Albert Fish was a child killer, cannibal, and self-described sadist who terrorized New York City in the 1920s and 1930s. Known as the Gray Man, the Werewolf of Wysteria, and the Brooklyn Vampire, Fish committed crimes so extreme that even seasoned investigators were shaken.
Unsurprisingly, plenty of authors have tried to make sense of Fish's life and crimes. Some books focus on the investigation, others on his psychology, and a few publish his own disturbing writings for the first time.
Here are the five best Albert Fish books available in 2026, ranked by depth and quality.
Why Albert Fish Is Still Studied
Fish was executed at Sing Sing Prison in 1936 at the age of 65. Nearly a century later, his case still shows up in criminology textbooks, forensic psychology courses, and true crime documentaries. There are a few reasons for that.
First, Fish's psychiatric evaluation was groundbreaking. Dr. Fredric Wertham, the psychiatrist assigned to Fish's case, documented a range of paraphilias and psychological disorders that had never been cataloged in a single individual before. Wertham called Fish a "psychiatric phenomenon" and said no living person exhibited as many sexual abnormalities.
Second, Fish was old when he was caught. He was 64 at the time of his arrest, meaning he had potentially been committing crimes for decades. Most serial killers are caught in their 20s or 30s. Fish's ability to evade detection for so long raises uncomfortable questions about how many victims went unreported during an era with far less forensic capability.
Third, Fish wrote extensively. His letters to victims' families, his confessions to police, and his personal writings provide a rare and deeply unsettling window into the mind of a predator. These primary sources are what make the books below so valuable for anyone studying criminal psychology.
1. Deranged
Perhaps the most famous biography of Albert Fish, Harold Schechter's Deranged, is a thorough dissection of Fish's weird life. Written in Schechter's wistful prose, Deranged reads as much like a fictional horror story as an account of true events.
The book scrutinizes everything about the child killing Cannibal, from his troubled upbringing to his first desire to consume young children. The book includes full transcripts of Fish's vile letters that he sent to police and his victim's parents, as well as court documents that were previously unavailable to the public until the book's release in 1990.
For the most comprehensive biography of Fish available today, Deranged is the best option. While it doesn't explore certain aspects of Fish's life as much as some other volumes, it's still a fantastic look into Fish's bizarre crimes and how he eventually became the sadistic monster he did.
Schechter is one of the most respected true crime authors working today, and Deranged is considered his best work. The book covers Fish's entire life in chronological order, starting with his abandonment at an orphanage where he was regularly beaten by staff. Schechter argues that these early experiences planted the seeds for Fish's later obsessions. The writing is vivid but never sensationalized, which is a hard line to walk given the subject matter. If you only read one Albert Fish book, make it this one.
Schechter's other writings includes biographies of Ed Gein, Mary Bell and H.H. Holmes.
2. Albert Fish: In His Own Words
Albert Fish: In His Own Words was written by award-winning independent filmmaker, book editor, and author John Borowski, whose documentary series Serial Killer Culture has garnered international acclaim and has been distributed internationally on streaming services for over a decade now. Albert Fish: In His Own Words is little on prose and big on transcripts.
On December 13, 1934, Albert Fish was apprehended by Detective William King for the murder of 10-year-old Grace Budd. Fish’s defense attorney obtained the services of one Dr. Fredric Wertham for Fish’s psychiatric examination. Wertham’s files, including confessions and writings by Albert Fish, are published here for the first time in history.
The book is broken down into a number of sections, including: Confessions and Other Writings, which includes documents handwritten by Fish himself. From the Files Of Dr. Wertham, which includes Fish's psychiatric examinations and rorschach test results. There are also court transcripts, personal correspondence, and Grace Budd and Billy Gaffney confessions transcribed in full.
