History Literature / TheStrangerBesideMe

** Creator/MarkHarmon claims his own dogs were afraid of him while he was playing Bundy in ''Series/TheDeliberateStranger'', a miniseries based on a different book about Bundy.

* DaylightHorror: Ted's abduction of two women from Washington's Lake Sammamish Park took place in the middle of a glorious mid-summer day.

** Creator/MarkHarmon claims his own dogs were afraid of him while he was playing Bundy in ''The Deliberate Stranger'', a miniseries based on a different book about Bundy.

* SerialKiller: Ted killed 36 young women that we know of. Several people have speculated that the number is much higher, possibly as much as '''''100'''''. When he was captured and charged with thirty-six murders, Bundy famously boasted that they were missing a zero at the end.

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* AFoolForAClient: Despite the judge sincerely saying that it would have been a pleasure to see him practice in court under different circumstances, Bundy frequently engaged in clownish antics and stall tactics, and pursued lines of questioning in court that sabotaged his own case. He may have been acquitted or received a lesser sentences if he had kept his mouth shut and let legitimate attorneys handle his defense.

* SerialKiller: Ted killed 36 young women that we know of. Several people have speculated that the number is much higher, possibly as much as '''''100'''''.

* AdultFear: The kidnapping and murder of one's child.

* EnfantTerrible: Ted displayed disturbing behavior even as a young boy--at age 3, he collected knives and placed them around his sleeping aunt. As he grew older, he engaged in voyeurism and theft, and he is strongly suspected of having begun his killing spree at [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Ann_Marie_Burr only 14]].

* AFoolForAClient: Despite the judge sincerely saying that it would have been a pleasure to see him practice in court under different circumstances, Bundy frequently engaged in clownish antics and stall tactics and pursued lines of questioning in court that sabotaged his own case. He may have been acquitted or able to get a lesser sentences if he had kept his mouth shut and let legitimate attorneys handle his case.

** Harmon claims his own dogs were afraid of him while he was filming the miniseries.

* HasAType: Ted's victims were typically young, pretty girls in the late teens--early twenties age range with long dark hair. He also had a fondness for light-colored Volkswagen Bugs.
* HowWeGotHere: We start off with Ted Bundy moving to Florida after having escaped prison.

* {{Irony}}: Ted spent some nights stalking, abducting, and killing women. . .and others saving lives while working on the suicide hotline. Additionally, Ann Rule has repeatedly stated that she never feared for her safety while alone with him (though this was likely because she did not fit the demographic he preferred).
** At least one victim, Susan Elaine Rancourt, was known to be afraid of the dark and was painfully shy. One night, she ventured out to a movie by herself to force herself to get over both of these fears. . .and basically had them confirmed when she encountered Bundy.

* LovingAShadow: Rule tried to offer some counsel to the infatuated young women who would write to her asking about Bundy, with limited success, given how convinced they were that he was somehow a "good man" who simply needed some TLC. It got even worse when the miniseries was released, thanks to the casting of heartthrob Creator/MarkHarmon as Bundy. Several girls she was able to snap out of their delusions by telling them that ''that's'' who they were infatuated with.

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Creator/MarkHarmon, described by basically everyone who knows him as an all-around nice guy, combined this with PlayingAgainstType (he's built his career on playing honorable men such as [[Series/StElsewhere doctors]] and [[Series/{{NCIS}} law enforcement officers]]) with his bone-chilling performance as Bundy in the MiniSeries ''The Deliberate Stranger''.
* MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot: The two times Bundy was caught, it was for a thoroughly mundane reason. The first incident was because he was driving without his headlights on (it has been speculated that he may have been looking for a victim). The cop didn't buy his explanation and found alarming things in his backseat--handcuffs, a ski mask, a crowbar, etc. The second time, the cop felt his Volkswagen Bug was out of place in the posh neighborhood. Bundy might still have gotten away had he not attacked the cop in an effort to get away (it has been speculated he was trying to invoke SuicideByCop).

* SerialKiller: Ted killed 36 young women that we know of--several people have speculated that the number is much higher, possibly as much as '''''100'''''.

* SuicideByCop: Bundy's last slew of crimes were committed in Florida, a known death penalty state. Indeed, he was sentenced to death when convicted. Ann Rule suspects that he was fully aware that this might happen.
** He attacked the cop who pulled him over in Florida and tried to make a run for it. When the guy caught him, he outright said, "I wish you'd killed me.", indicating that he was trying to invoke this.

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Ted worked at a suicide hotline. Ann Rule states that he saved more lives than he took. He also volunteered for the Republican party, saved a drowning toddler, wrote a pamphlet instructing women how to prevent rape, and chased down a thief who had stolen a woman's purse- and even returned it to her. One has to wonder why he would do all those good deeds when he was really a depraved serial killer.

* WouldHurtAChild: At least two of Bundy's victims, including his last one, were 12-year old girls. And the girl believed to be his [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Ann_Marie_Burr first]] (never proven, but strongly suspected), was only 8.

* EnfantTerrible: Ted displayed disturbing behavior even as a young boy--at age 3, he collected knives and placed them around his sleeping aunt. As he grew older, he engaged in voyeurism and theft, and he is strongly suspected of having begun his killing spree at [[ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Ann_Marie_Burr only 14]].

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Creator/MarkHarmon, described by basically everyone who knows him as an all-around nice guy, combined this with PlayingAgainstType (he's built his career on playing honorable men such as [[Series/StElsewhere doctors]] and [[Series/{{NCIS}} law enforcement officers]]) with his bone-chilling performance as Bundy in the miniseries ''The Deliberate Stranger''.

* WouldHurtAChild: At least two of Bundy's victims, including his last one, were 12-year old girls. And the girl believed to be his [[http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/burr_ann.html first]] (never proven, but strongly suspected), was only 8.

* EnfantTerrible: Ted displayed disturbing behavior even as a young boy--at age 3, he collected knives and placed them around his sleeping aunt. As he grew older, he engaged in voyeurism and theft, and he is strongly suspected of having begun his killing spree at [[http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/burr_ann.html only 14]].

''The Stranger Beside Me'' is a 1980 TrueCrime book by Ann Rule. It concerns the life and killings of notorious SerialKiller Ted Bundy, with special focus on his relationship with Ann Rule herself.

* TheFilmOfTheBook: Made for TV in 2003, with Creator/BillCampbell as Bundy and Creator/BarbaraHershey as Ann.

* TheFilmOfTheBook: In 1986, a miniseries (which inexplicably changed its name to ''The Deliberate Stranger'', which was ironically, the title of ''another'' book about Bundy) was released that was based on this book. Aside from starting InMediasRes (it began with the abduction and murder of his sixth known victim, Georgeann Hawkins, thus eliminating his first five killings), and changing the name of every victim, it was a very accurate depiction of both the book and the investigation into his crimes.