FLINT, Michigan — What's a spooky season without some chilling insights from a real-life famous criminologist and serial killer expert? If you’re intrigued by the dark and deranged, mark your calendars for this Saturday, Oct. 19 at 8 p.m. Dr. Scott Bonn, podcaster, author, and profiler is bringing his
serial killers show to the
FIM Capitol Theatre.
His educational and entertaining presentation delves deeper into the differences between psychopaths and sociopaths, and how nature and nurture can impact someone’s life for better or worse.
The author of “Why We Love Serial Killers: The Curious Appeal of the World’s Most Savage Murderers” has also appeared on true crime T.V. shows on A&E, Discovery Network, Oxygen, Investigation Discovery, and more.
Now, he’s bringing his 90-minute show to Flint for one night only. Dr. Bonn will help audiences understand why our culture has a fascination with morbid true crimes and serial killers including Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer, and host a Q&A with attendees.
“I look at serial killers not only from the perspective of forensic psychology and inside their minds, but I look at them as part of the fabric of our popular culture,” he says. “I look at why certain individuals like Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer have become almost ingrained in our popular cultures to such an extent that when someone is looking for an example of evil, it’s one of their names that comes up.”
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Dr. Scott Bonn.
Dr. Bonn is a former college professor, but now works full-time with his production company, touring the country with his speaking tour. In addition to his educational background, he also has an extensive media and communications background.
His latest endeavor weaves all of these interests and experiences together. The interactive show includes audio, video, in-depth case history, and personal interactions with notorious killers from the 20th and 21st centuries.
“I’m talking about individuals that are pretty much almost household names like David Berkowitz, the infamous son of Sam who terrorized New York City, Dennis Rader who called himself ‘bind, torture, kill) and the alleged Long Island Serial Killer,” he says. “I go into very in-depth descriptions and discussions of my interactions with these individuals.”
The second act of the show includes a live Q&A with audience members. Each city results in a different unique show because of the varying questions from the avid true crime fans in the audience, says Dr. Bonn. The host says he typically gets hundreds of questions submitted during the show.
True crime is a subject matter that continues to enthrall, hooking in viewers and listeners via TV shows, podcasts, movies, Netflix documentaries, or books.
“I recently saw a statistic that 65% of Americans are very interested in the true crime genre, and consume it in some way. The interest in true crime is not new, in the United States, it goes back to serial killers in the 19th century with H.H. Holmes terrorizing Chicago. At roughly the same time, Jack the Ripper was loose in London. Both of these individuals captivated the public imagination and fear at that time.”
Dr. Bonn says his audiences are typically 75% women who are particularly interested in the subject matter. Although the public interest is not a new phenomenon, what is newer is the immediate access to a wealth of information regarding these cases, crimes, and creatures that go bump in the night.
With the internet, true crime fans can become web sleuths in real-time following investigations, providing information and clues to peers and even the police.
With that instantaneous spread of information, lies, misinformation, and conspiracy theories can quickly follow. Dr. Bonn aims to combat this with his educational show. The show is recommended for mature audiences and is designed to answer questions about serial killers and murders.
“This show is designed to debunk myths, but at the same time, it’s very highly entertaining and it’s based upon my own experience. It’s unique, you’re not going to find this information or this experience anywhere else. It is true crime, but it’s true crime entertainment, but meant to be delivered in a responsible way.”
Tickets are available online, at the FIM Ticket Center box office at FIM Whiting Auditorium and FIM Capitol Theatre, or by calling 810-237-7333.
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