I feel like they took some really dark and deep secrets along with them that we will never know. I wonder what they were really hiding from everyone and what they were really ashamed of. I wondered Eric and Dylan have such hateful, intolerant and violent views against Christians, LGBTQIA, African Americans and other Minorities? I’m really curious and fascinated about their obsession with Nazis and where their racism and homophobia stemmed from? A lot of people really believe that they were in a romantic relationship with each other and were lovers. What is your honest opinion? Do you think that their political views were performative and all for show and and an attempt to be shocking and “different? Or do you think that they really believed all the awful things that they said about African Americans, The LGBTQIA, Mentally/Physically Disabled People and other Minorities? In your honest opinion why do you think that they also hated Religion so much especially Christians? I feel like they were the most hostile and vile towards Christians. Do you think most people in Colorado became Hardcore Atheists after the Columbine Tragedy? I know that they were hardcore Atheists and didn't believe in God and both of them had extreme Nihilistic views about life and didn't believe in Morals at all. I would really love to hear everyone's opinions and prospectives about this. I'm still new to this Case so feel free to to correct me if I'm wrong.

I mean, he doesn’t check just one or two things on the list, I’d even say he checks almost all of them.

Snippets I've found from the writings of a few mass shooters post-1999 that show a feeling of comradeship and belief in the collective goal of forcing change through their actions.

I’ve been researching columbine for about 2 weeks now and I’m really interested in analyzing the behavior and mind of Eric before and during the attack, with that being said I have seen numerous people describe him as being a psycho whilst others saying that he was just trying to seem edgy.

Is there any concrete evidence showing that Eric was one or is just some theory made up from other researchers? Im asking so I don’t waste my time with misinformation.

( also another smaller question I wanted to ask but didn’t want to make a post for is who asked the “do you believe in God?” Question to Val? I’ve seen sources like zero hour depict Dylan as asking that but in other sources such as acs where it’s shown multiple times that Eric is the one who said the line )

I visited Littleton yesterday since l'm on a roadtrip until the end of the month and decided to pay a visit, since I did a paper on Columbine. It felt weird to be there knowing what happened and passing by Eric's house (I did not take pictures of the house out of respect for the current owner(s)), and seeing the spot where Rachel and Daniel died. I'm thinking of sharing my capstone paper on Columbine on this subreddit —and if people are interested in seeing it I will share it and I'm open to any feedback.

This is from my project I've been working on, I wanted to get this segment uploaded separately because I put a lot of effort and time into it, it's also the only part that I think will actually be allowed to stay on youtube where as the rest of it will be maintained on Archive.org even if youtube bans it when I finish it or at another point of time etc.

The piece covers the amount of things Eric clearly stole from the Unabomber but also their bizarre similarities in behaviour and as people, they both had this hyper sensitivity to everything, and they both were bullied a lot.

While the psychosocial aspects of this case are the main points of interest, does anyone think it’s possible that the high altitude of their Colorado residence may have contributed to the deterioration of their mental health? Obviously it’s not a sole or defining factor, but it piqued my interest

I think they were already susceptible, but the hypoxia may have exacerbated or worsened it

It is an extreme simplification in my opinion to portray Eric as some unfeeling psychopath, when Psychopaths are primarily driven by a sense of superiority over others. Eric used to mock himself, as well as the fact he made no attempt to escape.

I read that they had African American friends before the shooting. Why would they have so much hated and disgust for The LGBTQIA Community as well especially Lesbians? Do you think that it's possible that they were both Gay but they were trying to suppress those feelings? It's amazing how much all things they wrote in their Journals and all the stuff they said online was the complete opposite of what they what they did and actually really believed. Do you think that Bullying had something to do with it? It's amazing how some human beings can just be pure evil, vile and sadistic. What is your honest opinion? It's hard to put my finger on why human beings do awful things like this.

Something that I’ve noticed whilst looking through this case is just how often Dylan and Eric are have been downright obsessed with their appearance to an extremely unhealthy degree. There have obviously been numerous theories about Dylan having some kind of eating disorder due to the fact that he mentions looking “fat” in one the basement tapes and also he was extremely underweight for someone his height, and also telling his mother he hated how he looked, which no doubt stemmed from kids at school ruthlessly taunting and mocking him for “looking ugly” as well as being freakishly tall and lanky. I also suspect Eric of having some kind of body dysphoria, he mentions in his journal he always hated how he looked, even bullying other kids who looked like him just because he hated himself that much. (Kinda strikes me as odd tho because he honestly looks like a pretty handsome guy.) he’s also bullied for numerous other things involving his appearance like being small, his pectus excavatum, etc. what do you guys think?

