13 Disturbing Things Albert Fish Did to His Victims (And Himself)

Prolific 20th-century American serial killer Albert Fish is known by many names – The Boogeyman, The Gray Man, The Werewolf of Wysteria, The Brooklyn Vampire, and The Moon Maniac. Although he claimed to have 400 victims, Fish was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of 10-year-old Gracie Budd. In 1928, Fish abducted and strangled the girl. After her death, he penned a letter to her parents, detailing how he consumed her remains for the next week and a half. 

Mental health professionals determined that Fish, who had been hospitalized in a psychiatric facility in 1930, was a sadomasochistic and a pedophile. Fish regularly engaged in self-harm and later developed a propensity toward torture and cannibalism. Prior to his final arrest in December 1934, Fish had a criminal record dating back to 1903, when authorities arrested him on multiple counts of grand larceny. 

From 1924 to 1932, Fish terrorized American parents and children alike with the looming threat of The Boogeyman. As a traveling house painter, Fish’s profession allowed him to commit crimes outside of New York City. He often targeted young boys and girls, as well as mentally disabled teens. The thrice-married Fish was a father of six himself. In 1936, New York State executed Fish via the electric chair, and the infamous child killer died at age 65. Due to the perverse nature of his crimes, Fish is regarded as one of American history’s most infamous killers.