Page 43 of The New House

‘And you’ve figured out a way to make that happen.’

‘Yes,’ she says. ‘I have.’

SETtalks | psychologies series

Science♦Entertainment♦Technology

Inside the mind of a psychopath |Original Air Date 9 July

The transcript below has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Let’s get back to the Glass House Murders, because I know that’s why you’re really here.

Well, I take issue with whether any of them were actuallymurders, but we’ll come back to that.

You want the gory details, don’t you? You want to climb inside my mind and know what it’s like to break the ultimate taboo: to kill another human being.

I’m not going to judge you for that.

It’s fascinating to engage with our deviant capabilities and watch what human beings are willing to do when morality’s taken out of the equation, isn’t it?

And trust me, we’reallcapable of killing someone.

You know that as well as I do. It’s why you’re addicted to true crime television and murder mysteries: you’re fascinated by your own dark side. WatchingThe Ted Bundy Tapesis like driving past a car crash: hard to look at, but even harder to look away.

Come on, admit it. You get a secret thrill when you’re driving down the motorway and you see flashing lights and ambulances on the other side of the crash barrier. You hate yourself for it, but it doesn’t stop you slowing to a crawl so you can get a good look, just in case there’s a bloody corpse sprawled across all that twisted metal.

Bizarre, isn’t it? I don’t suppose many of you actually get off on crime scene photos, but you still crane your neck looking for gore. Because it’scathartic.

There but for the grace of God.

And you’re here for the same reason.

I look like one of you, don’t I? Even now you’re asking yourselves how someone like me could have done something likethat.

Being here, listening to me, is like interacting with your darkest thoughts, the ones you usually do your best to ignore. Because society tells you they’re taboo, which only makes them more exciting.

You know the ones I’m talking about.

But that nagging little voice at the back of your head, yourconscience, makes you shy away from the very idea almost as soon as it takes shape.

Honestly, I don’t know how you neuro-typicals manage. It must be like having tinnitus or one of those ear-worm songs you can’t get out of your head.

But when you watch a slasher movie, or read a novel about a serial killer, you finally get to indulge the greedy, voyeuristic parts of your soul you like to pretend aren’t there.

And you know what? It’sgoodfor you.

Seriously. A nice juicy murder-by-proxy gives you a hearty adrenaline rush from the comfort of your own home. It’s the same buzz you get when you ride a roller-coaster.

It’s evolution looking out for you. Back on the plains of the Serengeti, you needed to kick things into high gear the moment you sensed a threat. So your body would release adrenaline, which increased your heart rate and respiration and sent oxygen and energy to your muscles to ready you for fight or flight.

These days we don’t often have to worry about sabre-toothed tigers or sharks or poisonous vipers – well, not unless we go into politics.

[Laughter]

The stressesweface are whether we can make the rent this month, or if we’re going to hang onto our job.

But our bodies haven’t evolved to keep up and so they still go into adrenal overdrive if we perceive a threat, real or not. Your survival instinct isn’t able to do what it was designed to. Which means now and again we need to give our bodies a reboot and reallyfeelthe fear.

---