Got into a discussion recently about serial killers. These conversations inevitably end up as a sort of trivia session about what a given serial killer said/did that few people know about. I've probably spent too much of my life researching these things, so I tend to do pretty well in those situations.

Here's a few "for instance" trivia notes :

- Richard Ramirez never broke into a single home. In every case, he simply found an unlocked door and walked in. Even at the height of the investigation, where SoCal residents were told about his crimes and asked to be cautious, he could almost always find one unlocked door in a house.

- Richard Chase also never broke into a house. He took locked doors as a sign that "[he] was not welcome there".

- Jeffrey Dahmer was pulled over just after his first murder, but the cop took his overwhelming nervousness as him being "a very polite boy, scared of getting in trouble" and let him off with a warning, without checking the trunk that was stuffed with freshly dismembered corpse.

- Charles Manson was considered a worthwhile musician with an interesting message by Brian Wilson (of The Beach Boys) and a producer friend of Brian's who said "I was enthralled with the whole Manson package" and had wanted to cut an album with him. As a matter of fact - Brian Wilson even let Manson and "the family" stay at his home for several months to work on their album.

- John Wayne Gacy was given Secret Service clearance by Rosalyn Carter (who autographed a photo of the two of them together), and Ted Bundy was given the Key to the City of Seattle after helping promote numerous political campaigns.

Few people know that Jeffrey Dahmer's own father wrote a book about raising little Jeffrey. The title of that book was "A Father's Story".

Other titles considered :

- "Don't look at me. Have you seen that mother of his? Talk about a piece of work!"

- "Maybe letting him perform taxidermy on small animals at 6 years old was a bad idea, in hindsight"

- "I'm Pretty Sure the Wife Lied To Me About Being the Father"

- "Let's Talk About Hitler's Dad While We're At It"

- "Oops. (and Other Tales of Parenting Mishaps)"

- "How To Make A Serial Killer (and Become a NYT Bestselling Author When Writing About It)"

- "Next Time, I'll Do Better"

- "Hey, Your Kid's No Prize, Either"

- "Why Abortion Should Remain Legal"

You're likely to see a few of these mini-posts pop up as I work on material for some upcoming gigs (including one tomorrow night) and need a break to write ridiculous shit.