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)

Classic. Still the best book on the murders.

Certain people have always claimed that Bugliosi railroaded Manson. I've studied the case for many years, and I can tell you that that is complete nonsense. No one knows more about the case than Bugliosi. This is a fantastic book. The narrator is perfect.

In depth

Great book. So much more interesting details. Such a sad tragedy in our history. Narrator was amazing

Amazing experience

I picked up this book after watching Once upon a time in Hollywood. It’s great. Its main appeal isn’t the terrible crimes perpretated by the Manson family, it’s the very clear, thorough look at law enforcement, the DA’s office and, beyond it, a period of time that, as a child of the 90s, I’ve not experienced.
The narrator is very good. For the past twenty-something hours, the way he says « thing » has been a welcome distraction from the most awful details of the crimes.

Deeply Engrossing...

This story is gripping and narratively brilliant. I would have enjoyed simply reading the physical book thanks to its compelling organization and nonfiction novel feel, but Scott Brick is an outstanding narrator who really nails the gravity of the crimes. With a quiet, emphatic tone, he brings Bugliosi's prose to life, and makes it very clear that there is nothing glamorous about Manson and the crimes surrounding him. As someone who enjoys true crime, the book forces a sense of self-reflection. It made me take a step back and ask why. I doubt I will ever again read true crime without the sense of disquiet that this book instilled in me. Cannot recommend enough, and would definitely listen to again.

Packed with Details

This was a tough one to get through. The details of the Manson Family and their lives were shocking to me. Even though I knew the story or partial story of the Sharon Tate murders, I didn’t really know much about the Manson Family. Heater Skelter is a fascinating run down of Charlie Manson, his family, and their activities. ALL DETAILS ARE DISCUSSED. I had to stop a few times to reassess.

Incredible prosecution of the DEVIL

The satanic members of the Manson family who were convicted of the Tate LaBianca murders should’ve been transported by boat to the Farralon Islands located 27 miles west of San Francisco and fed to the hungry 19 foot white sharks.

The murderers forfeited every right to live after their actions.

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.