REVIEW: Ted Bundy - Conversations with a Killer

Ted Bundy: Conversations with a Killer
Author: Stephen G. Michaud & Hugh Aynesworth

I watched the Netflix documentary (Confessions of a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes) and it made me curious about the transcribed conversations in this book. I knew this would be a rough read....but I also knew my curiousity would not be sated until I had this book in my hands.

While killing 30 women (including a 12 year old girl) already proves that Bundy was a cold-blooded killer and crazy.....reading through these rambling, delusional, ridiculous conversations with the serial killer just proves it even further. The man was narcissistic, violent, and completely out of his mind. Michaud and Aynesworth could only get Bundy to talk about the murders by telling him he could speak of the killer in the 3rd person -- letting him pretend some other person did the killing and Bundy had some magical ability to peer into this unknown persons actions, motivations and thoughts. (Reminds me of that bullshit book by OJ Simpson -- If I Did It -- where he recounted exact details from the crime but used 3rd person....like someone else did it. *eyeroll*) The man never admitted what he did, never expressed any remorse, or took any responsibility. Instead, he made strange excuses about pornography, a second personality and things that forced the violent acts.

Chilling. Creepy. Disturbing. I read portions of this book and then re-watched the documentary. The documentary includes audio from the tapes and video of Bundy.....pairing that with the book.....wow. Just a powerful display of violence and depravity. Kudos to these men who spent time with Bundy, pretended to believe his BS, and got him to talk.....it really does give an insight into how his mind worked, how he thought nobody could see past his lies and deceptions (he lied to the authors multiple times during interviews) and how in the end the only thing he felt sorry about was his inevitable end in the electric chair.

I'm glad I read this book as I did learn a lot about a killer's mindset....but, in the end, I'm not sure it was information I truly wanted. Or needed. Ugh. I seriously need to watch some Disney+ and read a cute middle grade book or two....maybe three....to get this out of my head. I just feel drained and a bit creeped out.... So many lives cut short. So many innocent young girls...their short lives ending in absolute terror. What a piece of shit example of humanity. I have my doubts about the justice of the death penalty most of the time. But, if anyone really deserved capital punishment, Bundy's death in the electric chair in 1989 was as close to justice as the victims were ever going to get.

I think I'm going to avoid books on true crime and serial killers for awhile. As Nietzsche said, "If you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.''  I need some sunshine. Enough dark.