Writer Stalks Killer Sites

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON The Associated Press

Published: Sep 9, 2007

TAMPA - In some ways, author Tim Dorsey lives the life of Serge A. Storms, the mentally ill but affable serial killer he created.

Both are prone to jumping into cars and making wild treks across Florida at a moment's notice. For Serge, it's to absorb himself in Florida history between murders, chasing down stolen millions, or other offbeat adventures. For Dorsey, it's his way of getting to know Serge better.

On his research trips, Dorsey basically does what Serge does, except, of course, for the killing sprees. If Serge has to stay in the same hotel room as the Beatles, so does Dorsey. If Serge jumps out of a car and grabs dirt from Jack Kerouac's lawn, Dorsey does too. If Serge visits the biker bar where serial killer Aileen Wuornos was arrested, Dorsey also pulls up a bar stool.

And it's all done at a frantic pace.

"I wouldn't wish accompanying me on my research tours on my worst enemy," said Dorsey as he drove through the Tampa Bay area, pointing out places Serge has visited. "They're way too Serge-like."

Authors in the Florida genre seem to create their own niche. For Dorsey, it's Florida itself and all of its quirkiness.

In this year's novel, "Hurricane Punch," and the upcoming "Atomic Lobster," Serge continues exploring the state while murdering people who violate basic civility.

An obsessive-compulsive schizophrenic, Serge loves all things Florida: Obscure history, bars and restaurants with unique character, movie and TV locations, Henry Flagler's railroads, music history, funky motels, the space program, ties to sports heroes, flora and fauna and unusual sites.

"He has a childlike enthusiasm. He hasn't lost what the rest of us lose," Dorsey said. "In a way, he has reminded me to try to, from time to time, rekindle it in some way."

In Dorsey's office is a large collection of videos - Miami Dolphins games, "Miami Vice," the Beatles in Miami, "Body Heat," and on and on.

Looking through a bookshelf, Dorsey pointed out the 1939 Florida guide written by President Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration.

"This is my favorite Florida book," Dorsey said. "It is just magnificent."

It's the same book Serge read in "Hurricane Punch" while waiting out a hurricane at The Desert Inn - a former Yeehaw Junction trading post miles from any major town.

The inn is a typical Serge destination. The motel looks sketchy, but the inn boasts, in less than perfect grammar, "Always pass all health inspections."

The bar and restaurant is on the National Register of Historic Places and has an Old Florida feel with an eclectic mix of items from the region's past.

Like Serge, Dorsey went to the library and found Kerouac's St. Petersburg address and set out to get some dirt.

"I circled the block and waited until I had scoped it really good and there were no neighbors who would get me. So I drove right up to the yard, jumped out with my little plastic tube, got my dirt and took off. And I'm like, 'I'm Serge!'" Dorsey said.

Continuing his drive, Dorsey pointed to a boarded-up triangular, two-story brick building across from Tampa's train station.

"The Punisher - that was his loft," he said, referring to the title character of a little-seen John Travolta movie that was filmed in Tampa.

In "The Big Bamboo," Serge watches the movie and later he and a girlfriend break into the building through a boarded window.