Serial Killer l'Exposition in Paris: The largest collection of objects by famous serial killers

Sensitive souls please, but thrill-seekers and fans of Faites Entrer l'Accusé should beware: Serial Killer l'Exposition, which has already passed through Milan and London, arrives in Paris on February 21, 2025! Head for Galeries Montparnasse, in the capital's 15th arrondissement, to discover the "largest original collection of objects belonging to serial killers".

Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer... The exhibition promises a journey into the minds of serial killers, to understand how they function from a scientific, historical and educational point of view. Hundreds of objects are on display, including drawings made by the killers themselves.

The exhibition begins by explaining: what is a serial killer? How many victims are required? Are mass murderers considered serial killers? By the way, who coined the term "serial killer" and in what year? What are the similarities and differences between organized and disorganized serial killers? How many serial killers are, a priori, still active today? Panels on the walls also set out to debunk false beliefs about serial killers.

Interactive, the exhibition features numerous detailed reconstructions of the most memorable crime scenes, including a particularly bloody one of a Jack the Ripper victim (we'll spare you the details, you'll need a strong heart); but also the interiors of famous killers such as Jeffrey Dahmer (and his well... stocked fridge, shall we say), Ed Gein and his man-skin furniture, Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy, who hid the corpses of his victims under his house.

The exhibition spans 30 rooms (!) and easily takes 3 hours to visit for anyone who intends to read every single sign and listen to every one of the audio guides, available by scanning QR codes on the panels. Some rooms are dedicated to a single case and a single serial killer (the most infamous whose feats of arms are detailed on the walls, as are their psychological profiles, such as Dennis 'BTK' Rader, Ed Kemper, Charles Manson).

Other rooms are organized by theme: missionary serial killers, visionaries, hedonists, profit-driven serial killers, control-driven serial killers, cyber serial killers, female serial killers and French serial killers (a little quickly dismissed by simple signs on the wall). The exhibition also focuses on lesser-known but equally dangerous killers, such as Karl Denke, Lawrence Sigmund Bittaker and Roy Lewis Norris, a.k.a. the Tool Box Killers, and even unsolved cases such as the Monster of Florence, Italy.

Americans, of course, but also English(John George Haigh), Italians, Russians(Alexandre Pitchouchkine), Ukrainians(Anatoly Onoprienko), serial killers from all over the world have their say, and we meet a wide range of profiles throughout the rooms, from the youngest serial killer to the most prolific, from the most remote police archives to very recent cases (such as François Vérove alias le Grêlé, unmasked three years ago in France).

We also discover a multitude of highly varied objects (at least one per case), some original (those on display) such as Jeffrey Dahmer's glasses, drawings and paintings made in prison, letters sent to the police(the Zodiac killer) or from prison to the outside world. Other objects are reproductions (so well done, in fact, that it's often difficult to distinguish the real from the fake...): plaster busts, life-size mannequins, costumes worn during their misdeeds, the beetle driven by Ted Bundy, etc.

TheSerial Killer exhibition also details the techniques used by the FBI to identify and analyze the psychological profiles of these individuals, with several rooms dedicated to forensic science, past and present, and psychopathy and sociopathy in serial killers, complete with statistics of all kinds. The judicial and punitive aspect is not forgotten, with a presentation of the different methods of execution - still used today or abandoned: a gallows for hanging, a gas chamber, an electric chair, a board for lethal injection, a firing squad.

The Serial Killer exhibition in Paris is undeniably dedicated to fans of news and thrills, who will get their money's worth (adult tickets cost a minimum of €23), given the number and variety of objects on display. As far as children are concerned, the exhibition website states that "children under the age of 14 are only admitted when accompanied by an adult. Please bear in mind the relevance of the content to a younger audience", and we'd even be tempted to say that 14 is a bit young to discover the exhibition - it's up to you!

• To be read
• On the trail of Paris's most notorious criminals and serial killers
• Dark Tourism, discovering the creepiest places in Paris
• Tips for the week of March 17 - 23, 2025 in Paris: free or inexpensive outings

Of course, an exhibition like this is obviously sensationalist and won't appeal to everyone, and despite the last room being "the most important in the exhibition, dedicated to the memory of the victims", we can't help thinking that an exhibition like this maintains the cult status of serial killers for some people. But we particularly liked it, and it goes without saying that it's likely to be a big hit when it comes to Paris. Tickets are already on sale, so don't forget to reserve your place!

And to see even more of our photos from the Serial Killer Exhibition in Paris, click here!

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This test was conducted as part of a professional invitation. If your experience differs from ours, please mention it in the comments.