Ep 3. Albert Fish, the Vampire of Brooklyn

Albert Fish, the Vampire of Brooklyn, is the third episode of the first season of America's Serial Killers: Portraits in Evil. This episode takes a deep dive into the life and crimes of Albert Fish, one of America's most disturbing and sadistic serial killers.

The episode begins by exploring Fish's early life, including his childhood in Washington D.C. and his experiences with abuse and neglect. As a young man, Fish became fascinated with religion and started practicing self-flagellation and other extreme forms of religious devotion. Later, he started engaging in sexual fantasies involving pain and cannibalism, which would eventually lead him down a dark and twisted path.

The episode then delves into Fish's criminal activities, including his first murder of an intellectually disabled boy named Thomas Kedden, whom he lured away from a farm and killed in an abandoned house. Fish went on to commit other murders and cannibalistic acts throughout the 1920s and 1930s, earning the nickname "the Vampire of Brooklyn" for his fondness for drinking his victims' blood.

The episode also explores the investigation and capture of Fish, including the role of detective William King, who tirelessly hunted Fish for years before finally catching him in 1934. After his capture, Fish confessed to several murders and described in graphic detail his acts of cannibalism, sodomy, and torture.

Throughout the episode, experts and historians provide insights into Fish's motivations and psychology, including his masochistic tendencies, his sadistic desires for pain and humiliation, and his psychopathic lack of empathy or remorse for his victims. The episode also delves into the cultural and historical context of Fish's crimes, including the rise of sensationalist media and the public fascination with serial killers.

In the end, Albert Fish, the Vampire of Brooklyn, is a chilling and disturbing portrait of a man whose horrific crimes continue to haunt the collective conscience of America. The episode serves as a poignant reminder of the human capacity for evil and the importance of understanding and confronting it.