Is not scary when a author has a crazy person kill someone. It is expected of the character to behalf in this manner. We know that the character has no other choice but to be a deluded murder who kills for no reason. What is scary is when the author creates a character who seems perfectly sane and has a perfectly valid excuse for killing someone. It causes the reader to question their own sanity as they watch a normal person, such as they perceive themselves, who uses their higher-decision making processes to choose to kill a person. What does this mean? It means that people are more scared of sanity than insanity. A crazy person can only be seen as a helpless killer, someone to be pitied. A seemingly sane and identifiable man provides people with more discomfort because that can recognize themselves in that character, calling in to question their own state of mind.

This is why Crime and Punishment sucks. So, HA!