No fixed address, dazzlingly charming and outgoing, no compunctions about getting physical when he thinks the situation calls for it -- that's 100% Ted Bundy, from the outside.

Early Bundy had a fixed address. He had a job, and he had friends. Before the first time he was caught, of course.

As I recall, most famous serial killers (we grow them like weeds up here) have a seemingly-normal outside life. Though most of the ones I can think of aren't charming like Bundy was. Ridgway, for example, was both fugly and creepy, despite having a job and a series of wives.

As I recall, most famous serial killers (we grow them like weeds up here) have a seemingly-normal outside life.

I was going to say this. Bundy was in law school. Ann Rule was actually a friend of his, before the truth came out, which is why she wrote A Stranger Beside Me, if I recall correctly.

Dean also tends to meet women in crowded places, like bars or diners, where flirting is sort of expected. I also think there's a warmth in those eyes that can't be mistaken for anything less than genuine lust and joy in the moment.

Plus, the women he flirts with? Don't know his history. Don't know he'll throw a punch or fire a gun on instinct, if threatened. They only know they just met a charming stranger, which isn't unusual in larger cities and towns.

I do think he'd come off as creepy to some women, and it would be kind of neat to see that.

I'm just pedantic about serial killers. I mean, I fucking HATE true crime paperbacks, but as I think that's all my aunts ever read, I've read, well, most of the damn things. Plus all of Court TV's Crime Library. Plus the local paper. Like I said, we grow them like weeds. Serial killers were a fact of Seattle life growing up, just like the threat of nuclear attack and the reality of being at Ground Zero for one.

They only know they just met a charming stranger, which isn't unusual in larger cities and towns.

Ah, but this is Supernatural, where larger cities and towns are the rare, rare exception. Except for Chicago and Philadelphia, I can't immediately think of any other large towns they pursued jobs in. They can apparently find boogeymen in every small town in America, but they avoid the larger cities like the plague.

San Francisco, Milwaukee. They found a job in LA, but were there for fun.

Chicago was where they ran into Meg. Philadelphia was the creepy ghost who locked women in the basement, and Jo was along for the ride. Was San Francisco the werewolf incident? What happened in Milwaukee?

I do think he'd come off as creepy to some women, and it would be kind of neat to see that.

I know this is fantasyland and everything, but, surely there ARE hot women in this universe who DON'T go home with total strangers. Give him her phone number, yes; maybe even fool around, in a semi-public location; but go home with, or allow into her own home? Duuuuuumb.

(Even if he's not a serial killer, he could easily be a scam artist or a thief intending to knock you cold the minute you unlock the door.)

You're right, not all serial killers are drifters. But... where I come from, being a drifter is definitely a non-starter, and being somebody charming and with a not-noticeably-lacking personality, and still being a drifter, is a very, very bad sign. Like, if you're that charming, why aren't you a pharmaceuticals rep or a car salesman? It sets of major alarm bells.

Serial killers were a fact of Seattle life growing up, just like the threat of nuclear attack and the reality of being at Ground Zero for one.

So very true.

As I recall, most famous serial killers (we grow them like weeds up here) have a seemingly-normal outside life.

Yes. Every serial killer I've read about have a normal facade. It's part of what makes them so dangerous. Sure, everyone knows to be kind of wary of the obviously crazy or the drifters. There's a reason for that "But he seemed so normal" cliché.

You're right, not all serial killers are drifters. But... where I come from, being a drifter is definitely a non-starter, and being somebody charming and with a not-noticeably-lacking personality, and still being a drifter, is a very, very bad sign. Like, if you're that charming, why aren't you a pharmaceuticals rep or a car salesman? It sets of major alarm bells.

As I recall, he usually gives a cover story. A stupid one, but a cover story none the less. Even so, and this is probably my subculture showing, a 20-something on a Peter Pan jobless roadtrip wouldn't set of major alarm bells for me. Most of the ones I've known have been charming, and harmless in small doses.

(I mean, it's not that Goths and PNW Sci-Fi Geeks are slow to mature, it's just that, umm... okay, a not-very-small percentage of us are slow to mature.)

this is probably my subculture showing, a 20-something on a Peter Pan jobless roadtrip wouldn't set of major alarm bells for me.

I thnk this would sell considerably less well in, say, Butt End O' Nowhere, Ohio than in a big city. (And, since nobody under the age of 50 goes on a pilgrimage/spirit quest to Boston, it wouldn't sell here, either.)

(Considering, they've hit quite a few cities: Philly, Chicago, LA, SF, New York if you count Bela's Queens apartment, Buffalo, St. Louis, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Minneapolis. I presume Duluth and Sioux Falls and Rapid City would not count as "cities" for this purpose.)