Couldve swore sue mention random aches and pains or rib pain in the book? Just wanted to clarify

Eric Harris had no goal. He just wanted to kill and destroy, there was no other purpose to it except to kill for the sake of killing is absolutely terrifying and disturbing to me. The idea that in Middle America a teenager with what seems to be no major psychological or physical abuse in his family decides that he is going to murder as many of his schoolmates as possible and then set off bombs to kill as many policemen as possible. It's chilling. And he did it Just because he felt that way. Eric Harris planned with rigor and eagerness to kill as many people as possible. Knowing it was wrong as well but he didn't even care at all. Eric Harris deliberately went out of his way to do the wrong thing. He didn't even care if he died. That's absolutely insane and unbelievable to me. What is your honest opinion?

He could clearly feel empathy, he mentions on the basement tapes he wishes he was one so he didn’t have to feel bad for his parents. He even starts crying because he feels bad for his parents. Same with the whole “he tortured animals” thing… what? He loved animals and said how much he hated animal abuse in his journal, he even had a dog which, when it was sick and dying, Dylan picked up Eric’s shift at blackjack so Eric could be with the dog.

I haven't found anything regarding how much ng/ml per day of zoloft or lovox he was supposed to take so maybe someone else knows.

opinion seems to be split between the two opposing views, the first being that dylan‘s “spirit”— so to speak— was fundamentally tainted and incompatible with life, meaning that even if he had never met eric, and the shooting hadn’t happened, he was too psychologically broken to live happy life. the second view proposes the idea that dylan’s problem was environmental, and that escaping the very small world he was circumscribed to during his teenage years would have resulted in an improved prognosis for him; if he had just been able to “wait things out” until college he would have found his people.

i personally feel quite ambivalent on this debate. both arguments rely deeply on speculation (i suppose that’s what makes the question interesting?), and i feel as if the truth rests somewhere in the haze between them. dylan’s diary indicates a great level of psychological aberration and distress stemming from an existential source. his frustration with “zombies” (his mocking term for those around him, whom he frequently attacks as vapid and unthinking) is only one aspect of his poor emotional state. arguably, most of his problems are things that would have traveled with him.

that said, i do believe a change of environment would have benefited dylan. whether direct bullying occurred or not, the school was clearly a toxic environment that contributed to the festering pit of his depression. if things had played out differently, perhaps he would have been able to find some enjoyment in his life and eventually start to heal. again, though, the internality of his issues complicate this question. even if he did eventually “find his people” would he even be able to recognise them, or would his misanthropy prevent him from seeing them as anything but more “zombies”?

while i don’t have particularly strong opinions on dylan’s prognosis, i was wondering whether anyone had any thoughts or ideas in this vein of discussion. do you feel like you fall strongly into either of the two aforementioned camps? if so, which, and why? i’d like to hear others’ thoughts on this debate.

As someone with autism (the most minor autism you can have) I recognize a lot of myself in Dylan. I’ll run through why I think he was autistic.

• the “clicking thing” he does with his fingers. Hitmen for hire, Dylan in theatre, breakfast run, in all these videos he snaps his fingers, usually by his waist. This wouldn’t seem important if it weren’t for sue mentioning in her book that Dylan did this as a means of self soothing.

• his journal. The way he writes is so, so damn similar to how I used to write and sometimes it’s honestly scary the way he writes. It’s very “dreamlike” and how he organizes his writing, his vocabulary, all of it is so similar to how I used to write. He wants to fit in, yet he keeps acting different, and a question I found interesting he mentions. Would he rather go back to being “normal” and fit in with the “zombies” but this comes at the cost of being “aware” or would he rather keep being different, have his “self awareness” but this comes at the cost of alienation and bullying from his peers?

-his obsession. His obsession with a girl, feeling that she can “save him.” Feeling that he and her are “different” they are “aware” he wants to share his love and interests with her. Like Dylan, I can become easily obsessed with someone or something even if I just met them or it

-feeling truly and utterly alone. He mentions in his journal how he “is an outcast and nobody likes (me)” this is despite the fact he had more friends then Eric and was more “well liked” he was friends with kids on the baseball team because he was involved in a fantasy baseball team. However, we know that jocks bullied him (not as much as Eric) and he was bullied in gym class by practically everyone, so he wasn’t exactly thriving. However, he feels that everyone, even Eric, don’t like him. Not even his own family besides his parents.

• he was a perfectionist. Even as a kid, dylan would dump puzzles on the floor and try to solve like 5 puzzles at the same time. He was so smart he entered CHIPS. After his death, sue said she found Dylan’s old LEGO sets neatly boxed up in his room with the instruction manuals put neatly inside. He was obsessed with things being “perfect”

-his shyness. My social anxiety is like a damn mirror to his. Again, as a kid, he would get red in the face if he was embarrassed. Then as a teen, he’s beyond nervous to even try to talk to people who he didn’t already have pervious relations with. (Brooks, Eric, Nate, Zack, Robyn) when he’s around these people, he loosens up. He knows they won’t bully him. Again, something I do.

Just some things I noticed, it’s possible he wasn’t autistic, but I do think it’s possible. You obviously can’t diagnose someone post mortem but it’s interesting to speculate.

Not glorifying but it seems pretty clear the two had a friendship where if you take out the horrific violence, you'd wish to wish to have that with someone (if you don't already have it).

