Review of Helltown: The Untold Story of a Serial Killer on Cape Cod by Casey Sherman

A well-written, uniquely informative, and exploitative written dramatization of the serial killer that terrorized Cape Cod: Tony Costa. Weaving and connecting real figures (such as writers Kurt Vonnegut and Norman Mailer) while impressively providing the cultural and historical context of the 1960s, Sherman has a highly readable and interesting writing style. However, there are details and descriptions related to the serial killer’s crimes that are unnecessary and starkly stick out negatively. There is also the issue of the ending, discussed at the end so spoilers can be easily avoided since it barely has connection with reality and ends the book on a sour note.

I want to emphasize the impressive amount of research which went into this book. There is a wealth of information which I can tell would have taken me much more time to hunt down and pick through than reading this book. The inclusion of news transcript snippets and thoughtful inclusion of real events and wars which set the stage to the 1960s leading to 1969 when the murders took place. “Helltown” moves between Antone Charles “Tony” Costa - the serial killer in question, Kurt Vonnegut right at the precipice of his big break, and Norman Mailer when he was on top of the journalism and literary world. The points they intersect are surprising and shows why these are the central, recurring figures of this publication. We can see Vonnegut was haunted by his time served in World War II along with the influence the war had on the United States, influencing him and the culture. The ‘60s were a tumultuous time at odds with itself in dichotomies as the United States went through necessary but painful changes at the expense of the people. While the Vietnam war dragged on and divided everyone, the hippie movement bloomed in reaction to it as the civil rights movement followed into the new decade from the 1950s.

During this time, the Manson Family was grabbing the public’s attention in the late 1960s. Tony Costa was an admirer of Charles Manson’s on top of being a drug dealer, police informant, borderline cult leader of Provincetown, odd jobs man, carpenter, drug addict, and fan of his own bastardized interpretation of the hippie movement. He would go on to torture, rape, murder, and defile corpses of eight women, though only convicted for the murder of 2 - Walsh and Wysocki: Diane Federoff, Christine Gallant, Sydney Monson, Susan Perry, Barbara Spaulding, Patricia Walsh, Bonnie Williams, and Mary Anne Wysocki. He did his damnedest to cover his tracks, caught lucky breaks, and a few times the police didn’t follow up or take information seriously when they should have. Kurt Vonnegut wrote up on Tony Costa and the murders for Life Magazine*, using the angle that his daughter had known the serial killer (she had only met him briefly).

While, on the whole, the depictions of the the crimes Tony Costa committed are handled carefully there are specific instances in which the content is questionable and calls Casey Sherman’s motives for these artistic decisions. An abbreviated autopsy report is included later in the book, which would have been sufficient in giving the whole scope and depth of his actions. It’s hard not to wonder why two victims’ last moments and defilement of their corpses were described in brutal detail when all the rest were brief in comparison and more generalized. It adds nothing to the narrative and even disrupts it by deviating from the rest of the writing and creates strange pacing in otherwise solid writing that usually moves along at an engaging clip. “True crime” as a genre will inevitably have gruesome and chilling details which can devastate or disgust, so there are questions to contend with: where is the line and how do we define that line? There is a fine line between portraying true events, no matter how heinous they are, and exploiting tragedy for monetary gain — but there is a line. There is a sense of exploitation which brings uneasiness we shouldn’t have to worry about while processing heinous crimes.

It feels as if Casey Sherman is, at best, aggressively toeing the line or, at worst, breaking the line where he personally feels will entertain his own interest.

Spoiler here, skip to next paragraph to avoid — If ignoring the exploitative scenes, what mars an otherwise interesting and well written book is the ending. After the ending, Casey Sherman felt compelled to write a defense of the ending along with the explanation. It also calls into question how many details were made up in order to create an engaging story; it appears solid but the question does end up being raised by this defense no one asked for. At the end of “Helltown,” the Lady of the Dunes makes an appearance. The Lady of the Dunes was a real woman found dead in the trees on the sand dunes of Provincetown of which we still have no leads on who she is or who killed her. We are allowed to speculate and try to find some explanation. In this book, a “disciple” of Costa’s is presented as the killer of this Jane Doe and potential budding serial killer, presented with such confidence that it sounds like a viable theory or even true. After pages and pages of information, it’s strange to see fiction end the story. It’s made worse by the author’s defensive words trying to justify such a decision. I’m surprised an editor would acquiesce to this note on top of the ending itself — or approve such an ending.

There was protest against Hell Town’s book launch in Provincetown**, and after reading the book I can understand why the descendants and friends of the victims don’t view this book favorably or regard the author kindly. I feel there is informational merit to this book and provides details that are otherwise trouble to find in the age of botched search engine algorithms. If you have an interest in 1960s America, Kurt Vonnegut, or Cape Cod history it’s worth reading. Overall, I don’t recommend this book for purchase. It’s a shame because the presentation of information and narrative is unique and Casey Sherman writes wonderfully. The detractions, unfortunately, are too loud to ignore.

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* Read here the scan of Kurt Vonnegut’s article about Tony Costa in Life Magazine, July 25, 1969.

** Read here about the Helltown book launch backlash in Provincetown, as seen in Cape Cod Times.

I originally purchased this from Yellow Umbrella Books in Chatham, MA. This is an unsolicited review - I just have a lot of thoughts. Yellow Umbrella is an excellent bookstore and I highly recommend visiting if you find yourself nearby or in town.

Title - Helltown: The Untold Story of a Serial Killer on Cape Cod

Author - Casey Sherman

Publisher - Sourcebooks

Publication date - 2022

ISBN - 9781728245959