Buried Dreams: Inside The Mind Of A Serial Killer (1986) - Plot & Excerpts
Whoo-wee John Wayne Gacy was fucked UP, if you didn't already know. I feel like I need to wash my brain pan out with bleach after finishing this.The style is the main problem I have with this, written in third person in the "voice" Gacy would have used were he writing about... himself.... in third person. It was just weird, and while it may have given me a much better idea of his personality, it was just a bizarre way to write a biography or true crime book, and I think a book like this can't really be used for reference in research, it's too much like a novel, more so than any other true crime I've read. "In understanding the crimes committed by John Wayne Face, I found it was necessary to learn to think like John Wayne Gacy. This is neither pleasant for entirely healthy. We are diving into some dark and chilly psychic waters here. The reader may feel claustrophobic, may feel trapped inside the killer's mind, as I did in writing this book." Hahahahahaha!!!!That being said, the writer is very talented, and the preview of the author's "new" book, in 1987, makes me actually want to see if it's still in print. Other points of interest: Gacy was ALMOST a priest, which wouldn't be very surprising. "'You bite my dick and I'll cut your fucking balls off,' he says, and this makes him smile again: it is another hollow joke, hauled up out of darkness like some eyeless and primitive thing found in a fisherman's net.""In the male homosexual, the doctor said, 'there is the obvious elimination of the castration fear because... the sexual partner has a fetish, and you are not threatened by the idea of a penisless object..." HAHAHAHAHAH."The necrophiliac 'tends to collect corpses as a fetishism expression of necrophilia and as a way of assuring himself of the fact that people love him. He has... all these bodies, people who supposedly loved him and cared for him and then he feels better... because he has... representations of a lot of people that care for him." Uh, ok.Here's the funniest one. "Some of the jurors were looking back -- the guy with the moustache, the blond-haired guy John figured was 'liberal' because he was blond..." That's so funny to me for some reason.
Before I read this book I had been familiar with Tim Cahill's writing for Outside magazine. I'm not really sure what drew me to read this account of the horrific crimes of John Wayne Gacy, but in some respects I wish I had not. During the period I read this I was interested in what made these type of killers tick, but I don't know if that's even possible. Cahill is a fine writer and maybe that part of the problem. Scenes from this book that I'd rather forget still come back to me sometimes. The true crimes of John Wayne Gacy are more disturbing than anything Stephen King could think up. These days movies like Hostel and Saw seem to indicate that people are now entertained by sadistic torture. The current entertainment value of torture, ultimate fighting and war disturbs me as much as having to read the accounts of Gacy burying boys in his basement.
What do You think about Buried Dreams: Inside The Mind Of A Serial Killer (1986)?
First off, I want to commend Tim Cahill's writing. He made this book a good read for me. Basically, Buried Dreams is about John Wayne Gacy -- all the hows and whys of the crime that he did. The book is like a really, really long police report. It talked about the probable cause of John's actions, his feelings towards it, why he did it, how he did it, his secrets, the crawlspace, etc. I was annoyed reading this what with all the contradicting thoughts Gacy was giving. Also, I couldn't really bring myself to believe everything written in this book. Some or most of it could be lies. I mean, the only direct source of information here is Gacy, the criminal himself. He could be lying for all we know. Trying to outsmart everyone for one last time.
—Ben
I really enjoyed the fact that Tim Cahill didn't not try to go for the sensational/marketing aspect most of those serial killers books are going for. I would say he probably took on the job without prior judgments, and this can be felt in his writing. Yet, this is a profoundly disturbing book, as it manages to really get "into the mind of a serial killer", and dwell with all of its complexities and layers. This book would be a good recommendation for students in psychology more than criminology actually.
—Carolyne Borel
