Murder mystery

I need to remind myself not to read books about serial killers or watch tv shows like Criminal Minds alone at night right before I go to bed. I tend to freak myself out this way.

Yesterday, I was laid up in bed (or rather, on the couch) with a cold so I decided to read "A Murder in Belmont" by Sebastian Junger, a book about the Boston Strangler. I am fascinated by the Strangler stories. I started reading them a year or so ago when I was visiting my mother in Dracut and I took a book out of the local library on that subject. I never got a chance to finish that book before I had to return it, but the fascination remained. When I saw the Junger book on my friend's bookshelf a few weeks ago, I knew I had to read it.

I've got conflicting emotions while reading this book... On the one hand, I want to yell and scream at the Strangler victims to exercise a little more self-preservation than they had, but I also can't help but wonder if perhaps the killer was just that enigmatic. Maybe they were all just doomed. After all, Ted Bundy was an educated, good looking man who probably disarmed all his victims with only a smile. Perhaps it was the same for the Strangler victims — most of whom were women in their early 60s. Nevermind the fact that the 1960s was a different time; maybe there wasn't as much reason to be concerned for safety as there is today.

In any event, I was reading the Strangler book last night right before I watched two episodes of Criminal Minds, which happened to be right before I decided I wanted to go to bed. By the time I shut the TV off and settled under the covers, I was convinced every sound I heard meant someone was out to get me. This isn't the first time I've felt that way either. Once, while dog-sitting for a friend in a rural neighborhood in Ware, I watched a Criminal Minds marathon right before I decided to take the dog out for his last potty break of the day. It was about 11 p.m. and pitch black outside. I lasted less than three minutes before the shadows (and Barkley's incessant barking) convinced me something sinister was lurking and I made my way back to the relative safety of the house.

I'm all about watching murder mysteries on TV or reading true crime stories about them, but I'm all set with becoming a victim.