Detective Magazines

by Cerberus
 
In a last minute interview just before his execution, Theodore Robert Bundy made a two-hour declaration: That porn and detective magazines, since he was a young boy, fueled the violent fantasies that were to later become impulsive, deadly realities. Many average, normal citizens scoff at this idea; that violence in media can play a crucial role in warping young minds. And while it is true that most of society may not be affected in such a way, I for one, can see clearly that minds not properly reigned in, can travel to risky, even catastrophic places. Now, despite being vehemently opposed to censorship, I can understand that certain discretion should be put in to place, pertaining to the things that the media, due to our culture, bombards us with.

 I watched the video of Ted Bundy’s death-row interview, as well as reading ‘Conversations w/ A Killer’, the book written from the interview of Bundy upon his final capture. While the ‘experts’ debunked Ted’s theories of  possession by porn, they showed still images of old Detective magazines, as well as old  DC comics detective stories, these publications now thoroughly  banned. One of these experts, citing that he grew up in the same neighborhood as Bundy, denied, as Bundy claimed, that these magazines could be found in your pharmacy or grocery store. I, however can remember back to when I was a little kid, and I know just the magazines he was talking about!

 Every drug store, and most grocery stores had magazine racks with HUGE sections of True Crime/Detective magazines. Now, I had a pretty thorough exposure to Playboy by age six(thanks to the attic of my friend Jeff’s father, who must’ve had every single issue hidden behind a secret door at the bottom of his closet!), and magazines such as those were obviously safeguarded from minors behind the counter. But, these detective magazines, even to my mind of age 6-7 years old, seemed extremely erotic in their intent, because every single one, without fail, had, on the cover, some beautiful, young girl, scantily-clad, in some compromising position, getting drooled on, tortured, and killed by some psychopath! And, needless to say, when moms wasn’t on the scene, I was steadily perusing those mags looking for naughty pictures!.....Now, if you are too young to remember these publications, just imagine your local pharmacy or supermarket having a magazine stand that was, say, 50% detective magazines!, and, if they were harmless, as some of these ‘experts’ have claimed, well then why were they banned???