118-633: American Psycho is a satirical horror novel by American writer Bret Easton Ellis , published in 1991. The story is told in the first-person by Patrick Bateman , a wealthy, narcissistic, vain Manhattan investment banker who lives a double life as a serial killer . Alison Kelly of The Observer notes that while "some countries [deem it] so potentially disturbing that it can only be sold shrink-wrapped", "critics rave about it" and "academics revel in its transgressive and postmodern qualities". A film adaptation starring Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman
236-494: A Cheerio interviewed on a talk show, being stalked by an anthropomorphic park bench, and finding a bone in his Dove Bar . At the end of the story, Bateman confronts Carnes about the message he left on his machine, only to find the attorney amused at what he considers a hilarious joke. Mistaking Bateman for another colleague, Carnes claims that the Patrick Bateman he knows is too much of a coward to have committed such acts. In
354-404: A "mean and lean horror comedy classic". Ellis said, "American Psycho was a book I didn't think needed to be turned into a movie", as "the medium of film demands answers", which would make the book "infinitely less interesting". The film received generally positive reviews. A direct-to-video sequel, American Psycho 2 , was released and directed by Morgan J. Freeman . This film was not based on
472-436: A consumer world built on capitalism as people see in today's American society. Citing the many bodies that are never found, Henry Bean wonders "is it possible that the murders themselves never occurred?" He continues: The novel subtly and relentlessly undercuts its own authority, and because Bateman, unlike, say, Nabokov 's unreliable narrators, does not hint at a "truth" beyond his own delusions, American Psycho becomes
590-537: A copy was discovered in Bernardo's bedroom. The Toronto Sun reported that Bernardo "read it as his 'bible ' ", though it turned out it actually belonged to his wife and accomplice Karla Homolka ; it is unlikely Bernardo ever read it. During the Duke lacrosse case , a team member named Ryan McFayden sent a profane email to several of his teammates alleging he was going to kill and skin some strippers. The administrators asserted
708-423: A grand sweeping indictment of yuppie culture. It initiated because of my own isolation and alienation at a point in my life. I was living like Patrick Bateman. I was slipping into a consumerist kind of void that was supposed to give me confidence and make me feel good about myself but just made me feel worse and worse and worse about myself. That is where the tension of American Psycho came from. It wasn't that I
826-451: A high degree of life," whereas horror is described as that which "freezes and nearly annihilates them." Modern scholarship on horror fiction draws upon a range of sources. In their historical studies of the gothic novel, both Devendra Varma and S. L. Varnado make reference to the theologian Rudolf Otto , whose concept of the " numinous " was originally used to describe religious experience. A recent survey reports how often horror media
944-599: A long lag between the initial emergency and actual SWAT deployment on the ground. The problems of delayed police response at Columbine led to changes in police response, mainly rapid deployment of line officers to deal with an active shooter, rather than setting up a perimeter and waiting for SWAT to arrive. SWAT teams use equipment designed for a variety of specialist situations including close-quarters combat (CQC) in an urban environment. The particular pieces of equipment vary from unit to unit, but there are some consistent trends in what they wear and use. Much of their equipment
1062-423: A monster created by consumer culture. This, combined with sex, violence, drugs, and other desires of the id , is how Bateman enacts his sociopathic violence in a superficial world. Bateman's episodes of schizophrenia also shows clear signs on how he copes with being an affluent person living in a superficial world, fashioned on consumerism . As described by the critic Jennifer Krause in her intertextual analysis of
1180-575: A place to host and kill more victims. Bateman's control over his violent urges deteriorates. His murders become increasingly sadistic and complex, progressing from simple stabbings to drawn-out sequences of rape , torture, mutilation , cannibalism , and necrophilia , and his grasp on sanity begins to slip. He introduces stories about serial killers into casual conversations and on several occasions openly confesses his murderous activities to his coworkers, who never take him seriously, do not hear what he says, or misunderstand him completely—for example, hearing
1298-414: A promotion for the film, one could register to receive e-mails "from" Patrick Bateman, supposedly to his therapist. The e-mails, written by a writer attached to the film and approved by Ellis, follow Bateman's life since the events of the film. American Psycho premiered at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival where it was touted as the next Fight Club . The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) gave
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#17328524278571416-430: A sense similar to the reason a person seeks out the controlled thrill of a roller coaster , readers in the modern era seek out feelings of horror and terror to feel a sense of excitement. However, Barrette adds that horror fiction is one of the few mediums where readers seek out a form of art that forces themselves to confront ideas and images they "might rather ignore to challenge preconceptions of all kinds." One can see
1534-761: A shooter in the Winnetka neighborhood of Los Angeles led to the first line-of-duty death of a member of the LAPD's SWAT team in its 41 years of existence. Radley Balko , an analyst for the libertarian Cato Institute , argued in his book Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America that increased SWAT raids have made no-knock raids , and danger to innocents and suspects, far greater. Another study, Warrior Cops: The Ominous Growth of Paramilitarism in American Police Departments by Diane Cecilia Weber, also of
1652-509: A shootout, as happened in Austin with Charles Whitman . After the LAPD's establishment of its own SWAT team, many law enforcement agencies in United States established their own specialized units under various names. Gates explained in his autobiography Chief: My Life in the LAPD that he neither developed SWAT tactics nor the associated and often distinctive equipment; but that he supported
1770-623: A single dedicated SWAT vehicle. By illustration, the LAPD's website shows that in 2003, their SWAT units were activated 255 times for 133 SWAT calls and 122 times to serve high-risk warrants. The NYPD 's Emergency Service Unit is one of the few police special-response units that operate autonomously 24 hours a day. However, this unit also provides a wide range of services in addition to SWAT functions, including search and rescue, and car accident vehicle extrication, normally handled by fire departments or other agencies. The need to summon widely dispersed personnel, then equip and brief them, makes for
