Sociologists have long employed rhetorical analysis techniques to address public perceptions of the amount and seriousness of criminal behavior and reasons for the appeal of crime as a media topic. Ideological directions in which rhetorical analysis techniques are employed depend on the broader political context, and interpretations of serial murder likewise reflect prevailing social and political currents. The analysis of serial murder includes three sections. The first section describes the dramatic growth in concern over serial murder since the late 1970s and emphasizes bureaucratic and political interests most active in promoting the issue as a social problem. The second section explores some of the cultural meanings attached to the serial murder problem, while the third section deals with ideological and political perspectives that have been brought to bear on the serial murder problem. Particular attention is paid to images of the serial killer in popular culture, serial murder as a modern mythology, the view of serial murder as femicide, racial dimensions of serial murder, the link between homosexuality and serial murder, and cults and conspiracies. Even though serial murders have significantly increased in the United States over the past 30 years, the author notes this type of violence accounts for only about 1 percent of homicides. References and tables