This is a list of songs about or referencing serial killers. The songs are divided into groups by the last name of the killer the song is about or mentions.
AâÂÂB
- "Joe Ball was his name" â Macabre
CâÂÂF
GâÂÂJ
- "Harvey Glatman (Your Soul Will Forever Rot)" â Macabre
- "The Sweet Tender Meat Vendor" - Macabre
- "Bella The Butcher" â Macabre
- "Belle Gunness" â Cassius
- "Black Widow of La Porte" â John 5
KâÂÂM
NâÂÂR
- "Dorthea's Dead Folks Home" â Macabre
SâÂÂZ
- "The Ripper Tramp from France" - Macabre
See also
References
Further reading
- Olive W. Burt, American Murder Ballads and their Stories, Oxford University Press, New York, 1958
- Olive W. Burt, "Murder Ballads of Mormondom", Western Folklore, 18:2, April 1959, pp. 141âÂÂ156
- Olive W. Burt, "The Minstrelsy of Murder", Western Folklore, 17:4, October 1958, pp. 263âÂÂ272
- Daniel A. Cohen, "The Beautiful Female Murder Victim: Literary Genres and Courtship Practices in the Origins of a Cultural Motif, 1590âÂÂ1850", Journal of Social History, 31:2, Winter 1997, pp. 277âÂÂ306
- Chet Flippo, "Nashville Skyline: The Subject Was Murder", CMT.com, February 5, 2004
- Will Robinson Sheff, "The Dark Side of Folk: Songs about Murder", Audiogalaxy
- Michael E. Bush, "Murder Ballads in Appalachia", (thesis) Marshal University, Huntington, West Virginia, 1977
- Kenneth D. Tunnel, "99 Years is Almost For Life: Punishment for Violent Crime in Bluegrass Music", The Journal of Popular Culture, 26:3, Winter 1992, pp. 165âÂÂ181
- Ellen L. O'Brien, "THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MURDER": THE TRANSGRESSIVE AESTHETICS OF MURDER IN VICTORIAN STREET BALLADS", Victorian Literature and Culture, 28, 2000, pp. 15âÂÂ37
Further listening (recorded compilations)
- Bloody Ballads: Classic British and American Murder Ballads, Sung by Paul Clayton, Ed. by Kenneth S. Goldstein, Riverside Records, New York, 1956 (includes cover notes)
- Blood Booze 'n Bones, Sung by Ed McCurdy, banjo accompaniment by Erik Darling, Elektra Records, 1956 (includes 12 page booklet)
- Murder Ballads, by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Mute Records, 1996
- Murder Metal, Macabre, 2003 (This band appears to have become known for a death metal variation of the murder ballad)