THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SERIAL KILLERS to Launch US Tour This Spring
The tour will visit nearly 30 cities across the U.S. through May 18, including Philadelphia, Atlanta, Portland, Charlotte, Nashville, and more.
Serial violence remains one of the most misunderstood categories of criminal behavior. How does someone commit repeated acts of extreme harm and still move through daily life without detection for years? The Psychology of Serial Killers invites audiences beyond the headlines and into the behavioral, developmental, and psychological pathways that can precede serial homicide. Hosted by Dr. Rachel Toles, a clinical and forensic psychologist specializing in extreme violence and threat behavior, the national tour launches April 7 and will visit nearly 30 cities across the U.S. through May 18, including Philadelphia, Atlanta, Portland, Charlotte, Nashville, and more.
The Psychology of Serial Killers is a live event built around a structured, evidence-informed look at escalation. It examines how certain offenders develop patterns, how they select opportunities, how they avoid detection, and how institutions and communities miss warning signs along the way. The show also addresses the role of fear and fascination in public attention, and how cultural narratives shape the way these crimes are explained after the fact.
During the presentation, Dr. Toles introduces her framework, "The Chain of Escalation," a practical way to understand warning behaviors, decision points, and missed interventions that can precede repeat violence. Audience members can submit questions during intermission for a live Q&A that addresses the topics people are most drawn to and uneasy about, including how someone can present as ordinary while living a double life, why certain cases dominate public attention, why some people form attachments to notorious offenders, and how media coverage influences what the public thinks it understands.
Drawing from case material and psychological research, Dr. Toles will discuss well-known offenders such as Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Richard Ramirez, John Wayne Gacy, and Israel Keyes, alongside lesser-known cases and investigative threads that illustrate how escalation and detection can play out differently across time and place.
The 2026 tour schedule includes:
April 7 Tower Theatre Bend, OR
April 8 Cascade Theatre Redding, CA
April 9 The Guild Theatre Menlo Park, CA
April 11 Soreng Eugene, OR
April 12 Aladdin Theater Portland, OR
April 14 The Wilma Missoula, MT
April 16 The Lincoln Cheyenne Cheyenne, WY
April 19 The Fitzgerald Theatre St. Paul, MN
April 21 The Astro Theatre Omaha, NE
April 22 Hoyt Sherman Place Des Moines, IA
April 24 The Pageant St. Louis, MO
April 26 Uptown Theater Kansas City, MO
April 28 North Shore Center Skokie, IL
April 29 The Kent Stage Kent, OH
April 30 Flagstar Strand Theatre Pontiac, MI
May 1 City Winery Concert Venue Philadelphia, PA
May 2 The Byham Theater Pittsburgh, PA
May 3 Rams Head On Stage Annapolis, MD
May 5 Bearsville Theater Woodstock, NY
May 6 AURA Portland, ME
May 7 Nashua Center for the Arts Nashua, NH
May 8 The United Theatre Westerly, RI
May 9 The Williams Center Rutherford, NJ
May 11 Kenan Auditorium-UNC Wilmington Wilmington, NC
May 13 Meymandi Concert Hall Raleigh, NC
May 15 The Carolina Theatre Charlotte, NC
May 16 The Garden Club at Wild Heaven West End Atlanta, GA
May 17 City Winery Nashville, TN
May 18 Bijou Theatre Knoxville, TN
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