6 gripping books about Charles Manson & his infamous Family

Although the famous Manson Family murders of actress Sharon Tate and four others occurred in 1969, they have continued to grip the imagination with plenty of books on the subject purporting to tell the story of Charles Manson and his band of psychotic followers.

And you can expect a flood of new books to hit shelves following the death of Manson at age 83 on Sunday, November 19, in Kern County, California.

Here are some of the better ones currently on sale:

THE MANSON FILE: MYTH AND REALITY OF AN OUTLAW SHAMAN

by Nikolas Schreck

Nikolas Schreck spent 25 years researching the Charles Manson phenomenon to deliver revelations that illuminate unknown dimensions of Manson as philosopher, musician, Gnostic mystic, Mafia fall guy, revolutionary, friend, lover and drug dealer to 1960s Hollywood's best-known rock stars and movie idols.

MANSON IN HIS OWN WORDS: THE SHOCKING CONFESSIONS OF ''THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN ALIVE" by Charles Manson

Distilled from hundreds of hours of interviews, Manson's story reveals an enormous amount of new information about his life and how it led to the 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders, and provides grim insight into the making of a criminal mind. The story is embellished with 16 pages of photos.

HELTER SKELTER: THE TRUE STORY OF THE MANSON MURDERS

by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry

Prosecuting attorney in the Manson trial, Vincent Bugliosi held a unique insider's position in one of the most baffling and horrifying cases of the last century.

He attempts to answer the gripping questions: what motivated Manson in his seemingly mindless selection of victims, and what was his hold over the young women who obeyed his orders? 

THE GIRLS

by Emma Cline

A troubled Californian 14-year-old is co-opted into a raggedy group not unlike the cult that surrounded Charles Manson when she falls for one of the women who is deeply under his spell.

Evie Boyd tells the story of her involvement with the group that is essentially an escape from her overwrought mother and her abusive love interest from the vantage point of adulthood.

We're drawn into the cult along with the young protagonist and experience its seductions of the cult mentality.

Boyd missed the famous murders only by inches, but the reader goes along with her for the ride that almost lands her in the midst of them.

TAMING THE BEAST: CHARLES MANSON'S LIFE BEHIND BARS

by Edward George and Dary Matera

Former prison counsellor to the messianic killer, Edward George enraged Manson as an agent of the state's criminal justice system, listened to him as a trusted confessor, spoke for him as a press agent and almost connected with him as a friend.

George saw Manson in a way the public never would, witnessing the method to his madness, the charisma that underlay his sickness, the pathetic, abandoned boy within the homicidal man. If you read Helter Skelter and think you know the whole story about Manson, think again.

RESTLESS SOULS: THE SHARON TATE FAMILY'S ACCOUNT OF STARDOM, THE MANSON MURDERS, AND A CRUSADE FOR JUSTICE

by Alisa Statman and Brie Tate

The true, bone-chilling chronicle of the Manson Family murders and its aftermath from the point of view of the victims' families.

This true crime memoir by Alisa Statman, a 20-year Tate family friend, and Brie Tate, the daughter of Sharon Tate's niece, includes interviews with the Tate family, accounts from personal letters, tape recordings, home movies and private diaries.

A revealing, riveting and emotionally raw account of the gruesome slayings, the hunt and capture of the killers and the behind-the-scenes drama of their trials, as well as a touching view of the torment that the victims' families have endured for years after such tragedy.

• Source: Goodreads.com

• This article was originally published in The Times