1888-406: A small select group of volunteer officers. This first SWAT unit initially consisted of fifteen teams of four men each, making a total staff of sixty. These officers were given special status and benefits, and were required to attend special monthly training sessions. The unit also served as a security unit for police facilities during civil unrest. The LAPD SWAT units were organized as "D Platoon" in
2006-408: A story intends to shock and disgust, but the best horror intends to rattle our cages and shake us out of our complacency. It makes us think, forces us to confront ideas we might rather ignore, and challenges preconceptions of all kinds. Horror reminds us that the world is not always as safe as it seems, which exercises our mental muscles and reminds us to keep a little healthy caution close at hand. In
2124-518: A strike that would last over five years from 1965 to 1970. Though the strike never turned violent, the Delano Police Department responded by forming ad-hoc SWAT-type units involving crowd and riot control, sniper skills, and surveillance. Television news stations and print media carried live and delayed reportage of these events across the United States. Personnel from the LAPD, having seen these broadcasts, contacted Delano and inquired about
2242-624: A surgical mask in anticipation of the decomposing bodies he expects to encounter. He enters the perfectly clean, refurbished apartment, however, filled with strong-smelling flowers meant, perhaps, to conceal a bad odor. The real estate agent, who sees his surgical mask, fools him into stating he was attending the apartment viewing because he "saw an ad in the Times " (when in fact there was no such advertisement). She tells him to leave and never return. Bateman's mental state continues to deteriorate and he begins to experience bizarre hallucinations such as seeing
2360-594: A threat to public safety which would otherwise exceed the capabilities of traditional law enforcement first responders and/or investigative units. According to the Historical Dictionary of Law Enforcement , the term "SWAT" was used as an acronym for the "Special Weapons and Tactics" established as a 100-man specialized unit in 1964 by the Philadelphia Police Department in response to an alarming increase in bank robberies . The purpose of this unit
2478-452: A variety of headgear such as M1 helmets , motorcycle helmets , bump helmets , or even soft patrol caps . Modern SWAT units use helmets similar to those issued by the U.S. military, such as the PASGT helmet or Future Assault Shell Technology helmet , though they may also use riot helmets or soft headgear such as caps . Balaclavas and goggles are often used to protect the face and protect
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#17328524278572596-446: A wealthy consumer would live and spend his income, versus his natural self, who, instead of spending money, would hunt and prey on the weak and vulnerable, usually women (which we observe in the repetitive use of the word "girls"), whom he deems expendable. Bateman treats the people around him just like any other consumer product, because of the void he still battles with and wishes to fulfill from within, hence, having dual personas, having
2714-401: A wonderfully unstable account. The most persuasive details are combined with unlikely incidents until we're not only unsure what's real, we begin to doubt the existence of reality itself. It has often been noted that Patrick Bateman is an example of an unreliable narrator , and this feature of American Psycho has been the subject of discussion in several academic works. In a 2014 appearance on
2832-555: A year or more often. Unsurprisingly, there is a strong correlation between liking and frequency of use (r=.79, p<.0001). Achievements in horror fiction are recognized by numerous awards. The Horror Writers Association presents the Bram Stoker Awards for Superior Achievement, named in honor of Bram Stoker , author of the seminal horror novel Dracula . The Australian Horror Writers Association presents annual Australian Shadows Awards . The International Horror Guild Award
2950-610: Is Stephen King , known for Carrie , The Shining , It , Misery , and several dozen other novels and about 200 short stories . Beginning in the 1970s, King's stories have attracted a large audience, for which he was awarded by the U.S. National Book Foundation in 2003. Other popular horror authors of the period included Anne Rice , Shaun Hutson , Brian Lumley , Graham Masterton , James Herbert , Dean Koontz , Richard Laymon , Clive Barker , Ramsey Campbell , and Peter Straub . Best-selling book series of contemporary times exist in genres related to horror fiction, such as
3068-518: Is a rational use of available police resources. Other defenders of SWAT deployments state that police have every reason to minimize risks to themselves during raids. By 2005, the number of yearly SWAT deployments in the United States had increased to 50,000, most often to serve drug-related warrants in private homes. According to a study by the ACLU , just under 80% of SWAT deployments were used to serve arrest warrants. Officers have cited safety as
3186-530: Is a response to real or perceived moral panics associated with fear of crime and terrorism. Banks writes that SWAT team employment of military veterans has influenced their tactics and perspective. Countering the view that post-9/11 SWAT policing represents the militarization of police forces, scholar den Heyer writes that SWAT policing is part of a natural progression towards police professionalization. Den Heyer also argues that while SWAT teams continue to be deployed to execute large numbers of drug warrants, this
3304-526: Is a werewolf story titled " Bisclavret ". The Countess Yolande commissioned a werewolf story titled " Guillaume de Palerme ". Anonymous writers penned two werewolf stories, "Biclarel" and " Melion ". Much horror fiction derives from the cruellest personages of the 15th century. Dracula can be traced to the Prince of Wallachia Vlad III , whose alleged war crimes were published in German pamphlets. A 1499 pamphlet
3422-415: Is almost as old as horror fiction itself. In 1826, the gothic novelist Ann Radcliffe published an essay distinguishing two elements of horror fiction, "terror" and "horror." Whereas terror is a feeling of dread that takes place before an event happens, horror is a feeling of revulsion or disgust after an event has happened. Radcliffe describes terror as that which "expands the soul and awakens the faculties to
3540-486: Is consumed: To assess frequency of horror consumption, we asked respondents the following question: "In the past year, about how often have you used horror media (for example, horror literature, film, and video games) for entertainment?" 11.3% said "Never," 7.5% "Once," 28.9% "Several times," 14.1% "Once a month," 20.8% "Several times a month," 7.3% "Once a week," and 10.2% "Several times a week." Evidently, then, most respondents (81.3%) claimed to use horror media several times
