MASS MURDER II
There’s Erzebet Bathory, the 17th-century countess who bathed in the blood of 650 virgins and was the genesis of many a vampire legend. And Susan Atkins, one of Charlie Manson’s girls. And let’s not forget Lieutenant William Calley, who was sentenced to life in prison (reduced to 40 months of house arrest) for his part in the slaughter at My Lai. Add to these the latest nightmares, from Wisconsin (Jeffrey Dahmer) to Waco (David Koresh), and you have a comprehensive evening of ruminations on bloodshed that makes the throat go a little dry.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Most effective of all, and indeed a possible justification for this evening of tabloid sensationalism, is Charles Glenn’s passionate portrayal of Colin Ferguson, the Jamaican who killed five passengers on an IRT train. Bitterly disillusioned with this American “paradise,” relating himself to Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, he is impotent, well-spoken rage headed toward meltdown. “I know your minds,” he tells us. “I’ve lived in your world. You have never lived in mine.” Warning us of danger to come, this monologue (written by Glenn) sums up a possible source of our fascination with these killers. “It makes you wonder. Makes you want to see the invisible man.”
