• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
The strange connection between serial killers and why they seem to always wear glasses

Home> News

Updated 15:16 6 Oct 2022 GMT+1Published 15:05 6 Oct 2022 GMT+1

The strange connection between serial killers and why they seem to always wear glasses

The shape of the glasses could be making them look even creepier

Emma Guinness

Emma Guinness

Featured Image Credit: World History Archive/Alamy Stock Photo

Topics: News, True Crime

Emma Guinness
Emma Guinness

Advert

Advert

Advert

The success of Netflix's Dahmer has got people talking about serial killers, and in some cases, the bizarre similarities they share - including their use of glasses.

The topic was previously discussed by a group of experts who explained why some serial killers - including the late Jeffrey Dahmer - appear to wear the same pair of large glasses.

Dahmer wore the notorious glasses when he explained why he took a break from killing:

This list of killers who wear the glasses is extensive and includes some of history's most notorious names, including Doctor Harold Shipman and the Zodiac Killer, who remains unidentified.

However, as noted in the Guardian, in the US alone, 60 percent of people wear glasses so it only stands to reason that a lot of killers would need visual aids too.

Advert

But because the appearances of serial killers have come to haunt many aspects of popular culture, these glasses are now associated with many murderers - to the point where 'serial killer glasses' produces results on Amazon.

John 'Derf' Backderf was one of Dahmer's real-life school classmates, and he explained that he had to ask the actor playing the killer, Ross Lynch, on the set of My Friend Dahmer, to take them off because they freaked him out so much.

Jeffrey Dahmer's schoolfriend was terrified of his glasses years later.
Alamy/World History Archive

Backderf said to the Phoenix New Times: "He was in his full Dahmer get-up, and it freaked me out. I said, 'Dude, you HAVE to take off those glasses or I can't talk to you.'"

So, do glasses actually have a connection to serial killers?

Advert

Practically speaking, perhaps not, but it seems there could be an aesthetic reason behind a killer's choice in eyewear.

The glasses favoured by serial killers are typically aviators, and in 2013, the experts at 2020 Magazine put forward the argument that their shape is inherently spooky - which could explain why killers like to wear them.

They explained that the bar at the top of Dahmer's glasses turns at the bottom of his eyes, and it, coupled with the curve of frame edge: "pull[s] the face and the eyes down with them, giving the illusion that most aviator wearers are sad, frowny-faced or otherwise dealing with some sort of internal personal problem just beginning to bubble to the surface."

They added that they can accentuate a person's wrinkles too, which could add to a potentially spooky appearance if they happen to have committed any disturbing crimes.

The Zodiac Killer's true appearance - and identity - is still unknown.
PA/Illustration / Zuma Press

Advert

"The thin, wire design of most aviators also helps to accentuate wrinkles or age lines in the faces of wearers - whom, as we've already covered, tend to be older anyway," the experts wrote.

Whatever the reason, glasses are now synonymous with serial killers, so much so that it has been speculated that those allegedly worn by the Zodiac Killer could have belonged to one of his victims, Paul Stine, and he simply put them on as a last-minute disguise - which, when you think about it, makes a lot of sense.

But if all of this hasn't put you off aviator glasses, you may be interested to know that Dahmer's actual glasses are currently up for sale... yes, seriously.

  • Netflix releases never-before-seen footage of two of the most prolific serial killers in UK history
  • Real life Mindhunter who interviewed serial killers explains chilling way psychopaths are able to pass polygraph tests
  • Man who killed twisted murderer Jeffrey Dahmer explains why he did it
  • Grey’s Anatomy actor reveals he was drugged and abused by famous serial killer

Choose your content:

an hour ago
2 hours ago
  • an hour ago

    Royal Caribbean drinks package hack will save you money on future cruises

    Who doesn't love a bargain?

    News
  • an hour ago

    Awkward moment Emmanuel Macron left hanging by his wife as they arrive in UK for state visit

    The French President is in the UK to meet the King today (8 July)

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    Experts reveal 'truth' behind 'Ozempic penis' side-effect a number of men report having

    Ozempic penis does not involve you injecting your dingle with semaglutide, please don't do that

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    Terrifying moment Former SAS sniper is caught in Everest avalanche during record summit attempt

    Former chief sniper instructor and demolitions expert Anthony 'Staz' Stazicker really believes that 'fortune favours the brave'

    Originals