Jeffrey Dahmer's Creepy Connection To The Exorcist

One of the most unsettling serial killers ever known, Jeffrey Dahmer had a childhood of neglect and unhealthy obsession that was a precursor to an even more disturbed adulthood. As an adult, Dahmer was a fan of "The Exorcist" films, and this fixation on the classic horror flicks influenced his murderous behavior in the real world.

As reported by The Chicago Tribune, one of Dahmer's near-victims, Tracy Edwards, escaped from the killer's clutches and narrowly avoided becoming an addition to his long list of victims, which totaled 17 men and boys. During his confinement in Dahmer's apartment, where he was restrained with handcuffs, Edward was forced to watch "Exorcist III," which allegedly sent the killer into a trance of humming and rocking.

Edwards ultimately helped lead police back to the crime scene and set the pieces in motion for Dahmer's arrest, which revealed the killer's horrific legacy of violence and dismemberment, per National Post. As if Dahmer's life story wasn't creepy enough, his murder spree mirrors the serial killer in "Exorcist III."

Like Jeffrey Dahmer, the character killed 17 people, all of whom were murdered near a Catholic university, per The Chicago Tribune. Yet as disturbing as it sounds, the link between the fictional world of "The Exorcist III" and Dahmer's life is not exactly surprising. According to Detective Dennis Murphy, Dahmer revealed in his confession that he took solace in the film, which he related to. ”He felt the character in the movie was driven by evil, and he felt he could relate to the character because he felt he was driven by evil,” Murphy said.

The detective also revealed the extent of Dahmer's fixation on the movies: he watched it two to three times per week for a period of six months.

Dark obsessions were not unusual for Dahmer. A glimpse of his childhood reveals that he was obsessed with collecting animal bones, per News.com.au. This obsession pushed him to begin to learn how to bleach and preserve bones — a skill that helped him create his vast collection of human skulls as an adult.