Word Craft

Into the Mind of Evil

July 27, 2012 9:58 p.m. ET

How is it possible for a "normal" human to commit an act of sheer evil? We find this so difficult to envisage that evil is often seen by various faiths as a kind of possession—either by spirits or the devil or, in recent decades, the subconscious.

Hence, we also have fiction that portrays evil beings, such as vampires, as a kind of...

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