing something through the perspective of someone that most writing fans don't want to identify with is something I would never really attempt.

Ah, A Clockwork Orange! That's one that I've read that was great.

One think I would suggest here, don't get too hung up on worrying about whether or not the killer is sympathetic or not. He's the killer! While you may be making him the protagonist, he's still the villain. Most killers aren't Dexter Morgan, killing off other serial killers preying on the weak, they ARE preying on the weak. They're bad people, and the people reading aren't going to want to sympathise with them, they're going to want to know why they're doing the evil things they're doing.

Cody Lane said:

Ah, A Clockwork Orange! That's one that I've read that was great.

One think I would suggest here, don't get too hung up on worrying about whether or not the killer is sympathetic or not. He's the killer! While you may be making him the protagonist, he's still the villain. Most killers aren't Dexter Morgan, killing off other serial killers preying on the weak, they ARE preying on the weak. They're bad people, and the people reading aren't going to want to sympathise with them, they're going to want to know why they're doing the evil things they're doing.

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I do usually try to show what turned the character into a killer. I like empathy, which is really just making the reader say, "You know, if those things had happened to me, or if I were raised that way, I might be doing the same kind of thing this maniac murderer is doing."

But now and then I love writing a story where nothing happened that should have turned killer into what he now is. He's the characters who bad at birth, and got worse with every passing day.

Have you ever read Bad Seed, by William March. Or watched the movie? In some ways this is the scariest book, and the scariest movie, I've ever had the pleasure to read or watch.


Or Ray Bradbury's The Small Assassin?

You can watch The Small Assassin from Ray Bradbury Theater on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwohy0Cq008

The first half of my draft actually is through the eyes of a killer, but I'm willing to change the whole story to third person with a focus on his victims if I decide it works better. I probably will end up doing that, and instead convert the first person parts into a journal or something. The problem with having the story from the killer's perspective is that it will [probably] ruin any mystery aspect you [may] want to incorporate. I'm leaning towards excising the first person part of my story in order to make his story and purpose a surprise. The twist can make the story much better, after all.

But I guess I can get away with that, since my story isn't a typical crime drama but rather a horror with paranormal (afterlife/alien) aspects. Yours may work out better with the killer narrating.

Oh, I forgot to mention that The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith is in third person from the perspective of Tom Ripley, and that novel is considered a classic!

Much of this one is explained through the mind and words of the actual killer, the perceptive empathy of the detective trying to profile him as well:

The Bride Collector - by Ted Dekker

It has been awhile but I think Hannibal Rising tells the story in the fashion you are looking for.

It can certainly be done, and there certainly seems to be a market for it.

The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson is a good one told from the point of a rather nasty character (though it's in first person). What makes that one interesting is that there are some places where it's difficult not to empathize with the guy, which made it even scarier in my opinion.

I certainly would read a story like that. People wouldn't sympathize with the character, but a story written with the villain as the protagonist has been done many times before. I would read it just to see if I can get in the warped head of the villain, and to see if he receives justice at the end.

Depending on how you do it, you could even create some empathy for this type of character. I did something like this for a short story I wrote a long time back. The protagonist is basically a woman who was betrayed by her girlfriend, and decides to poison her. Some of the people that critiqued the story said they actually felt somewhat sorry for my MC even though, to be honest, she was a psychotic bitch. I wrote it in 1st person though, so I think that affected their perceptions somewhat.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that just because the protagonist does some pretty messed up stuff doesn't mean the he's completely unsympathetic. It really depends on how you write it, and what kind of character he is, and his motivations and background.

The difficulty here is that classical horror is meant to be scary. Fear involves the unknown. I cannot be afraid of someone when I am reading their thoughts.

That being said, Poppy Z Brite's Exquisite Corpse already did this.
It wasn't frightening, but the sexual deviance made it a fun read.

Necrophilia isn't dead, it's alive and well in my backyard.

Rotes said:

The difficulty here is that classical horror is meant to be scary. Fear involves the unknown. I cannot be afraid of someone when I am reading their thoughts.

That being said, Poppy Z Brite's Exquisite Corpse already did this.
It wasn't frightening, but the sexual deviance made it a fun read.

Necrophilia isn't dead, it's alive and well in my backyard.

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I don't think anything on earth is more frightening than the thoughts of a cold-blooded killer, unless it's the completely emotionless killer.

Monsters don't scare me, people do, and the workings of a maniacal, cold-blooded mind scares me to death because I know it's real, and I could walk into it's path any day or night.

Check out Least of My Scars by Stephen Graham Jones

DMcLeod said:

Check out Least of My Scars by Stephen Graham Jones

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Yo. D.

Welcome to AW. That said this is a two year old thread. I'm going to suggest before you post you check the dates on the threads you're responding to. A lot of people will have moved on and most of the rest won't care.

So, I'ma close this one for now.