Homicide will always be an aspect of life, whether in the 16th century, the 21st century or in the future. In times of extreme stress, people may turn to killing as a way to express a bigger problem that they cannot resolve or control. Currently, homicide has a greater value in society due to references to popular culture through media such as television, cinema and writing; society constantly has homicide and murder in the subconscious. According to David M. Buss's findings in The Murderer Next Door: Why the Mind is Designed to Kill, 91 percent of men and 84 percent of women have had at least one equally vivid fantasy about killing someone. 'a... The human mind has developed adaptations to murder – deeply ingrained thought patterns, often accompanied by internal dialogue, rooted in powerful emotions – that motivate us to murder. (Chapter 1) Buss's point of view is simple: people have the idea of ​​killing someone and the mind has adapted to do so. In fiction, however, some authors neglect the psychological aspects necessary to commit homicide. Bret Easton Ellis, author of American Psycho, and Fyodor Dostoyevsky, author of Crime and Punishment, incorporate these psychological aspects necessary for committing homicide into their main characters through each character's presentation, motivations, and thought process. Self-presentation, the way people present themselves to society and their overall facade, is a fundamental characteristic of the psychology of a murderous individual. Not only is this trait physical, but it is also a necessary element in how people with murderous intentions feel the need to present themselves to society. The Science News-Letter, published in 1949, notes that to avoid mass murder, one must be aware of the following...... middle of article...... Psychoanalytic reading. Pasadena, CA: California Institute of Technology, 1982. Humanities Working Paper, No. 73. Buss, David M. “Chapter 1.” The Murderer Next Door: Why the Mind is Designed to Kill. New York: Penguin, 2005. Print. Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Crime and punishment. Trans. Sydney Monas. New York: New American Library, 1968. Print.Ellis, Bret Easton. American Psycho: a novel. New York: Vintage, 1991. Print.Fox, James Alan and Jack Levin. “Multiple Homicides: Patterns of Serial and Mass Murders.” Crime and Justice. Flight. 23. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1998. JSTOR. Internet. .Rogers, Martin. “Video Nasties and the monstrous bodies of American Psycho.” Literature-Film Quarterly 39.3 (2011): 231+. Literary Resource Center. Internet. .