Tag Archives: Steve Lillebuen

The Devil’s Cinema: Redux

MELBOURNE — The waiting is over for the paperback edition of The Devil’s Cinema, my non-fiction narrative on the Mark Twitchell “Dexter Killer” case, with the first copies arriving in bookstores all across North America.

This is such an exciting time to see The Devil’s Cinema released once again.

Well, I’m having to enjoy it from afar, since I returned to my home in Melbourne, Australia at the end of the original book tour. I can only imagine what those Canadian and American bookstores are looking like right now.

Since the first edition release I’ve been amazed at how this story continues to fascinate readers from around the world. I’ve received e-mails from Vancouver and Toronto, from Los Angeles, across the Midwest, in Australia, and more. (Feel free to keep sending in questions and I’ll try to post answers here.)

Despite the great run the book has had thus far, there are still so many more readers out there who are yet to discover it. Perhaps they have a friend who just heard about it, or they may recall reading something in the newspaper about the case. This is the exciting part: knowing the book is out there and someone is moments away from discovering it for the first time.

The paperback edition is also a chance for the publisher to share some of the latest book reviews — and to finally reveal an endorsement from fellow journalist and author Stevie Cameron: “A shocking story, rich with detail and full of surprises.”

It’s a great honour and thrill to have her both read and praise my work.

She knows from first-hand experience the difficulties in researching and writing a true crime story. Thankfully, my chosen tale did not turn into a multi-year legal hurdle like hers did.

At least, not yet.

This week also brings further news on the case to be revealed on television, but I’ll have to share more on that later.

Paperback copies of The Devil’s Cinema should be stocked at any good bookstore.

(Also available through many online retailers, and as an eBook.)

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‘Dexter’ star finds Twitchell case ‘horrifying’

MELBOURNE — It is quite refreshing to see actor Michael C. Hall suddenly open up for the first time about the Mark Twitchell “Dexter Killer” case.

For years, US and Canadian media outlets (myself included as the journalist and author researching this case for The Devil’s Cinema) have tried to get more official comment from those involved in the Dexter series.

Requests went unanswered. And in at least one instance, an ABC 20/20 interview was reported to be granted and then cancelled at the last minute.

But now Michael C. Hall, the actor who portrays the fictional serial killer Dexter Morgan, has told CBC Radio’s Jian Ghomeshi about what it’s like having a killer inspired by Dexter as part of the show’s continuing impact on pop culture:

“All I can say to that is, it’s horrifying to entertain the notion that something you did inspired that. I immediately found myself saying, ‘Well, you know, he would have found something else to inspire him,’ but I don’t know.

“To be perfectly honest, it’s a troubling thing to consider.”

He said the case won’t make him think about quitting the show, and he hoped people saw the series as being more good than bad:

“I don’t think it is a primer on serial killing or it advocates the lifestyle.

“I would hope that people’s appreciation was more than some sort of fetishization with the kill scenes. …

“I wouldn’t stop making ‘Dexter’ because someone was fascinated by it only in that way. I try to tell myself that their fixated nature would have done it one way or the other.

“But it seems that ‘Dexter’ had something to do with it. It’s horrifying.”

Hall’s responses have also been picked up by major media outlets.

Personally, I can only imagine how distressing it must have been to work for years on creating or portraying a complicated character only to have Twitchell transform it into something so sinister, forcing your work to forever be associated with a murder. Continue reading

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The Question of Mark Twitchell …

MELBOURNE — One of the best questions from the audience at my Melbourne talk on The Devil’s Cinema and the “Dexter Killer” case involved my direct contact with Mark Twitchell.

“How did your interaction with him change the scope of your book, and how would the book have been different without his participation?” one reader asked.

I think this question strikes at the very core of what I was hoping to achieve: a narrative that peered deep into the minds of everyone involved.

Continue reading

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