Ex-Cult Leader And Murderer Charles Manson Is Dead, But For Some Reason People Are Sad About It

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation / Wikimedia Commons

Yesterday, ex-cult leader Charles Manson died at age 83. As it turns out, it’s an incredibly confusing event for the world, since Manson, in a way, was iconic — but, you know, he was also a serial killer.

If you don’t know much about Manson, here’s a quick recap: in the ’60s, Manson started  the “Manson Family,” which began as a free love quasi-commune and quickly spiraled into a cult fueled by doomsday prophesies about an apocalyptic race war he called “Helter Skelter.” To fuel these prophesies and keep his “family” in tact, he orchestrated 9 violent murders, including that of actress Sharon Tate.

So yeah, Manson probably sounds pretty crazy, but like many serial killers, he’s managed to maintain a level of intrigue over the years. So it’s not too surprising that his death was met with mixed reactions from people all over the world.

Some people, for instance, were actually sad to hear of his passing.

https://twitter.com/DaftLimmy/status/932542418779504640

https://twitter.com/kaytayskrabak/status/932497749496315904

… Which wasn’t necessarily well-received.

https://twitter.com/____PantheR/status/932619617041895425

https://twitter.com/MikeHeadasss/status/932603855883440129

Yeah, I’m on Team WTF here. Though, to be fair, there was definitely some confusion between him and problematic rockstar Marilyn Manson.

https://twitter.com/WashingMachineO/status/932484615532630016

Of course, a lot of people were actually happy to hear about Manson’s passing because, well, he was a murderer who was trying to start a race war and had an actual swastika tattooed to his head. Can you blame them?

Some used his death as a chance to remember his victims, taking the focus away from the serial killer and instead on the innocent people who lost their lives because of him.

https://twitter.com/ShaunaRDeBono/status/932611296192692225

https://twitter.com/ChiBarb/status/932605945955352576

Personally, I’m not going to mourn for Charles Manson, but I guess I do understand people’s strange fascination with him. He did a lot of terrible things, but just like a lot of people who do terrible things, there’s a veil of intrigue surrounding him. Dead or alive, we’re not going to forget him anytime soon. Thought Catalog Logo Mark

Callie is a writer, editor, and publisher at Thought Catalog. Her debut book, ‘The Words We Left Behind,’ was released in January 2024.

Keep up with Callie on Instagram, Twitter and calliebyrnes.com

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