3658-537: Is fear of the unknown." the first sentence from his seminal essay, " Supernatural Horror in Literature ". Science fiction historian Darrell Schweitzer has stated, "In the simplest sense, a horror story is one that scares us" and "the true horror story requires a sense of evil, not in necessarily in a theological sense; but the menaces must be truly menacing, life-destroying, and antithetical to happiness." In her essay "Elements of Aversion", Elizabeth Barrette articulates
American Psycho - Misplaced Pages Continue
3776-424: Is indistinguishable from that supplied to the military, not least because much of it is military surplus . SWAT personnel wear similar uniforms to those worn by military personnel. Traditional SWAT uniforms are usually solid tones of dark blue, black, grey, tan, or olive green, though uniforms with military camouflage have become popular with some SWAT units since the 2000s. Early SWAT units were equipped with
3894-445: Is largely a critique of the "shallow and vicious aspects of capitalism ." The characters are predominantly concerned with material gain and superficial appearances, traits indicative of a postmodern world in which the 'surface' reigns supreme. This leads Patrick Bateman to act as if "everything is a commodity , including people", an attitude that is further evident in the rampant objectification and brutalization of women that occurs in
4012-399: Is merely one of many interpretations of the metaphor of Dracula. Jack Halberstam postulates many of these in his essay Technologies of Monstrosity: Bram Stoker's Dracula . He writes: [The] image of dusty and unused gold, coins from many nations and old unworn jewels, immediately connects Dracula to the old money of a corrupt class, to a kind of piracy of nations and to the worst excesses of
4130-675: Is occasionally broken up by chapters in which he directly addresses the reader in order to critique the work of 1980s pop music artists. The novel maintains a high level of ambiguity through mistaken identity and contradictions that introduce the possibility that Bateman is an unreliable narrator . Characters are consistently introduced as people other than themselves, and people argue over the identities of others they can see in restaurants or at parties. Deeply concerned with his personal appearance , Bateman gives extensive descriptions of his daily aesthetics regimen. After killing Paul Owen, one of his colleagues, Bateman appropriates Paul's apartment as
4248-494: Is referenced in the book, recalled: "I didn't read it. At the time, I just thought, 'That's all we need: glorifying all this crap. I'm not interested'. Then the film came out, and I thought it was very funny". A copy was found in possession of Wade Frankum, perpetrator of the 1991 Strathfield massacre in Sydney, Australia. It was suggested that the novel had inspired Frankum. During the trial of Canadian serial killer Paul Bernardo ,
4366-401: Is tends to be inconclusive on the impact that viewing such media has. One defining trait of the horror genre is that it provokes an emotional, psychological , or physical response within readers that causes them to react with fear. One of H. P. Lovecraft's most famous quotes about the genre is that: "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear
4484-452: Is the journal Dorian Gray would have written had he been a high school sophomore. But that is unfair to sophomores," and he approved of its canceled publication. Ellis received numerous death threats and hate mail after the publication of American Psycho . The Los Angeles Times ' s review—"the one good review in the national press", he said—resulted in "a three-page letter section of all these people canceling their subscriptions". In
4602-512: Is theoretically banned in the state of Queensland , and it may only be purchased shrink-wrapped. In Brisbane , the novel is available to those over 18 from all public libraries and can still be ordered and purchased (shrink-wrapped) from many book stores despite this prohibition. Ellis has commented on this: "I think it's adorable. I think it's cute. I love it". In New Zealand, the Government's Office of Film & Literature Classification has rated
4720-482: Is unknown for sure why children enjoy these movies (as it seems counter-intuitive), it is theorized that it is, in part, grotesque monsters that fascinate kids. Tangential to this, the internalized impact of horror television programs and films on children is rather under-researched, especially when compared to the research done on the similar subject of violence in TV and film's impact on the young mind. What little research there
4838-518: The WTF with Marc Maron podcast, Ellis stated that Bateman's narration was so unreliable that even he , as the author of the book, did not know if Bateman was honestly describing events that actually happened or if he was lying or even hallucinating. Ellis later wrote that people assumed that American Psycho would end his career. It was originally to have been published by Simon & Schuster in March 1991, but
American Psycho - Misplaced Pages Continue
4956-545: The DEA . The money resulted in the creation of many narcotics task forces, and SWAT teams became an important part of these forces. In 1972, paramilitary police units launched a few hundred drug raids annually within the United States. In the early 1980s, SWAT drug raid numbers increased to 3000 annually, and by 1996, 30,000 raids annually. During the 1990s, according to The Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin , weapons donations from
5074-581: The Department of Defense greatly bolstered the number of SWAT teams and the extent of their operations. The paper reported that the military transferred nearly 100,000 pieces of military equipment to Wisconsin police departments in the 1990s. Criminal justice professors Peter Kraska and Victor Kappeler, in their study Militarizing American Police: The Rise and Normalization of Paramilitary Units , surveyed police departments nationwide and found that their deployment of paramilitary units had grown tenfold between
5192-569: The werewolf fiction urban fantasy Kitty Norville books by Carrie Vaughn (2005 onward). Horror elements continue to expand outside the genre. The alternate history of more traditional historical horror in Dan Simmons 's 2007 novel The Terror sits on bookstore shelves next to genre mash ups such as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2009), and historical fantasy and horror comics such as Hellblazer (1993 onward) and Mike Mignola 's Hellboy (1993 onward). Horror also serves as one of
5310-552: The "SWAT" acronym to be "Special Weapons Attack Team" but this was not accepted by deputy chief Edward M. Davis who instead approved Special Weapons and Tactics. The LAPD promoted what became known as SWAT teams for a variety of reasons. After the racially-charged Watts riots in Los Angeles in August 1965, the LAPD began considering tactics it could use when faced with urban unrest, rioting, or widespread violence. Daryl Gates, who led