Borowski's approach is deliberately minimalist. He lets Fish's own words do the heavy lifting, and the result is one of the most unsettling reading experiences in the true crime genre. The psychiatric examination transcripts are particularly revealing because they show Fish speaking candidly about his crimes with a disturbing lack of emotion. This book is not for casual readers. It is a primary source collection meant for people who want to study Fish's psychology firsthand.
3. Confessions Of A Cannibal
Over the course of his imprisonment, Albert Fish made a startling number of shocking confessions to the police, the press, and his victims' families. In Confessions of a Cannibal, author Robert Keller takes a deep look into these bizarre claims to help gain insight into Albert Fish's twisted view of the world.
These confessions come from a number of places, including Fish's psychiatric examination, Dr Wertham's files, and the personal confessions of the child killer written for his own gratification inside prison. While the book doesn't explore Fish's childhood or his troubled past, the book is certainly worth the price of admission for the deep dive into Fish's psyche.
Additionally, Confessions of a Cannibal also includes testimonies from the detectives who hunted Fish down and ultimately apprehended him. It's a fantastic look into the investigation process at a time that predated DNA and forensic science techniques.
For a look into Fish's depraved mind as well as how he was hunted down, Confessions of a Cannibal is a good choice.
Keller's writing style is accessible and well-organized, making this a good entry point for readers who find the academic tone of some other volumes intimidating. The book also covers the Grace Budd case in detail, walking through the timeline from Fish's first contact with the Budd family to the letter he sent to Grace's mother years later. That letter, which described what Fish did to Grace in graphic detail, is what ultimately led to his capture.
4. Cannibal; The Case Of Albert Fish
Written by true NY Daily Mirror newspaper reporter Mel Heimer, Cannibal, The Case of Albert Fish was actually the first book on the Gray Man to ever hit the shelves all the way back in 1971. While not as detailed as some of the later books that emerged, Cannibal includes a number of newspaper excerpts that have since been lost to time and can only be found here.
Where The Case of Albert Fish differs from the other books on the subject is that Heimer has included a fictitious element too. While much of the conversation between Fish and his victims is unknown, Heimer has taken creative liberties and fleshed out the story with imagined dialogue. This also extends to Fish's conversations with the arresting officers and his designated psychologists.
If it's pure facts you're looking for, check out one of the other volumes above. However, if you're looking for something more narrative-driven to keep you up at night, Cannibal, The Case of Albert Fish will do just that.
Heimer wrote this book just 35 years after Fish's execution, which means some of the people involved in the case were still alive at the time of publication. That proximity to events gives the book a sense of immediacy that later volumes lack. The fictional dialogue is clearly labeled as such, so readers can easily distinguish between documented facts and Heimer's dramatization. Copies of this book are increasingly rare and command premium prices from collectors.
5. The Show of Violence
One of the lesser-known books that discusses Albert Fish, The Show of Violence was written by Fish's designated psychologist, Dr Fredric Wertham himself. Although Fredric Wertham's book is actually a textbook on forensic psychology, psychiatric care, and criminology, Fish makes regular appearances throughout.
This volume is not only rare in the literal sense, but it is actually one of the most unique books regarding content too. Wertham speaks in very scientific prose, often going into expert detail in regards to not only psychology and the criminal mind, but also touches on neuropsychology and sociology too. You'll need a thorough understanding in order to make the most of it.
When possible, Wertham uses examples from his past cases to highlight his point, many of which include Albert Fish. Fish, it seems, was Wertham's boogeyman, often pushing Wertham to his limits when it came to his psychoanalytic abilities. If you're after a book that does things differently and goes into painstaking detail about Fish's psychopathology, give The Show of Violence a go.
Wertham is a controversial figure in his own right. He later became famous for his campaign against comic books in the 1950s, arguing that they caused juvenile delinquency. But his work on the Fish case is considered some of his best clinical writing. The book is dense and academic, so it is best suited for readers with some background in psychology or forensic science. Used copies are hard to find and often expensive, but digital editions have made it more accessible in recent years.
