Nov

26

Building the serial killer fan in me

Posted by dexterfan

November 26, 2008 |

Ever feel any guilt for liking Dexter? Here’s a show where the hero kills, and quite often. Why do we root for Dexter Morgan?

Is there something attractive about the serial killer? Something intriguing about someone so far outside normal human behavior?

Back when I was 10, my parents took me and my sister to see John Carpenter’s Halloween at the movies. OK. So that probably wasn’t the soundest judgment by my parents. But in their defense, my sister and I had always loved scary movies. We just hadn’t seen a movie quite as scary as Halloween.

I can’t speak for my sister, but the film fascinated me. Completely. I remember being amazed at the killer in that movie, Michael Myers, who just kept getting up no matter what anyone threw at him. Remember, this was long before the indestructible killer become a cliche’ in horror movies. I was also amazed by the sense of pure dread that Carpenter soaked his film with. Even the daytime scenes contained shocks, and that’s no easy feat to pull off. The movie’s signature musical theme, it goes without saying, was great, too.

I did sleep for a week with the lights on after watching the movie. But I never forgot it. Nor did I ever lose my taste for horror and the monsters of the movies.

Dexter Morgan is a different kind of Michael Myers. He kills for a purpose. He’s certainly not invulnerable. But he’s every bit as resourceful. And he’s every bit as fascinating.

Decades of stylish, frightening horror movies have prepared us for Dexter Morgan. It’s little wonder that we root for him.


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