5428-572: The 1950s satisfied readers' quests for horror imagery that the silver screen could not provide. This imagery made these comics controversial, and as a consequence, they were frequently censored. The modern zombie tale dealing with the motif of the living dead harks back to works including H. P. Lovecraft's stories " Cool Air " (1925), "In The Vault" (1926), and " The Outsider " (1926), and Dennis Wheatley 's "Strange Conflict" (1941). Richard Matheson 's novel I Am Legend (1954) influenced an entire genre of apocalyptic zombie fiction emblematized by
5546-636: The 1960s to handle riot control and violent confrontations with criminals. The number and usage of SWAT units increased in the 1980s during the War on Drugs and the 1990s following incidents such as the North Hollywood shootout and Columbine High School massacre , with further increases in the 2000s for counterterrorism interests in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks . In the United States by 2005, SWAT teams were deployed 50,000 times every year, almost 80% of
5664-624: The Cato Institute, raised concern about the increasing use of SWAT teams for ordinary policing tasks. The relative infrequency of SWAT call-outs means these expensively trained and equipped officers cannot be left to sit around, waiting for an emergency. In many departments the officers are normally deployed to regular duties, but are available for SWAT calls via pagers, mobile phones, or radio transceivers. Even in larger police agencies, SWAT personnel will normally be seen in crime suppression roles—specialized and more dangerous than regular patrol, but
5782-427: The LAPD response to the riots, would later write that police at the time did not face a single mob, but rather "people attacking from all directions". New York University professor Christian Parenti has written that SWAT teams were originally conceived of as an "urban counterinsurgency bulwark". Another reason for the creation of SWAT teams was the fear of lone or barricaded gunmen who might outperform police in
5900-569: The Metro division. Early police powers and tactics used by SWAT teams were aided by legislation passed in 1967-8 with the help of Republican House representative Donald Santarelli . The legislation was promoted within the context of fears over the civil rights movement , race riots , the Black Panther Party , and the emerging War on Drugs . The first significant deployment of the LAPD SWAT
6018-585: The Ripper , and lesser so, Carl Panzram , Fritz Haarman , and Albert Fish , all perpetuated this phenomenon. The trend continued in the postwar era, partly renewed after the murders committed by Ed Gein . In 1959, Robert Bloch , inspired by the murders, wrote Psycho . The crimes committed in 1969 by the Manson Family influenced the slasher theme in horror fiction of the 1970s. In 1981, Thomas Harris wrote Red Dragon , introducing Dr. Hannibal Lecter . In 1988,
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#17328524278576136-467: The SLA; no police were wounded, but the six SLA members died in the conflict, which ended when the house caught fire and burned to the ground. By the time of the SLA shootout, SWAT teams had reorganized into six 10-man teams, each team being divided further into two five-man units, called elements. An element consisted of an element leader, two assaulters, a scout, and a rear-guard. The normal complement of weapons
6254-625: The SWAT first entered the school. As noted in an article in the Christian Science Monitor , "Instead of being taught to wait for the SWAT team to arrive, street officers are receiving the training and weaponry to take immediate action during incidents that clearly involve suspects' use of deadly force." The article further reported that street officers were increasingly being armed with rifles, and issued heavy body armor and ballistic helmets, items traditionally associated with SWAT units. The idea
6372-548: The United States, the book was named the 53rd most banned and challenged book from 1990–1999 by the American Library Association. In Germany, the book was deemed "harmful to minors" and its sales and marketing severely restricted from 1995 to 2000. In Australia, the book is sold shrink-wrapped and is classified "R18" under national censorship legislation (i.e., the book may not be sold to those under 18 years of age). Along with other Category 1 publications, its sale
6490-862: The Wanderer (1820), Washington Irving 's " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow " (1820), Jane C. Loudon 's The Mummy!: Or a Tale of the Twenty-Second Century (1827), Victor Hugo 's The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831), Thomas Peckett Prest 's Varney the Vampire (1847), the works of Edgar Allan Poe , the works of Sheridan Le Fanu , Robert Louis Stevenson 's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), Oscar Wilde 's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 's " Lot No. 249 " (1892), H. G. Wells ' The Invisible Man (1897), and Bram Stoker 's Dracula (1897). Each of these works created an enduring icon of horror seen in later re-imaginings on
6608-525: The afternoon of May 17, 1974, elements of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a group of heavily armed left-wing guerrillas , barricaded themselves in a residence on East 54th Street at Compton Avenue in Los Angeles. Coverage of the siege was broadcast to millions via television and radio and featured in the world press for days afterwards. SWAT teams engaged in a several-hour gun battle with
6726-422: The aristocracy. Halberstram articulates a view of Dracula as manifesting the growing perception of the aristocracy as an evil and outdated notion to be defeated. The depiction of a multinational band of protagonists using the latest technologies (such as a telegraph ) to quickly share, collate, and act upon new information is what leads to the destruction of the vampire. This is one of many interpretations of
6844-410: The author. There are many theories as to why people enjoy being scared. For example, "people who like horror films are more likely to score highly for openness to experience, a personality trait linked to intellect and imagination." It is a now commonly accepted view that the horror elements of Dracula 's portrayal of vampirism are metaphors for sexuality in a repressed Victorian era . But this
6962-530: The book as R18 (i.e., the book may not be sold or lent in libraries to those under 18 years of age). It is generally sold shrink wrapped in bookstores. Feminist activist Gloria Steinem was among those opposed to Ellis's book because of its portrayal of violence toward women. Coincidentally, Steinem is the stepmother of Christian Bale , who played Bateman in the film. This coincidence is mentioned in Ellis's mock memoir Lunar Park . Phil Collins , whose solo career
7080-580: The central genres in more complex modern works such as Mark Z. Danielewski 's House of Leaves (2000), a finalist for the National Book Award . There are many horror novels for children and teens, such as R. L. Stine 's Goosebumps series or The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey . Additionally, many movies for young audiences, particularly animated ones, use horror aesthetics and conventions (for example, ParaNorman ). These are what can be collectively referred to as "children's horror". Although it
