Serial killer and media expert Dr. Scott Bonn is coming to Vacaville to discuss the inner workings of America’s most famous killers.

This weekend’s show is one of around 40 across the country. Each show is separated into two acts. In Act One, Bonn analyses the mind of serial killers and debunks myths surrounding them. In Act Two, he takes questions from the audience, tailoring his show to what they want to learn.

“I frequently say I’m a criminologist with a bit of a twist,” says Bonn. Long before he became a serial killer expert, Bonn worked as Vice President of Marketing for NBC TV Network in New York. He says seeing the public’s reaction to celebrity killers like O.J. Simpson peaked his curiosity.

But it was September 11, 2001 that convinced Bonn to make a career change.

“I was very moved by the events of 9/11, as many people were, so I ultimately got my PhD in criminology and I became a college professor,” he says.

“It was when I was teaching my students about very bad people, like Ted Bundy and Jeffery Dahmer, I noticed just the almost gleeful expression on their faces.”

It was the culmination of his experience in media and marketing and his deep understanding of criminology that convinced him to study not only the minds of the killers themselves, but our fascination with them.

Bonn’s book, “Why We Love Serial Killers: The Curious Appeal of the World’s Most Savage Murderers,” covers just that idea and is the basis for his show, “Serial Killers with Dr. Scott Bonn.”

In Act One of the show, Bonn discusses his contact with serial killers David Berkowitz (Son of Sam) and Dennis Rader (Bind, Torture, Kill). In each of their cases, Bonn says, it wasn’t enough to kill their victims, but they sought notoriety, wishing to terrorize an entire community.

While it may be interesting to dive right into the details of their cases, Bonn says one aspect of his talk is very important: Myth busting.

“There’s so many myths that they are all young white males, that are all motivated by sex, that they want to get caught. So I spend a considerable time debunking these myths,” says Bonn.

Bonn said that in actuality, what makes a killer kill is complicated, and talking about it while remaining sensitive to the victims requires balance.

‘You have to walk a fine line,” he says. “I’ve been told that I do it quite well, but you have to walk the line between informing and even entertaining. I try to do it in a very tasteful, non-sensationalized way.”

Bonn says at each show he reminds the audience to be aware and respectful of those that lost their lives, or the lives of loved ones.

“I always remind the audience, Ted Bundy is pretty much a household term. You know, even people who don’t really know his story, if you mention evil, the name Ted Bundy comes up or Jeffery Dahmer and yet, Ted Bundy had 36 victims. Try to name one,” he says. “It’s important to remember that they destroy real people’s lives.”

While the first part of his show is educational, Bonn says he enjoys hearing from the audience throughout the Q&A, and it’s not unusual for him to receive 100 to 200 questions.

“I can’t possibly answer them all, so I try to do it in as rapid fire an approach as possible, but for about 45 minutes, we answer all the questions,” he says.

“”It’s really cool because you never know that you’re going to get asked. It tends to take on a local flavor,” he says., adding that he wouldn’t be surprised to receive questions about Ed Kemper (The Co-ed Killer) or Richard Ramirez (Night Stalker) at his show in Vacaville.

While there are people who are not interested, or even repulsed, by the idea of trying to understand the mind of a serial killer, Bonn says that his audience, and the audience of most true crime, is unsurprisingly female.

“My audience is pretty consistently 75 percent women everywhere I go,” he says. “I think it’s partially empathy with the victims…and also a desire for protection and to be able to identify potential perpetrators and intruders.”

“Psychologically, it may even be working on a subconscious level, that if we can somehow understand the compulsions and the drives of these individuals, that maybe it’s not as terrifying after all,” he says. “It’s the fear of the unknown, it’s the ambiguity of the unknown and not knowing. That is really terrifying.”

If you go …

WHAT: Serial Killers with Dr. Scott Bonn

WHEN: Feb. 28, 8 p.m.

WHERE: Vacaville Performing Arts Theatre, 1010 Ulatis Dr., Vacaville.