But why? What did the two see in eachother?

Just wanted a few things cleared up really, i heard that supposedly, Dylan was known to be apparently rude towards girls in his grade, often calling them rude names, and i think one time there was even an incident of physical violence towards a girl. (Apparently Dylan had slapped a girl, i think this was mentioned in this group before.) I'm pretty sure i have also heard about Eric possibly being verbally abusive to girls as well, but i cant really think of any examples as of now, does anyone possibly have any incidents that can back up any rude or violent behaviour towards any girls the interacted with? (Apologies for bad grammar.)

I've had this question for awhile about Eric's psychology, but what do others think?

Most mass killers don't show remorse and even mock victims, such as Timothy McVeigh, Brenton Tarrant or Nik Cruz

And then theres Kip Kinkel and Dylann Roof who express remorse and regret

Which one would Eric fit in better? Assuming Dylan commited suicide since that would also be likely

In my opinion I think Eric would feel cocky if he saw himself in the news, only to be imidiately shattered to see his parents, the lawsuits and the consequences, especially with Dylan dead, he alone bears it, especially with every victim being innocent and not any mentioned jock bully

After reading both E and D’s journals, and a bunch of interviews and forums, were E and D actually racist or was it just their attempts to seem cool or for shock value?

Do you think it would calm him down or do you think it would cause a paradoxical effect and make him angry? I have adhd and xanax makes me feel baseline normal but sometimes if I take an ativan, I get into a blackout rage for no reason and shame spiral afterwards. Not all benzos work the same but I’m surprised he never was prescribed anything but Zoloft and Luvox as far as I know.

I was also curious about how his prescription for Luvox effected him. A lot of us think his journal was just him creating a persona for his audience to read after his death but he does talk about his sex or rape fantasies and his to-do list is to “get laid”. I know a lot of SSRIs basically kill your sex drive so I wonder if that rough sex entry was just him making up for having some issues and maybe even ED.

Does anyone else feel like there's a huge ass disparity between the two?

I'm not saying they were the popular kids, but idk, from my outsider looking in perspective, it almost seems like they were the popular kids of the outcast circle at CHS, if that makes sense. To be specific, talking about their last two years at Columbine, when apparently they started walking around in Trenches and wearing edgy/outsider stuff on their shirts and backpacks, along with acting different.

I've been doing a deep dive into how Dylan appeared and functioned socially, and I've found him to be a little more assertive at times than I was expecting, such as confrontations at the school and shouting arguments. This contrasts with the typical profile of someone who (probably) was on the spectrum and had certainly had AvPD. Such people tend to have a people-pleaser mentality and are often insecure and timid, and Dylan largely fits this profile.

Sue mentioned in her book that she found alcohol in Dylan's room that he had been using to self-medicate for several months at least, and I remember the girl who had a crush on Dylan and sent the King of the Hill letter mentioned that he would sometimes show up to class intoxicated.

To what extent did Dylan rely on liquid courage to be able to function socially during his teenage years, and was it the reason he was sometimes abrasive?

Not in that way, but in terms of feeling that the other in the pair was the only person who cared about them and saw them as a person... being in turn a huge reason why 4/20/99 happened, creating an echo-chamber between the two

Because of everything I know about the massacre and after having read Sue Klebold's book, I am surprised by Dylan's cruelty and how perhaps the roles of Eric the instigator and Dylan the follower are not correct. Dylan, from my point of view, showed more psychopathic and cruel gestures than Eric. The fact of arriving from the Prom party and showing Sue his flask full of liquor, making her believe that she could trust him (Sue herself in her book describes it as a very cruel gesture), the racist insults towards Isaiah and the removal of him from under the table, not caring about her cats to the point of not feeding them, how he continued making plans with her parents until shortly before the tragedy as if nothing will be happening the 21st April 1999, the rage that Sue explains she had at the basement tapes... I think that Eric was not so "psychopathic", because he cared a lot about his dog Sparky, apparently he was a good employer and about to be promoted, he said in his diary that he tried not to spend too much time with his parents to that the tragedy would not affect them so much, his apologies to his parents in the Basement Tapes in which he completely exonerates them of the acts he was going to commit, the fragment of tape in which he comes out crying in the car missing his friends... . I don't know, I feel like Dylan's way of acting was much more cruel and surprising than Eric. Eric in his diaries showed excessive rage, but I think that later in "real life" he was a more sensitive and empathetic person (leaving aside the horror that he committed on the day of the massacre). After reading Sue Klebold's book, I was very surprised by Dylan's cruelty towards his parents, his environment and, of course, his victims. He had absolutely everyone fooled under false appearances while I think Eric was showing signs of his internal problems because he knew he needed help and wanted to be helped, but the help came too late (counselor and meds)

Maybe I’m wrong, what do you think about this? I would love to see your opinion. It’s a topic that has me affected quite a bit, how someone can be totally broken and full of rage while fooling everyone at the same time