7198-452: The company withdrew from the project because of "aesthetic differences". Vintage Books purchased the rights to the novel and published the book after the customary editing process. The book was not published in hardcover in the United States until 2012, when a limited hardcover edition was published by Centipede Press , although a deluxe paperback was offered. Writing for The New York Times , Roger Rosenblatt quipped, "'American Psycho'
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#17328524278577316-399: The confrontation of ideas that readers and characters would "rather ignore" throughout literature in famous moments such as Hamlet 's musings about the skull of Yorick , its implications of the mortality of humanity, and the gruesome end that bodies inevitably come to. In horror fiction, the confrontation with the gruesome is often a metaphor for the problems facing the current generation of
7434-518: The dialogue-laden climax, Carnes stands up to a defiant Bateman and tells him his claim of having murdered Owen is impossible, because he had dinner with him twice in London just a few days previously. The book ends as it began, with Bateman and his colleagues at a new club on a Friday night, engaging in banal conversation. The sign seen at the end of the book simply reads "This is not an exit". According to literary critic Jeffrey W. Hunter, American Psycho
7552-514: The dull artificial identity, compared to his free limitless persona of his mind. Observing another side of potential behavior coming from the affluent American society of consumerism is explained through C. Serpell: "Though serialized violence in American Psycho is an extension of the deadening effects of serialized consumer exchanges in an economy where commodities and bodies become interchangeable and indistinguishable, this point largely escaped
7670-648: The early 1980s and late 1990s. The Columbine High School massacre in Colorado on April 20, 1999 was another seminal event in SWAT tactics and police response. As perpetrators Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were shooting students and staff inside the school, officers did not intervene in the shooting, but instead set a perimeter as they were trained to do. By the time they did enter the school, 12 people were killed and Harris and Klebold had committed suicide. They were also heavily criticized for not saving teacher Dave Sanders, who had died from blood loss , three hours after
7788-411: The early 20th century made inroads in these mediums. Particularly, the venerated horror author H. P. Lovecraft , and his enduring Cthulhu Mythos transformed and popularized the genre of cosmic horror , and M. R. James is credited with redefining the ghost story in that era. The serial murderer became a recurring theme. Yellow journalism and sensationalism of various murderers, such as Jack
7906-496: The email was an imitation of Bateman. McFayden subsequently received numerous death threats. In 2000, writer Guinevere Turner and writer/director Mary Harron adapted American Psycho into a dark, comic film released by Lions Gate Films in United States and Columbia Pictures in other territories. This screenplay was selected over three others, including one by Ellis himself. Bateman is played by Christian Bale with Willem Dafoe and Reese Witherspoon in supporting roles. As
8024-405: The excitement of living on the edge, the tension between hunter and hunted. So we told each other stories through the long, dark nights. when the fires burned low, we did our best to scare the daylights out of each other. The rush of adrenaline feels good. Our hearts pound, our breath quickens, and we can imagine ourselves on the edge. Yet we also appreciate the insightful aspects of horror. Sometimes
8142-601: The fight against drugs. Reagan subsequently declared drugs to be a threat to U.S. national security. In 1988 the Reagan administration encouraged Congress to create the Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Program. The program modified existing federal aid structures to local police, making it easier to transfer money and equipment to fight the War on Drugs. Police forces also received increased assistance from
8260-421: The film an NC-17 rating for a scene featuring Bateman having a threesome with two sex workers. The producers excised approximately 18 seconds of footage to obtain an R-rating for the film. It polarized audiences and critics with some showering praise, others scorn. Upon its theatrical release, however, the film received positive reviews in crucial publications, including The New York Times which called it
8378-404: The films of George A. Romero . In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the enormous commercial success of three books - Rosemary's Baby (1967) by Ira Levin , The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty , and The Other by Thomas Tryon - encouraged publishers to begin releasing numerous other horror novels, thus creating a "horror boom". One of the best-known late-20th century horror writers
8496-468: The first few minutes of the incident. In some situations, this dictates the need to rapidly assess the situation and act quickly in order to save lives." According to criminal justice professor Cyndi Banks, the War on Terror , like the War on Drugs, became the context of a significant expansion of SWAT policing. Whereas some have attributed this expansion to "mission creep" and the militarization of police , other scholars argue that increased SWAT policing
8614-501: The fractured self. Though Jameson does not specifically reference two different types of schizophrenia in his writings, he implies an artistic schizophrenia versus a more popular form—one more or less accepted, and the other anathema. This raises questions about how popular culture might act as a potential cure for madness". On the one hand is a rich Wall Street banker, Bateman, concerned and very self-conscious about every detail of his physical appearance, expensive possessions, and control of
8732-902: The gradual development of Romanticism and the Gothic horror genre. It drew on the written and material heritage of the Late Middle Ages, finding its form with Horace Walpole 's seminal and controversial 1764 novel, The Castle of Otranto . In fact, the first edition was published disguised as an actual medieval romance from Italy, discovered and republished by a fictitious translator. Once revealed as modern, many found it anachronistic , reactionary , or simply in poor taste, but it proved immediately popular. Otranto inspired Vathek (1786) by William Beckford , A Sicilian Romance (1790), The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), The Italian (1796) by Ann Radcliffe , and The Monk (1797) by Matthew Lewis . A significant amount of horror fiction of this era
8850-643: The house seemed inexpensive. While writing a book on philosophy, he was visited by a ghostly figure bound in chains. The figure disappeared in the courtyard; the following day, the magistrates dug in the courtyard and found an unmarked grave. Elements of the horror genre also occur in Biblical texts, notably in the Book of Revelation . The Witch of Berkeley by William of Malmesbury has been viewed as an early horror story. Werewolf stories were popular in medieval French literature . One of Marie de France 's twelve lais
