We All Go into the Dark
Published on 15. February 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
320 pages
978-0-00-853148-5 (ISBN)
Description
A captivating, eloquent and nuanced book, We All Go into the Dark is an absolute must-read for true-crime fans across the board.
Three women were brutally murdered between early 1968 and late 1969, each after a night dancing at Glasgow's infamous Barrowland Ballroom. Their murders were linked and ascribed to the spectre of the well-dressed, scripture-quoting killer who had apparently stalked the city's dancehalls. The figure was never caught or identified.
But the intervening years spawned a legend that never quite lost its grip on the popular imagination of Glasgow. The killings provoked the country's largest ever manhunt, as well as countless suspects, books, documentaries, earnest speculation, pub theorising and bouts of urban mythmaking.
In We All Go into the Dark, Francisco Garcia delves into how Bible John has morphed across generations, interrogates our collective obsession with 'solving' historic crimes and questions why some killings are forgotten with indecent haste and why others are never permitted to be forgotten at all.
Three women were brutally murdered between early 1968 and late 1969, each after a night dancing at Glasgow's infamous Barrowland Ballroom. Their murders were linked and ascribed to the spectre of the well-dressed, scripture-quoting killer who had apparently stalked the city's dancehalls. The figure was never caught or identified.
But the intervening years spawned a legend that never quite lost its grip on the popular imagination of Glasgow. The killings provoked the country's largest ever manhunt, as well as countless suspects, books, documentaries, earnest speculation, pub theorising and bouts of urban mythmaking.
In We All Go into the Dark, Francisco Garcia delves into how Bible John has morphed across generations, interrogates our collective obsession with 'solving' historic crimes and questions why some killings are forgotten with indecent haste and why others are never permitted to be forgotten at all.
Reviews / Votes
'Both profound and hypnotic, this is a deep dive into the mysteriously compelling nature of all true true crime stories. I could not put it down. - Denise Mina'Fantastic...a book about our obsession with true crime, what it says about us and the dark corners in our heads.' - David Whitehouse, author of About a Son
We All Go Into the Dark is a highly original book - a work of true crime that is as interested in the myths surrounding the Bible John murders as it is in the person who committed them. With moral sensitivity, sophistication and scrupulous honesty, Francisco Garcia takes us deep into the realm of endless ambiguity which is the true subject of this fascinating book. - Mark O'Connell author of To Be a Machine
We All Go Into The Dark is a tremendous feat of compassion, integrity and incisive consideration. Its sophisticated moral analysis and humanity mark it as something far beyond the usual confines of the true crime genre, most fascinatingly on the competing mythologies which emerge around crimes which grip the press and the culture. Garcia asks not only who we remember and why, but also who we forget and why, and in this subtle expansion of terms has created a powerful, original and beautifully written account of a haunting killer and the stories which surround him. - Megan Nolan author of Acts of Desperation
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers
Product notice
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Paperback (UK-B)
Illustrations
20 col plates (8pp)
Dimensions
Height: 201 mm
Width: 130 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
223 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-00-853148-5 (9780008531485)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Francisco Garcia lives in London, where he was born in 1992. His journalism and essays have been published in the Guardian, New Statesman, the Financial Times and many other publications. His first book, If You Were There, was a Guardian Book of the Day.