Whether through books, documentaries, podcasts, TV shows or even conventions, there are many ways for an avid true crime lover to get their daily fix.
This genre, telling us about horrible crimes committed all over the world, seems to interest people everywhere given the fact that the amount of content available on kidnappings, violent crimes and murders is increasing throughout various platforms.
Serial killers seem to be particularly fascinating to many people – a statement backed up by looking at statistics from “Tudum” by Netflix.
According to their ranking on the “10 most popular shows – Global – All time”, which is based on the total amount of views in the first 91 days of release, the fourth most popular show is the Netflix series on renowned serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.
This series, which was released late September 2022, has been watched 115,600,000 times with viewed hours being 1,031,100,000.
This is not the only show on this topic which is popular.
For instance, another recent addition on the platform is the first season of a series on serial killer Ed Gein
It is currently number 2 in the Top 10 by Netflix less than two weeks after its release (12,000,000 views and 90,600,000 hours watched since its release on the 3rd of October).
But where does this fascination come from?
These kinds of things, especially violent murders should appeal and not attract us. So why are we so fascinated and get sucked in by them?
Interest in true crime could be evolutionary trait
According to evolutionary psychologists, we are so interested in these gruesome topics because they have been a part of our society ever since the beginnings of humanity.
Therefore, it is only natural to want to know everything about horrible occurrences, why they occur and what is going on inside of a culprit’s head to protect oneself and our loved ones.
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Women more drawn to true crime than men
In 2010, the University of Illinois conducted a study which concluded that more women than men are interested in true crime.
Moreover, it has been found that many of them are interested in the stories that portray female victims and talk about the killer’s motives and how the victims were able to escape.
This observation fits into the theory about the evolutionary factors in this interest.
Women seem to want to know how others have fared in these terrible situations and what to do if one finds themselves in similar ones – maybe a lot of them even sadly being able to identify themselves with the victims.
The study also found that at that time around 70% of the Amazon reviews on true crime books have been posted by women, a statistic that correlates with some true crime content creators stating that most of their audience seems to be female.
A lecturer in psychology at the University of Derby, Melanie Haughton explains this phenomenon the following way:
“There is a lot of romanticising of these dark figures, like American serial killer Ted Bundy, who have committed awful acts, and women can be intrigued by the danger aspect.
“Victim-blaming language, implying that it’s the women’s fault, is rife in the media, which further romanticises the perpetrators and pulls focus from the victims, making the lives of serial killers the main focus.
“For example, Ted Bundy was recently played by heartthrob Zac Efron, showing the extent to which people are attracted to, and romanticise, serial killers.”
Crime writer Francesa Dorricott has a different take on this: “The largely female audience has a lot to do with gender inequality in society.
“Most women have been taught to restrain their actions, their thoughts, and sometimes even their imaginations.
“We can witness a solution to a stalking charge without ever being in danger ourselves, we can see a bad person put behind bars and feel relieved, we can explore our own behaviour and thoughts without being judged.”
According to statistics by the Office of National Statistics, men are more likely to be victims of crime, however, women are often more fearful of becoming victims of crime and are therefore typically more interested in how these situations occur.
Moreover, in a lot of cases, women show more compassion for the victims as it might be easier for them to put themselves in the often-female victims’ shoes.
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Problem and puzzle solving
Dean Fido, another lecturer in psychology at the University of Derby believes that the fascination with true crime has to do with the want and need to solve puzzles.
He says: “True crime is very different from the typical shows you normally have on in the background,” he explains.
“They are the sort of stories you need to put your phone down and actually pay attention to.
“It’s a big puzzle and we don’t want to be left without a vital piece of information because we were checking social media.
“As humans, we are always looking for something new and novel.
“Whether it’s good or bad, we need something that creates an element of excitement.
“When we mix this desire with insight and solving a puzzle, it can give us a short, sharp shock of adrenaline, but in a relatively safe environment.”
Roz Watkins, crime author and creator of the popular DI Meg Dalton book series, believes that the fascination with true crime comes from a similar place as our love for stories in general.
“Stories, especially true stories, teach us about other people and about how to keep ourselves safe in the world,” she says.
“They allow us to experience and learn from terrible things without ever being in real danger.”
Author Sarah Ward on the other hand believes that being able to keep distance from these horrible scenarios is the reason we can truly enjoy the stories and talks about her own feelings regarding these topics.
“When I was growing up, I always felt slightly uncomfortable learning about high-profile crime cases – I wasn’t sure of my motivations but there is a slightly lurid fascination about the ‘otherness’ of these types of events.
“I then became much more interested in historical true crime, which felt less salacious and more embedded in local history.”
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Humanity and its inkling for dark curiosity
There is however also an aspect of morbid and dark curiosity that many humans possess.
According to Melanie Haughton, especially in America there is a growing trend of people visiting the houses where serial killers lived, or the sites where horrible crimes took place.
Maybe comparable to dark tourism, where people visit places where terrible things have happened all over the world, or the phenomenon of how people cannot look away when there has been an accident, a lot of people cannot look away when it comes to murder, rape and other horrendous crimes being committed by terrible individuals.
It sparks a type of curiosity that seems rather dark and unnatural to many, however, looking at these statements of experts of the matter, it does not seem so unnatural after all.
It does not matter where the origin of our fascination lies, it is a fact that many of us share this interest and that the genre of true crime has grown in popularity over the years, and will likely continue to do.
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