8968-1310: The identities of team members. Ballistic vests , sometimes including rigid plate inserts, are standard-issue. These vests are labelled with "POLICE", "SHERIFF", "SWAT", or similar, to allow for easy identification. SWAT units are equipped with special weapons that are not normally used by regular police units, typically military firearms such as assault rifles , submachine guns , riot shotguns , sniper rifles , riot control agents , smoke grenades , stun grenades , and stinger grenades . Though these armaments make SWAT teams resemble military infantry squads , they are still law enforcement units tasked with arrest , and are thus often also equipped with less-lethal weapons such as tasers , pepper spray , pepperballs , baton rounds , bean bag rounds , and rubber bullets to incapacitate suspects. Many SWAT units also have access to specialized equipment such as ballistic shields , entry tools , battering rams , armored vehicles , thermal and night-vision devices , fiberscope cameras , and motion detectors . Canine units may also be incorporated within SWAT teams, or may be used on an ad hoc basis. SWAT units often employ SWAT vehicles, also called "armored rescue vehicles" (ARV), for insertion, maneuvering, and during operations such as
9086-763: The life of wealthy young investment banker Patrick Bateman. Bateman, in his mid-20s when the story begins, narrates his everyday activities, from his recreational life among the Wall Street elite of New York to his forays into murder by night. Through present tense stream-of-consciousness narrative, Bateman describes his daily life, ranging from a series of Friday nights spent at nightclubs with his colleagues—where they snort cocaine, critique fellow club-goers' clothing, trade fashion advice, and question one another on proper etiquette —to his loveless engagement to fellow yuppie Evelyn and his contentious relationship with his brother and senile mother. Bateman's stream of consciousness
9204-405: The main reason for use of SWAT teams, stating that SWAT units would frequently be called if there were a possibility a suspect might be armed. For instance, in 2006, only two police officers were killed in the arrest of 2 million drug suspects, a low casualty rate possibly stemming from the military equipment and tactics used in the raids. On February 7, 2008, a siege and subsequent firefight with
9322-449: The metaphor of only one central figure of the canon of horror fiction, as over a dozen possible metaphors are referenced in the analysis, from the religious to the antisemitic . Noël Carroll 's Philosophy of Horror postulates that a modern piece of horror fiction's " monster ", villain , or a more inclusive menace must exhibit the following two traits: In addition to those essays and articles shown above, scholarship on horror fiction
9440-560: The need by some for horror tales in a modern world: The old "fight or flight" reaction of our evolutionary heritage once played a major role in the life of every human. Our ancestors lived and died by it. Then someone invented the fascinating game of civilization, and things began to calm down. Development pushed wilderness back from settled lands. War, crime, and other forms of social violence came with civilization and humans started preying on each other, but by and large daily life calmed down. We began to feel restless, to feel something missing:
9558-515: The notice of the novel's harshest critics". Despite critics arguing over the aesthetic properties of the novel from rapid patterns and transitions of self-consciousness and murder, Serpell claims critics have overlooked the key themes and motives of the novel. Serpell brings to light the patterns and trends Ellis expresses through Bateman, the consequences of how "serialized consumer exchanges in an economy where commodities and bodies become interchangeable and indistinguishable", could affect society, and
9676-469: The novel or the original film, as its only connection with the original is the death of Patrick Bateman (played by Michael Kremko wearing a face mask), briefly shown in a flashback. In 2009, Audible.com produced an audio version of American Psycho , narrated by Pablo Schreiber , as part of its Modern Vanguard line of audiobooks. A Hungarian version of the novel was written by Attila Hazai (1967–2012) called Budapesti skizo ("Budapest Psycho", 1997); it
9794-399: The novel, which relies on the work of postmodern theorist Fredric Jameson , Jameson "blames the schizophrenic's ills on the incoherence of postmodern media and capitalistic consumption". Jameson's critique is expanded by Krause, who writes: "We can see a distinctly popular culture schizophrenia arise, a disease spread by the postmodern culture industry, which ruptures personality and isolates
9912-443: The novel. This distancing allows Bateman to rationalize his actions; in one scene in which he cannibalizes a victim, Bateman remarks "though it does sporadically penetrate how unacceptable some of what I'm doing actually is, I just remind myself that this thing, this girl, this meat, is nothing ..." Patrick Bateman's consumption of what he views as nothing more than a piece of meat is an almost parodically literal interpretation of
10030-449: The officers would not be carrying their distinctive armor and weapons. Since officers have to be on call-out most of the day, they may be assigned to regular patrol duties. To decrease response times to situations that require a SWAT team, it is now a common practice to place SWAT equipment and weaponry in secured lockers in the trunks of specialized police cruisers instead of forcing officers to travel to gather their equipment or only use
10148-424: The page, stage, and screen. A proliferation of cheap periodicals around the turn of the century led to a boom in horror writing. For example, Gaston Leroux serialized his Le Fantôme de l'Opéra before it became a novel in 1910. One writer who specialized in horror fiction for mainstream pulps, such as All-Story Magazine , was Tod Robbins , whose fiction deals with themes of madness and cruelty. In Russia,
10266-424: The people and the world around him. On the other hand, is the inner self of Patrick Bateman, the aboriginal-self, who copes and relinquishes his outer complications and "fake" identity, created by consumerism , through violence on other human beings, who he finds consumable, and expresses absolute control of his desires and true self through his violent fantasies. His consumer, artificial self, proceeding in society as
10384-492: The principle of the thing embodied in the person. These manifested in stories of beings such as demons, witches, vampires, werewolves, and ghosts. European horror-fiction became established through works of the Ancient Greeks and Ancient Romans . Mary Shelley 's well-known 1818 novel about Frankenstein was greatly influenced by the story of Hippolytus , whom Asclepius revives from death. Euripides wrote plays based on
