The inspiration for the five-part Amazon Original docuseries Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer.
Ted Bundy is one of the most notorious serial killers in American history and one of the most publicized to this day. However, very rarely do we hear from the women he left behind—the ones forgotten as mere footnotes in this tragedy.
This updated, expanded edition of The Phantom Prince, Elizabeth Kendall’s 1981 memoir detailing her six-year relationship with serial killer Ted Bundy, includes a new introduction and a new afterword by the author, never-before-seen photos, and a startling new chapter from the author’s daughter, Molly, who has not previously shared her story.
The Phantom Prince chronicles Elizabeth Kendall’s intimate relationship with Ted Bundy and its eventual unraveling. As much as has been written about Bundy, it’s remarkable to hear the perspective of people who shared their daily lives with him for years. Kendall writes in her introduction:
“In writing this book, I have gone through a wide range of feelings towards Ted. At times, the intensity of my love for him scared me. When I thought of some of the happy times we shared, I was overwhelmed by the feeling that he should not be in jail. But by the time I finished by my writing, those feelings had turned to outrage that he had coldly, capriciously murdered all those women.”
This gripping account presents a remarkable examination of a charismatic personality that masked unimaginable darkness. It is essential reading for anyone interested in Ted Bundy, his crimes, or the psychology of serial killers.
Praise
“For decades, interest and news coverage about Ted Bundy focused on Bundy as a killer, privileging his perverse pathology and overweening ego over anyone else. Now the focus has shifted to the women whose world Bundy inhabited… whose lives were bound up with Ted Bundy like family, kept apart from the unimaginable but living everyday horrors of their own. Women like Elizabeth and Molly Kendall.”GEN Magazine
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“It’s apparent from the very first line of The Phantom Prince to Molly’s final chapter … that Kendall’s voice, as well as that of her daughter, are needed.”The Independent, Clémence Michallon
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“The Phantom Prince is both surreal and brave. Elizabeth Kendall and her daughter Molly share their remarkable personal experience of trauma and courage as it played out in the shadows of perhaps the most devastating true crime story of our time.”Trish Wood, Producer/Director of the Amazon Original documentary series, Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer
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