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Serial Killer, an overwhelming exhibition that sends chills down your spine

undefined undefined 22 février 2025 undefined 18h00

The Editor

© Flora Gendrault - Le Bonbon

After having terrified Milan and then London, the Serial Killer exhibition continues its world tour and sets up shop in the vast spaces of the Montparnasse Galleries (15th). What's on the agenda? An endless journey through the minds of the greatest serial killers that grips you, twists your stomach, and leaves a bitter taste.

Since the dawn of time, the fascination with serial killers has been a phenomenon that inspires a wealth of content widely enjoyed by the general public, all while questioning its paradox. Many perfectly sane individuals binge-watch Crimes on NRJ12 and have devoured Ryan Murphy's anthology series on Netflix since 2022, where Dahmer has surpassed a billion hours of viewing time, launching Jack the Ripper as if it were Snow White; crime horrifies yet hypnotizes, and it certainly rakes in the numbers. 

While these programs flood the channels and, recently, the streaming platforms, it's still rare for a physical event to be entirely dedicated to the rockstars of crime. People tend to prefer keeping their eyes closed or only opening them behind a screen to maintain a certain distance. However, that distance vanishes when you step into the exhibition .-immersive-serial-killers-paris-fevrier-2025/">Serial Killer. In over 2,000 square meters of a massive warehouse at the Galeries Montparnasse, you can learn about the greatest killers in history, but also see them. And it’s exactly this aspect that feels unsettling. 


A vast collection of items belonging to the killers

At the entrance of the press visit, we are immediately warned: the tour can last anywhere from 1 hour to 4 hours. What awaits us: 35 (!!) rooms at the heart of horror. So we drink some water, set aside our preconceptions, and move forward; there’s no time to lose. The first hallway, lit only by a barely menacing red light, sets the tone: here it is, ladies and gentlemen, the beetle driven by Ted Bundy when he was capturing his victims. 

This is indeed the major highlight of the exhibition: showcasing for the first time to the public items that truly belonged to serial killers. The drawings by Moses Sithole, the “Yorkshire Ripper,” the fingerprints of Ed Gein, the “mad butcher,” as well as the murder weapons, the tools of torture… Long kept in .discovering these pieces of evidence hidden away in locked drawers, along with the terrible stories they hold, is the true treasure of Serial Killer. This extensive collection (over a hundred items) could have been its greatest asset. Unfortunately, the vice goes even deeper. 


Chilling Reenactments 

If it were a book, the first room of the exhibition would be titled Serial Killers for Dummies. Informative (albeit very basic) posters teach us about the origins of the term, the types of killers, and break down the prejudices associated with psychological profiles... It may seem heavy, and it is, but it's actually super helpful for understanding what comes next. 

What’s less helpful, and almost twisted, are the crime scene reenactments peppered throughout the exhibition. Each room is dedicated either to a category of killers or a famous murderer: right from the start, in the area dedicated to Jack the Ripper, we find ourselves shocked to discover, without any trigger warning, the exact room where he operated...

e; assassinated one of his victims. And his wax body, covered in knife wounds and blood. The exhibition doesn't hold back from diving into sensationalism, leaving many feeling nauseous repeatedly. Did we really need to see the inside of Jeffrey Dahmer's fridge? Only the sad background music, a legacy of the intro to Faites entrer l'accusé, occasionally pulls us out of our stupor. 


Indigestion 

In addition to aiming to shock, Serial Killer attempts, much to our dismay, to be as comprehensive as possible. Overly long rooms, caricatured audio guides, unreadable and excessive posters: the personality profiles of the killers, detailing the number, time period, method of crimes, or even the sentences handed down, all end up looking the same, stripping away each case's uniqueness and, consequently, its tragic nature. The victims are the greatly forgotten ones in this journey, only represented by chilling numbers and photos. Worse yet: one can put oneself in their shoes through a virtual reality experience. And it's not the last room dedicated to them with a short paragraph trying to make amends. Serial Killer ultimately only serves to grossly sustain, or even encourage, the cult of serial killers.  More info and tickets