We talk a lot about masks on our show. Most people wear them sometimes. We have our professional mask, our “make a good first impression” mask, our “fake it til you make it” one, when we don’t want anybody to know how anxious we are…But for most of us, the masks aren’t that different from our real personalities. Just a little more polished, maybe. Most of us don’t absolutely need the masks to survive. To avoid the horror and revulsion of our peers. To avoid prison. We hear it all the time on news reports about horror-movie style atrocities: He seemed like such a nice guy. He seemed so normal. He never even raised his voice. It’s unsettling, to realize how convincing a mask can be…even when what lies behind it is nothing short of monstrous.

Sources:
You Think You Know Me by Ryan Green
A&E's "Investigative Reports with Bill Kurtis," episode "Secret Life of a Serial Killer"
Various articles from this collection: https://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/baumeister-herbert.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herb_Baumeister


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