The relationships between self-reported DSM-IV personality disorder (PD), general personality traits, and "sensational" interests were examined in 155 of 167 offenders who were consecutively referred to a forensic psychology service. The subscales of the PD and personality-trait measures were reduced to the four basic PD/trait dimensions (asocial, antisocial, anxious, and anankastic) by using confirmatory factor analysis. Only the antisocial factor significantly predicted an interest in "sensational" topics. This dimension involved greater hostility, less organization, and many of the features associated with antisocial, paranoid, and borderline personality disorders. These persons were more interested than others in "violent-occult" and militaristic topics. It is important for clinicians to consider the individual's context and behavioral alternatives in order to determine whether the person's "sensational" interests reflect an underlying sadism, idiosyncratic interest, or a transient curiosity. The current study provides a model by which such interests can be assessed and applied to conventional psychological and psychiatric labels in a group of mentally disordered offenders. 4 tables and 43 references