DAHMER WAS AN AMERICAN SERIAL KILLER

In the Dark of Night and Presence of Evil

Night is not frightening without predators like Jeffrey Dahmer

The young boy ran naked through the street, calling for help. An older man walked quickly behind him, begging him to stop.

This is when Tim, an old friend of mine, opened his front door and saw the boy.

He ran out to the kid and asked “What the hell’s going on here?”

That’s when the pastor, clad only in boxers and a bathrobe reached them.

The boy hid behind Tim, who took off his T-shirt and handed it to him.

It was a dark night with only a few streetlights. The old pastor talked fast, and appeared to be sweating.

He wanted the boy back. He was the son of parishioners, he said.

The boy was spending the night at his house, and had a bad dream and ran out of the house.

“Is that true?” Tim asked.

“No,” said the boy, still behind him.

“Where’s his clothes?” asked Tim.

“He was hot,” said the pastor.

That’s when Tim dialed 911.

I probably won’t watch the new mini series about Jeffrey Dahmer on Netflix. If I do, it will be in small bites.

Dahmer was born in 1960, the year after me, and is one of the most disturbing individuals I’ve studied.

For a time in the ’80s, I had a fascination with serial killers. A high school friend was attacked and murdered with her husband as they camped in the California Redwoods. I don’t think the murderer was ever found.

As a person who investigates such mysteries and tries to find answers, I tried learning about serial killers. I learned a bit too much.

First, anyone who murders and mutilates animals as a child needs to be seriously looked at. The exploration of how and why Dahmer got to be such a disgusting and murderous monster is too much for me.

He is what he is. Or he was what he was, rather. He was murdered in prison.

I joined a patriotic women’s group some years back, as my family ancestry places me here in the USA since the Revolutionary War. I found the meetings pretty typical and also, pretty boring.

Women in nice attire, mostly older homemakers, wearing red, white, and blue and participating in community service. I flew out the door in Birkenstocks and blue jeans, and didn’t fit in very well.

At one meeting, a hushed announcement was made about one of the members. She might not be back. Her husband died. Don’t ask how. Don’t say much.

That was a black and white checked starting flag for me. As soon as I got home, I started punching names into my search engine. I soon discovered that while the woman was out of town, her husband had gone cruising a homeless encampment.

He picked up a guy, who he took home. The husband intended they would have sex. Instead, the younger man stabbed him several times, and stole from him. The husband was left in the kitchen, bleeding.

But don’t say anything to his wife.

She moved far away. Who can blame her?

Sometimes teenagers don’t know much about recent history, but there are some events and people they should know about.

They should know about evil, and they should be told about serial killers like Dahmer.

They should know to fight like hell, not accept drinks from new people at the bar. They should be taught.

Even if it includes disgusting themes like necrophilia and cannibalism. A few nightmares are okay if they keep teens away from the Dahmers of the world.

You may disagree. Let me know if you do.

Anyone who lived in Wisconsin in the ’80s no doubt shudders when they turn on Netflix and see the Jeffrey Dahmer photo advertising the mini series.

I viewed part of the first episode. I could only take about five minutes.

Dahmer is washing blood off his hands in his apartment, and grabs a beer out of the fridge and pops it open.

As he walks out of his apartment, an older woman who lives in the apartment next to Dahmer opens her door. She hails him, and he turns around, reluctantly.

In the grimy, dark hall of the building, she asks him what he plans to do about the stench emanating from his apartment.

He stares at her. As the viewer, I am led to imagine he plans to kill her, just to shut her up. She seems to take a slight step back. She’s scared too.

He makes an excuse. Fish in his tank died. Sorry. He’ll deal with it later. Then, he heads out to the gay bar. There, he buys three men beer, and they joke with him.

I turn off the TV. The guys are so nice. They’re dealing with an evil so twisted, so consuming. I can’t bear to watch what happens next.

Apparently, the families of Dahmer’s victims are unhappy with Netflix’s mini series too.

They weren’t even contacted beforehand. That’s a tremendous disrespect of the victims and their families.

My friend Kelli lived in Wisconsin when Dahmer was drugging, killing, and dismembering boys and men.

She says she won’t view the mini series. Most of us alive in the ’80s remember Dahmer too vividly.

As with my friend Tim, a young boy escaped his clutches and ran down an alley. Police found the boy and returned him to Dahmer.

The dumb cops thought the issue was a domestic dispute. The boy was fourteen years old.

The officers, while later fired, did not know the boy would be immediately killed by Dahmer back at the apartment.

The next man to get away was luckier, and escaped Dahmer.

When the victim explained to police Dahmer was going to kill him, they returned with the victim to Dahmer’s apartment.

The cops nearly figured it was another “domestic dispute,” as they had with the previous incident.

Then, polaroid photos of torsos and heads and body parts caught their eye.

Woops! Better call this one in.

It’s a miracle Dahmer wasn’t able to eat himself some policemen. He was proficient with handcuffs and drugs, for sure.

Halloween is a favorite holiday for many people. When it’s twilight, parents take their children out to knock on doors and say “Trick or treat,” and they get candy.

With people like Dahmer in the world, it’s best to go along with them.

It’s best not to stare at your phone and wait in the car.

This autumn day, I don’t want to focus too much on Dahmer, and while I’m not terribly superstitious, I worry about negative energy. Especially this time of the year, when it gets dark early.

May we all avoid such predators. I wish only peace for the families of those so horribly affected by such monsters.

Thanks for reading my story. Here’s one to lift you back up.