10502-627: The program. One officer then obtained permission to observe the Delano Police Department's special weapons and tactics units in action, and afterwards, he took what he had learned back to Los Angeles, where his knowledge was used and expanded on to form the LAPD's own first SWAT unit. John Nelson was the officer who conceived the idea to form a specially trained and equipped unit in the LAPD, intended to respond to and manage critical situations involving shootings while minimizing police casualties. Inspector Gates approved this idea, and he formed
10620-409: The reader, or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion or loathing". Horror intends to create an eerie and frightening atmosphere for the reader. Often the central menace of a work of horror fiction can be interpreted as a metaphor for larger fears of a society. The horror genre has ancient origins, with roots in folklore and religious traditions focusing on death, the afterlife, evil, the demonic, and
10738-526: The report, the Department cites four trends which prompted the development of SWAT. These included riots such as the Watts riots , which in the 1960s forced the LAPD and other police departments into tactical situations for which they were ill-prepared; the emergence of snipers as a challenge to civil order; political assassinations; and the threat of urban guerrilla warfare by militant groups. "The unpredictability of
10856-476: The report. The report states on page 109, "The purpose of SWAT is to provide protection, support, security, firepower, and rescue to police operations in high personal risk situations where specialized tactics are necessary to minimize casualties." In 1981 U.S. Congress passed the Military Cooperation with Law Enforcement Act, giving police access to military intelligence, infrastructure, and weaponry in
10974-850: The rescue of personnel and civilians who may be in danger of receiving fire from suspects if extracted through other methods. Common armored SWAT vehicles include the Lenco BearCat , Lenco BEAR, BAE Caiman , Cadillac Gage Ranger , Cadillac Gage Commando , and similar vehicles. Some departments use decommissioned, disarmed military vehicles acquired from the Law Enforcement Support Office . Alternatively, SWAT teams may use unmarked police cars to respond faster, provide better mobility when splitting up, or avoid detection. Police aircraft , commonly helicopters , are used to provide aerial reconnaissance or insertion via rappelling or fast-roping . The use of armored vehicles by SWAT teams
11092-427: The role of Patrick that he had originally taken on in 2011. It premiered in early 2016, but closed on June 5 of that year after a run of only 54 regular performances. In the announcement, they cited "stiff competition" from more well-known musicals like Waitress , Shuffle Along , and Hamilton . A version of the musical is the focus of the musical episode titled "Chapter One Hundred and Twelve: American Psychos" of
11210-478: The screenplay written by Scott Z. Burns. Satirical horror novel Horror is a genre of speculative fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten, or scare. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which are in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon , in 1984, defined the horror story as "a piece of fiction in prose of variable length ... which shocks, or even frightens
11328-517: The sequel to that novel, The Silence of the Lambs , was published. Early cinema was inspired by many aspects of horror literature, and started a strong tradition of horror films and subgenres that continues to this day. Up until the graphic depictions of violence and gore on the screen commonly associated with 1960s and 1970s slasher films and splatter films , comic books such as those published by EC Comics (most notably Tales From The Crypt ) in
11446-448: The sixth season from the series Riverdale . In April 2021, Lionsgate Television chairman Kevin Beggs confirmed a TV series is in development. In 2023, Sumerian Comics published a sequel comic adaptation that includes new narratives surrounding Bateman's murders. In October 2024, Lionsgate confirmed that a reboot is in the works, with Luca Guadagnino in negotiations to direct, with
11564-399: The sniper and his anticipation of normal police response increase the chances of death or injury to officers. To commit conventionally trained officers to a confrontation with a guerrilla-trained militant group would likely result in a high number of casualties among the officers and the escape of the guerrillas." To deal with these under conditions of urban violence, the LAPD formed SWAT, notes
11682-473: The social norms for the way the elite upper class think and react to society on a normal basis. Bateman's epistemology and ethics in regards to his actions and way of thinking throughout the novel is a reflection, through his violence, which raises the questions of the moral and ethical understanding of all individuals in Bateman's position and status, and how they might act and think similar or completely identical in
11800-621: The story, Hippolytos Kalyptomenos and Hippolytus . In Plutarch 's The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans in the account of Cimon , the author describes the spirit of a murderer , Damon, who himself was murdered in a bathhouse in Chaeronea . Pliny the Younger (61 to c. 113) tells the tale of Athenodorus Cananites , who bought a haunted house in Athens . Athenodorus was cautious since
11918-1079: The term, considering it too lurid. They instead use the terms dark fantasy or Gothic fantasy for supernatural horror, or " psychological thriller " for non-supernatural horror. SWAT In the United States , a SWAT ( special weapons and tactics ) team is a generic term for a police tactical unit . SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to resolve "high-risk situations", often those regular police units are not trained or equipped to handle, such as shootouts , standoffs , raids , hostage-takings , and terrorism . SWAT units are equipped with specialized weapons and equipment not normally issued to regular police units, such as automatic firearms , high-caliber sniper rifles , stun grenades , body armor , ballistic shields , night-vision devices , and armored vehicles , among others. SWAT units are often trained in special tactics such as close-quarters combat , door breaching , crisis negotiation , and de-escalation . The first SWAT units were formed in
12036-737: The time to serve search warrants , most often for narcotics . By 2015, the number of annual SWAT deployments had increased to nearly 80,000 times a year. Despite their heightened involvement in high-risk scenarios, research on their use of force has shown varied results. A study by professor Jimmy J. Williams and professor David Westall found that there wasn't a significant difference in the frequency of use of force between SWAT and non-SWAT officers when responding to similar situations. The United States National Tactical Officers Association's definition of SWAT is: SWAT : A designated law enforcement team whose members are recruited, selected, trained, equipped and assigned to resolve critical incidents involving
