Helter Skelter

The True Story of the Manson Murders

By: Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 26 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Prosecuting attorney in the Manson trial Vincent Bugliosi held a unique insider's position in one of the most baffling and horrifying cases of the 20th century: the cold-blooded Tate-LaBianca murders carried out by Charles Manson and four of his followers. What motivated Manson in his seemingly mindless selection of victims, and what was his hold over the young women who obeyed his orders? Now available for the first time in unabridged audio, the gripping story of this famous and haunting crime is brought to life by acclaimed narrator Scott Brick.

©1974 Curt Gentry and Vincent Bugliosi, Afterword 1994 by Vincent Bugliosi (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“One of the best crime stories ever written.” (Chicago Sun-Times)

Still scary after 50+ years

Exceptionally well written and very well read (it's Scott Brick, after all). There's so much to this story, that a short review seems difficult. I read this book probably 25-30 years ago. I almost didn't choose it in Audible - but I watched "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" and felt the need to give back some respect to the real victims. Very glad I did - the epilogue/afterward hadn't been written when I first read it, and it was scary and fascinating in and of itself. The idea of Manson damn near becoming some sick folk hero is mind boggling. If you are looking to learn about the Tate and LaBianca murders - and the incredible and vast effects that the US is still experiencing as a result, this is the book to read.

Worth a revisit

After reading this book years ago I decided to give it a listen. Worth the time!

Amazing!!

I was a young girl in Indiana when “Helter Skelter” took place and I do remember the events surrounding it being on the news. This book is an informative and in-depth depiction of this story. Mr. Bugliosli and Mr.Gentry brought this disturbing story back to life. I read this book around the original publication date an rereading it now takes me right back this very unsettling time in history

Wow

Insane book and true story. Makes me want to do some investigating of my own.

Long, scary & so many questions answered

The story is just unbelievable, yet true. Manson embodied Hitler - his army was just smaller.

Shocking and honest

This was a difficult audiobook to listen, it’s quite raw, specially the firsts chapters. Shocking an honest, as I’m really curious about the cults on USA and true crime, it still got to me, made me feel a little anguished everytime. Good listen.

Even if You Think You Know This Story Listen

Before this book I thought Manson was the scariest man alive. After I was much more afraid of the young women. He's evil and everything but the girls they are so young and fresh faced when the girls walk into a home they aren't suposed to be in people aren't really freaked out about them, till the stabbing begins. There were so many girls willing to kill for him, I wonder how many are still out there. It's not like the Manson family hasn't been keeping up it's membership in the last 48 years. Creepy crawlers and so many unsolved murders. It was completely thought provoking, I still can't understand how humans to fall so far off the rails.

Interesting except for ...

An interesting subject, from the perspective of the prosecutor on the Charles Manson murder trial. It deals with a lot of facts, but not very much with the psychological en philosophical side.
The author is surprised that young men/women can be so manipulated that they kill random strangers in cold blood. All this while the author works for the government, an organisation that manipulates young men and women to kill total strangers in cold blood.
He does mention the Nixon quote 'Manson is guilty' and Manson's response that Nixon was just as guilty of the hundreds of thousands killed in Vietnam, but you can notice this does not hit home with him. I guess that can not be expected from someone working for the government, who gets his pay check from coercion of tax payers.
If your real goal is to prevent these terrible things from happening, you have to get into the causes and not just react with violence against violence after the fact. You have to recognize that Manson was raised by the government seeing every juvenile facility, calling prison his home. It is unfortunate that we live in a world where showing a nipple during the super bowl, causes a panic, while violence is so well tolerated. Not only on TV, but also in society at large, where every problem is attacked with laws/jails/coercion/taxation/money printing/bans/mandates/obligations/scanners/camera's/strip searches/tasers and pepper spray.

More to the Story than I thought

Thought I had a good idea about this case and would be bored listening to this book. However I was wrong there was so much more I didn't know about in this story and the evil man who has become so nortorious in our culture. The author is very detailed in his writing but the narrator makes it go by quickly. If you're into true crime stories it's a must read.

Excellent, but pace yourself

I consumed this audiobook in a single week, causing me many dreams and delusions. It is written and narrated so well that I found it difficult to pace myself, and as a result, the story consumed me.

I knew relatively little about the Manson murders before listening to this book. I knew of Manson, of Sharon Tate, and of some kind of cult following, but that was really about it. After reading the book, I know the names of many individuals of the Manson Family, where they lived, their personal backgrounds and those of the victims and the attorneys, the ins and outs of the trial, and a million other things in between. This book is so comprehensive that it's rather astounding.

The beginning is the heaviest part, given vivid and disturbing details of the Tate and LaBianca murders. This portion gave me chills, and reminded me quite a bit of In Cold Blood (incidentally, Scott Brick narrates that one as well). In Cold Blood is a better book for the simple reason that it was written by the creative Truman Capote, whereas Helter Skelter was written by an attorney and so is more matter-of-fact and doesn't attempt to get inside the reader's psyche so much. I appreciated this, however, because whereas In Cold Blood is relentless in its disturbingness and its psychic manipulations, Helter Skelter provides some relief; it is occasionally funny, and the second half of the book dealing with the trial is decidedly un-scary.

This is an extremely informative, well-written and comprehensive book about nearly everything to do with Manson and the Family. For me personally, it is so thorough that I do not feel a need to ever read or watch anything about Manson or his Family ever again.