
Aka Jon A. Harrald (joint pseudonym with Jonna Gormley Semeiks) Harold Schechter is a true crime writer who specializes in serial killers. He attended the State University of New York in Buffalo, where he obtained a Ph.D. A resident of New York City, Schechter is professor of American literature and popular culture at Queens College of the City University of New York. Among his nonfiction works are the historical true-crime classics Fatal, Fiend, Deviant, Deranged, and Depraved. He also authors a critically acclaimed mystery series featuring Edgar Allan Poe, which includes The Hum Bug and Nevermore and The Mask of Red Death. Schechter is married to poet Kimiko Hahn. He has two daughters from a previous marriage: the writer Lauren Oliver and professor of philosophy Elizabeth Schechter.
An Atlas of American Crime
2025
The Man Who Studied Murder [And Nearly Killed the Comics Industry]
2025
La vera storia di Ed Gein, il «macellaio di Plainfield»
2025
A History of Crime in 100 Objects
2023
True Crime Tales of American Murder and Madness
2022
2021
The Bath School Disaster and the Birth of the Modern Mass Killer
2021
The Shocking True Stories Behind the Movies' Most Memorable Crimes
2020
The Hero, The Hobo, And The Crime That Shocked Jazz Age Chicago
2019
2019
2018
2018
2018
2018
2018
2018
The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men
2018
2015
2015
2014
2014
Famous American Killers You Never Heard Of
2012
Murder, Disgrace, and the Making of an American Legend
2010
A Lively Guide to the Bitter End
2009
An American Anthology
2008
Privilege, Poison, and the Trial That Ushered in the Twentieth Century
2007
2007
2006
A Cultural History of Violent Entertainment
2005
2004
The Who, What, Where, How, and Why of the World's Most Terrifying Murderers
2003
The Poisonous Life of a Female Serial Killer
2003
2001
The Shocking True Story of America's Youngest Serial Killer
2000
2000
1999
The Savage Trail of a True American Monster
1998
1997
1996
1994
The Shocking True Story of America's Most Fiendish Killer
1990
1989
Folklore and Popular Art
1988
50 stories of the quest
1983
Psyche and Symbol in Popular Art
1980