The Demon Next Door

A shocking recounting of a serial murderer operating in a small town. Danny Corwin is a quiet boy who attends church regularly with his upstanding family. He's shy and awkward around girls his age. Then he starts raping classmates. He is shortly caught and sent to jail, after his second victim survives his attempted murder. Serving only 9 years, Danny returns to civilian life and continues murdering. The small Texas town doesn't know how to cope with this type of crime. Law enforcement struggles to make progress and eventually brings a case against him. It would take another survivor to catch him. This time, Danny does not escape due punishment.

A deeply disturbing story about how small towns will believe anything rather than that a show more sweet, church-going boy could be hiding a dark secret. show less

Interesting listen of a serial killers beginnings and how he could have been stopped if the small town he lived in had taken his first crime seriously. There were so many people that didn't believe that he had done what he did when he was a kid and it was really never spoken about again . Why do we hide our heads in the sand when we don't want to face things.

Interesting take on a serial killer that emerged with classic development from animal abuse to rape to murder. The author is from the same small town and explores the suppression of memory of this case. Interestingly, like in The Texas Tower Sniper: The Terrifying True Story of Charles Whitman, there is documentation of an effort to find a root cause of mayhem in a head injury.

This is a gruesome story of a serial murderer in Temple, Texas, a few hours north of where I grew up. I’ve been to most of the towns described in the story and even Mikeska’s BBQ mentioned in it, where we celebrated my husband becoming a US citizen. The rapes and murders occurred just after I graduated from high school. A bit scary in retrospect.

I had no idea who this serial killer was when I chose this audiobook. I actually, even with the description, didn’t realize it was true until the narrator read the part of looking him up. I did and was surprised that it wasn’t a fictional horror book. I thought it was interesting that the author went to high school with the killer, and then went back to get the story. It gave a personal touch to the town. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for Brenda with the way the town appeared to embrace and cocoon her attacker. The book gives much to think about in that regard. If you read true crime, this is probably a book that will interest you.
The narrator was okay. His enthusiasm kind of creeped me out at times. Other than show more that, he did well. show less

It’s a shame. The writing and investigating were both done well but I couldn’t get past the narration. Don’t write this off before sampling on Audible because you might not mind the narrators voice!

The story of serial killer Danny Corwin who was convicted of murdering 3 women in Temple, Texas. (Although he murdered 6) There were early signs, but not heeded by anyone, especially his parents. The church, the town, even the mayor took Danny's side in his first attack and couldn't believe that a sweet church-going young man would do such a thing. He was executed in Texas in 1997 by lethal injection.