We’re obsessed with murder.
Murders in the building, on the Orient Express, in the Rue Morgue. From Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot to Steve Martin’s Charles Haden-Savage, murder detectives are among the most celebrated of fictional characters.
But nothing captivates like true crime, whether we’re a shocked and outraged member of the audience or an amateur sleuth trying to get to the bottom of things.
Chicago historian Clarence Goodman gives all kinds of presentations, from talks about the Black Sox to a look at the Kennedys in Chicago, but when the topic is murder, “the place is packed.”
Goodman, a musician and radio personality, presents “A Killer Among Us (Part 2): Killers, Stalkers, and Creeps of Chicago’s Modern Era” at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 14 at the Tinley Park Public Library. And, same as Part 1 a year ago, he expects the audience to take notes and ask lots of questions.
“The obsession with murder in this country is something I have been acutely aware of ever since I got into this about 20 years ago,” Goodman said. He started as a tour guide covering all kinds of topics in Chicago history but whenever the subject turned to grisly killings, he said, “people hang on every word.”
According to a recent YouGov poll, 57% of Americans say they consume true-crime content. Popularity is high across all demographics, but mostly among women under age 65.
It’s not just an entertaining topic, the poll reveals, “it is seen by many Americans as having the potential to change how people understand crime and the criminal-justice system.”
More than half of the fans say true-crime entertainment makes people more vigilant and safety-conscious, improves understanding of the criminal justice system, increases empathy with victims, and helps to solve cases that wouldn’t have been solved otherwise, the poll states.
Goodman says women are the biggest fans, perhaps because throughout history they have been extraordinarily marginalized and mistreated by a lot of men. And most often, men are the ones doing the killing.
“Maybe that’s the root of the fascination,” he said. “Women and gay men seem to be the most common victims.”
Goodman said, “Maybe our fascination with death begins as little children. But then we learn about murder, about taking someone’s life, about exerting that control, imposing one’s will and power on another person.
“The most arrogant act in the world is killing another human being,” he said.
Goodman divides his coverage of killers into three distinct presentations: The Gilded Age killers, from the notorious H.H. Holmes to organized crime; the post-War 1940s and on, which features the horrendous acts of John Wayne Gacy, Richard Speck and The Unabomber; and political/social manifestos, the people who serial and mass kill from a distance using rifles and bombs.
At the Tinley presentation, he will focus on the second school of Chicago-area serial killers — killers of the modern era.
Beginning in post-war 1940s, he said, there has been an incredible timeline of murders in this country, almost always with a Chicago thread.
John Wayne Gacy, Richard Speck, Theodore Kaczynski will be discussed, as will Ed Gein, Wisconsin serial killer upon whom “Psycho,” “Silence of the Lambs” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” were based.
Goodman, who gives his presentations at Chicago-area libraries and retirement homes, says he isn’t trying to be the definitive voice, just one of the many delving into dark matter.
“People like to do their own digging, they get more excited about it. I want to get people excited about this, explain to them why this city is important. Among all the wonderful things Chicago gave us, it also gave us this,” he said.
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Why Chicago?
Goodman said, “It came of age during the Industrial Revolution. It blossomed like no other city in American history hitherto. So many people from so many different walks of life. It grew from a mudhole to a megalopolis overnight practically.
“The biggest confidante the serial killer has is anonymity granted by cities of a million or more people,” he said.
In a town of a million or more, it’s easy to go unnoticed, he said. It’s easy to not care about neighbors.
In addition to the Tinley gig, Goodman will present “A Tale of Two Chicagos: The White City and the Murder Castle of Englewood” at the Helen Plum Memorial Library in Lombard on Oct. 1.
For more information on these events and others, go to his website at clarencegoodman.wixsite.com/clarencegoodman or visit his Facebook page www.facebook.com/MusicAndChicagoStuff.
Is he ever taken aback by the evergreen popularity of Chicago’s most notorious stories?
“I understand the interest,” he said. He opens his presentations with a brief explanation of what he’s going to talk about: the most horrific killings.
Then he scans the audience and, seeing everyone on the edge of their seats, chuckles and asks, “What’s wrong with all of you?”
Donna Vickroy is an award-winning reporter, editor and columnist who worked for the Daily Southtown for 38 years. She can be reached at [email protected].