Myth of the Zodiac Killer

Thomas Henry Horan's book argues that the widely-known Zodiac Killer was not a single real person but a constructed narrative that stitched together separate crimes.

Horan critiques prior popular accounts and contends that letters, phone calls, and media attention created a metanarrative that misled investigators and the public.

The book mixes literary analysis with case commentary to propose that some communications were hoaxes and that police suspicions were fragmented across independent cases.

It generated renewed public interest and was the basis for a two-part NBC Peacock documentary exploring the claim.

The work has been influential in prompting re-examination of the evidence but has also faced substantial criticism from other Zodiac researchers.