Killing for Company: The Story of a Man Addicted to Murder

In February 1983, the drainage system of a London house on Maxwell Hill clogged up. The plumber who arrived discovered a terrible find in the basement—smeared human flesh and bones. The next day, one of the residents named Dennis Nilsen was arrested on suspicion of murder. “Are we talking about one body or two?” the officer asked. “Fifteen or sixteen, starting from 1978. I’ll tell you everything. You have no idea how great it is to talk to someone about it,” Nilsen replied.

Extremely rarely does a killer speak about himself so honestly and thoroughly: his archive is an unprecedented document in the history of criminal murders—so detailed, filled with grim fantasies and shocking specifics. The unique material underlying the book—more than 50 volumes of personal diaries, poems, and drawings—shows the way a maniac thinks, giving him a voice in his own words. Incredibly psychological and shocking, the book plunges you into the inner world of the killer, who, alongside the writer, tries to understand what led him to the point of no return.

The most famous British serial killer, Dennis Nilsen, confessed in 1983 to the murder of 15 people. Suffering from loneliness, he dressed his guests, washed them, watched television with them, and held conversations… but only after their deaths.

This innovative criminal study of a maniac’s psychology was written with the full cooperation of Nilsen himself. The result is a gripping—and horrifying—portrait of a man in love with death.