12154-577: The underlying concept, tried to empower his people to develop it, and generally lent them moral support. SWAT-type operations were conducted north of Los Angeles in the farming community of Delano, California on the border between Kern and Tulare Counties in the San Joaquin Valley . At the time, the United Farm Workers union led by César Chavez was staging numerous protests in Delano in
12272-453: The way affluent people view others whether they are higher, lower, or the same in wealth or social status. The critic Thomas Heise states that "the uncertainty about the reality of Patrick's violence has become the chief critical debate on American Psycho , and it serves as a convenient introduction to the entanglement of epistemology and ethics in the novel". Bateman's character and traits, according to Heise, challenge what readers understand as
12390-705: The words "murders and executions" as "mergers and acquisitions". These incidents culminate in a shooting spree during which he kills several random people in the street, resulting in a SWAT team being dispatched in a helicopter. This narrative episode sees the first-person perspective shift to third-person and the subsequent events are, although not for the first time in the novel, described in terms pertaining to cinematic portrayal. Bateman flees on foot and hides in his office, where he phones his attorney, Harold Carnes, and confesses all his crimes to an answering machine. Later, Bateman revisits Paul Owen's apartment, where he had earlier killed and mutilated two prostitutes, carrying
12508-473: The writer Alexander Belyaev popularized these themes in his story Professor Dowell's Head (1925), in which a mad doctor performs experimental head transplants and reanimations on bodies stolen from the morgue and which was first published as a magazine serial before being turned into a novel. Later, specialist publications emerged to give horror writers an outlet, prominent among them was Weird Tales and Unknown Worlds . Influential horror writers of
12626-660: Was Hazai's best known work but as of his death never translated into English. In 2013, a Kickstarter campaign was launched by Ellis and others to get a musical stage adaptation made. The premiere of the musical , with music and lyrics by Duncan Sheik opened at the Almeida Theatre , London in December. The role of Patrick Bateman was played by Matt Smith . In 2015, the musical was workshopped in New York, with Benjamin Walker re-assuming
12744-429: Was a significant change to have police armed with semi-automatic rifles. The encounter with the heavily armed Symbionese Liberation Army, however, sparked a trend towards SWAT teams being issued body armor and automatic weapons of various types. A report issued by the LAPD after the SLA shootout offers one of the few firsthand accounts by the department regarding SWAT history, operations, and organization. On page 100 of
12862-402: Was a sniper rifle (a .243 -caliber bolt-action , based on the ordnance expended by officers at the shootout), two .223 -caliber semi-automatic rifles, and two shotguns. SWAT officers also carried their service revolvers in shoulder holsters. Standard gear included a first aid kit , gloves, and a military gas mask . At a time when officers were usually issued six-shot revolvers and shotguns, it
12980-461: Was going to make up this serial killer on Wall Street. High concept . Fantastic. It came from a much more personal place, and that's something that I've only been admitting in the last year or so. I was so on the defensive because of the reaction to that book that I wasn't able to talk about it on that level. Set in Manhattan during the Wall Street boom of the late 1980s, American Psycho follows
13098-399: Was never actually used. The Panthers eventually surrendered, with four Panthers and four officers being injured. All six arrested Panthers were acquitted of the most serious charges brought against them, including conspiracy to murder police officers, because it was ruled that they acted in self-defense. By 1974, there was a general acceptance of SWAT as a police resource in Los Angeles. On
13216-525: Was on December 9, 1969, when an attempt by the LAPD to serve arrest warrants against the Black Panthers led to a four-hour standoff at their Los Angeles headquarters at 41st and Central, during which over 5,000 rounds were exchanged between police and the Panthers. During the shootout, Daryl Gates called the Department of Defense , requesting and receiving permission to use a grenade launcher ; however, it
13334-538: Was presented annually to works of horror and dark fantasy from 1995 to 2008. The Shirley Jackson Awards are literary awards for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic works. Other important awards for horror literature are included as subcategories within general awards for fantasy and science fiction in such awards as the Aurealis Award . Some writers of fiction normally classified as "horror" tend to dislike
13452-464: Was published by Markus Ayrer, which is most notable for its woodcut imagery. The alleged serial-killer sprees of Gilles de Rais have been seen as the inspiration for " Bluebeard ". The motif of the vampiress is most notably derived from the real-life noblewoman and murderer, Elizabeth Bathory , and helped usher in the emergence of horror fiction in the 18th century, such as through László Turóczi's 1729 book Tragica Historia . The 18th century saw
13570-432: Was released in 2000 to generally favorable reviews. Producers David Johnson and Jesse Singer developed a musical adaptation for Broadway . The musical premiered at the Almeida Theatre , London in December 2013. The book has garnered notoriety for its graphic violence and has led to it being censored in multiple countries. Bateman was crazy the same way I was. He did not come out of me sitting down and wanting to write
13688-431: Was to react quickly and decisively to bank robberies while they were in progress, using a large number of specially trained officers who had a great amount of firepower at their disposal. The tactic worked and was used to resolve other types of incidents involving heavily armed criminals. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Special Weapons and Tactics was established in 1967. LAPD inspector Daryl Gates envisioned
13806-497: Was to train and equip street officers to make a rapid response to so-called active shooter situations. In these situations, it was no longer acceptable to simply set up a perimeter and wait for SWAT. As an example, in the policy and procedure manual of the Minneapolis Police Department , it is stated, "MPD personnel shall remain cognizant of the fact that in many active shooter incidents, innocent lives are lost within
13924-624: Was written by women and marketed towards a female audience, a typical scenario of the novels being a resourceful female menaced in a gloomy castle. The Gothic tradition blossomed into the genre that modern readers today call horror literature in the 19th century. Influential works and characters that continue resonating in fiction and film today saw their genesis in the Brothers Grimm 's " Hänsel und Gretel " (1812), Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818), John Polidori 's " The Vampyre " (1819), Charles Maturin 's Melmoth
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