In “American Psycho,” the twenty-six-year-old zombie Patrick Bateman works at a large firm, where he makes money and bullies his secretary. In his free time he goes to the solarium, to the gym, and visits elite entertainment venues, where he devours delicacies, sniffs cocaine, and swallows tranquilizers. At some point, his mind begins to mutate, and he starts methodically killing homeless people, prostitutes, children, and in the end his coworkers. People around him, completely absorbed by food, clothing, and other attributes of material well-being, notice nothing—and Bateman’s atrocities remain unpunished.