19 Terrifying Serial Killers on TV

Arthur Mitchell was at first viewed by Dexter Morgan as a fellow killer to admire. What a tragic mistake. Not an oddball loner at all, Mitchell was "happily" married devout Christian man who killed as did his father before him. Ultimately, he murdered Dexter's wife, Rita, in her own bathtub, slicing her femoral artery so she bled out, tiny baby Harrison screaming out on the floor beside her.

Bloodyface was a serial killer with severe mommy issues, who chose his victims based upon their resemblance to dear old mom. His goal was become her, in a way, and he skinned the victims, wearing their faces and hair as his own. It's a lovely trait he passed onto his own son. How sweet!

More of a rapist than a killer (having only killed one of his victims), we're still including The Carver because he's a very memorable and frightening character, and his victims suffered greatly at his hands. The Carver may have been a renounded plastic surgeon, but he secretely hated superficial beauty. Instead of choosing another profession, he raped and killed those he despised, carving a giant, bloody smile into their poor, beautiful faces. Ironically, those who survived were sent right back under the knife to try to get more of that superficial beauty.

It took an entire series run for Red John to be seen, which made him scary. The reveal was the least of it. He endlessly taunted the CBI and Patrick Jane, whose wife and daughter he killed long ago. He was always one step ahead the smartest man we knew, leaving behind a creepy red smiley face as the only indicator he was there. But not in the end.

Joe Carroll had a a strange fascination with Edgar Allen Poe, and he was a former English Lit professor, putting him in the perfect position to pluck the eyeballs out of college co-eds. Despite his lovely treatment of them, he used his charm to amass a cult of followers who killed for him even when he was unable to do it himself any longer.

Hannibal was in a position power as a therapist. You tell him your darkest secrets, and he can use them against you later. But first he'll make sure you taste your absolute best by feeding you oysters and acorns, so when he eats you for dinner and serves you to friends, they're sure to comment on his haute cuisine. No, not all of his victims were intimate, but still, don't ever eat dinner with Hannibal the Cannibal.

Piper Shaw donned a Ghostface mask to seek revenge upon her father's death and upon her mother for giving her up for adoption and upon her sister, Emma, for being lucky enough to grow up with mom. Of course, she wasn't the only killer...so what's the motive for the other kills? We don't know yet, but there were a lot of kills that had nothing to do with Emma and her mom...

Henry Dunn might not fit into this category as perfectly as we might wish, but dammit, he's being included. Henry went on a killing spree on an island during the weekend before his wedding killing around 20 people in cahoots with his birth father. Poor Henry was given up for adoption, couldn't handle that news, and unknowingly fell in love with his half sister. Terribly disturbed, he just wanted what he wanted and would do what he needed to get her, and she was't his bride to be. The mystery of it all and the pain of watching characters we grew to love die helped propel Harper's Island to one of the best summer series in a very long time.

George Foyet was a cunning sociopath who could compel the authorities into surrendering. He loved power and control and didn't have a specific type of victim, making it diffiult to track him. He put not only Morgan in danger, stealing his credentials, but Foyet was ultimately beat to death by Hotch for killing his ex wife Haley when he planned an attack on the entire family. Rot in hell!

This was a case of the serial killer being nowhere near as frightening as what the mystique of his capabilites could do turned out to be. He lured beloved Jeffersonian intern Zack Addy into helping him as his apprentice. While the real Gormogon, who was discovered by way of a tapestry inspired by secret societies and made of teeth scarred bones, was seen only briefly, it was the destruction of Zach that changed things on Bones forever.

The Salem Strangler stalked and killed many in the early 80s, including Marlena's twin sister, Samantha Evans. He was caught and killed by Roman Brady. Ironically, the actor who played his brother, Chris Kositchek returned to Salem later as Roman Brady. The Salem Strangler was the first serial killer in tiny Salem, leading to the Salem Slasher, The Riverfront Knifer, Salem Stalker, and others, including the current Red Tie Killer, who is now terrifying residents of Salem just as the Salem Strangler did decades ago.

Norman Bates has only just begun killing in the Bates Motel world, but he'll continue on, thanks to an abnormally close relationship with his mother. She's his best friend. He'll certainly grow to be more prolific as time goes on, but for now, he'll take people out when he's overly stressed and "mother" takes over his more timid nature.

Sylar had powers of his own, but they pretty much entailed ability to suck the powers of other Heroes, therefore he spent most of his time slicing open their heads with the flick of a finger and taking what he wanted. He'd have what they're having, thank you very much. The more powers he accumulated, the more unstoppable he became and the more ruthless. (Please note: Sylar is holding up Jack Coleman aka Jake Kositchek, the Salem Strangler!...small world.)

It's not easy being green. Or, being a plain old human being in a town like Bon Temps, but Rene Lenier took care of that. He stood out by becoming an even bigger nightmare – a serial killer. His victim of choice was vamp bangers, whether human or supernatural. Anyone who loved vampires was on his list. It was a terrific reveal, when he dropped the accent and went from loving boyfriend to sadistic killer.

Currently on the prowl right now(l) is a Red Devil on Wallace College. His (or her) favorite victims are the Kappa Kappa Tau sorority and the Dickie Dollar Scholars fraternity. Let's be honest, we'd want to kill the members of a fraternity called Dickie Dollars Scholars, too. Tools of the Devil's trade are vast, from tree trimmers to chainsaws, nothing is off the table!

Self described as "worthless, as bad as they come," Chris Keller was a bi-sexual serial killer in prison at first for other offenses. He fell in love with his cell mate, Tobias Beecher, and in a roundabout way, that's how it was discovered that he had been luring gay men into sexual encounters and then killing them. He hated himself so much that he killed a part of him as a result. A more twisted prison love story you will not encounter.

The infamous Triple Killer or 3XK first turned up during Castle Season 3. 3XK’s usual MO was to strangle three blond women to death in the same week and then go into hiding before starting the pattern again. Castle and Ryan came close to losing their lives when Rick figured out Jerry Tyson was 3XK and the serial killer disappeared once again. Then he turned up a year later to set Castle up for a murder he didn’t commit.

Tyson later become involved with Dr. Kelly Nieman, a plastic surgeon just as sadistic as he was. Not only did she create look-a-likes of Castle’s friends to use as victims, but she and Tyson later kidnapped Beckett and made Rick think they’d killed her. In the end, Beckett fought her way from beneath Dr. Nieman’s scalpel while Castle gave the word for Esposito to use his sniper skills to end 3XK permanently.

In CSI season 7, the team began finding meticulous scale models of crime scenes in which every detail was painstakingly accurate and even the victims own blood was used instead of red paint.

At the very end of season 7, The Miniature Killer was revealed to be Natalie Davis. Natalie’s lif of crime started young. Jealous of her little sister, Chloe, she pushed her out of their treehouse to her death, From above, the scene looked tiny, hence her obsession creating her miniature tableaus of her future victims. Eventually, Natalie kidnapped CSI Sara Sidle and sent a miniature of her whereabouts to Grissom. The team scrambled and eventually found Sara, who recovered. Natalie was put behind bars where therapeutic measures were deemed unsuccessful. After she was transferred to another prison, Grissom found a miniature of Natalie hanging from a ceiling tile by its neck, hinting at her next plan.

Dexter is the Robin Hood of serial killers, killing by a code (well, at least trying to for an awfully long time). The code is that if the bastard deserved it and the police couldn't do it legally, Dexter would clean up their mess without making one himself. Perhaps that's why it was so easy to cheer on a killer. It felt odd, at times, and only really wrong when he lost sight of his 'mission.' Gulp.