In his book "Life After Death," Damien Echols tells the story of the time he spent in prison after being arrested for the murders of three young boys who had lived in his neighborhood. The book also includes Damien's memories from his childhood and teen years leading up to the time of his arrest. Damien speaks of religious influences, police bias and his own oddities that he believes were used against him during his trial and conviction.

Damien's book is basically a biography, written from his earliest memories up to a short time after he is released from prison. Damien writes about growing up in poverty and his feelings about not fitting in with his classmates at school. Since he does not have many close friends, Damien reads to keep himself entertained. He also develops a personality very different from the other children around him. He listens to heavy metal music and often wears clothes with the bands' names, images or quotes on them. He shaves part of his hair and becomes a behavior problem in his classes. All of these unusual aspect of Damien's personality are used against him when he is on trial for the murders.

Also in his book, Damien describes the horror of being in prison on Death Row. He describes the inhumane way that the prisoners in this part of the jail are treated by the guards. He speaks of the way that the jail is filled with desperation and depression as the guards try to make the prisoners as miserable and hopeless as possible. Damien engages in a curriculum of prayer and Zen meditation to help keep himself from falling into the unhealthy life patterns that the other prisoners have.

Also in his book, Damien writes that he meets his wife, Lorri because of a documentary about his case filmed by HBO. The two are married while Damien is still in jail and Lorri takes over Damien's appeal. Although an appeal is never scheduled, Damien and the other two men who were found guilty of the murders are released from jail using an Alford plea. In the last chapters of his book, Damien writes of his struggle to rejoin life outside prison.