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True crime TV shows, books, and podcasts have thousands of fans world-wide. What does this say about us as human beings? Science says it’s perfectly all right and here’s why.

As an entertainment genre, true crime has been around for decades. In 1966, the author Truman Capote released “In Cold Blood”, a non-fictional novel of murders that took place in a small town in Kansas in 1959. Largely culling the account from the author’s interviews with the crime’s perpetrator, the book was an unprecedented classic, and it paved the way for other books about real criminal cases. According to The Daily Beast, “In Cold Blood” is the second best-selling true crime novel of all time.

Today, there are thousands of true crime fans around the world, and a lot more media to choose from. Aside from books, there are TV shows and podcasts to tune into to get a true crime fix any time fans choose. So, what is it about true crime shows that gets people so obsessed? 

More than just morbid

Who would want to read a book, watch a show, or tune into a podcast about murder in the first place? A lot of people! A poll presented by American radio station WUWM in 2022 said that half of Americans “enjoy consuming content from this genre”, with 13% saying that true crime is their favorite genre. Morning Consult shows that 62% of Americans “are fans of TV shows or movies about serial killers”. 

The popularity of the true crime genre is simply undeniable. 

Digital Trends said in an article from 2022 that AdWeek showed “a dramatic increase” in interest in the true crime genre in 2021, with popular titles such as Crime Scene: The Vanishing At Cecil Hotel appearing on Netflix’s top 10 shows that year.

When it comes to unpacking the reasons why so many of us consider ourselves fans, science holds several explanations to back our collective interests up, and it’s more than just a creepy, morbid fascination. 

Psychology Today’s Richard Lettieri, Ph.D. traces it back to Freudian roots. He alludes to “a rendezvous that is hidden inside all of us…that is regulated by social convention, fear, duty, compassion and courage, guilt, identifications with loved ones, or all of the above.” 

According to Science Focus, evolutionary psychologists say that people are attracted to these stories because theft and murder have been around since the dawn of man, and these have played a significant role in our human society. It’s in our very nature to be attuned to what poses a threat to us and what can harm us so we can protect ourselves. When we think back to the earliest hunter/gatherer days of our ancestors, it makes sense to view it from a self-preservation/protection of our species lens. 

Further, a study conducted in 2010 at the University of Illinois showed that it is women more than men who seek out true crime stories. Amanda Vicary, one of the students who conducted the study, said, “We found that women were more likely than men to choose the true crime book and also that they expected to enjoy it more.”

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Considering that past studies about gender and violence have shown that men are more likely to commit violent crimes than women, why are more women drawn to true crime stories than men? 

Trauma researcher and assistant professor in the UW School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Emily Dworkin said, “It’s really common to enjoy things that involve experiencing difficult emotions in safe ways like roller coasters and horror movies and sad films.” Indulging in an hour of true crime podcasts every so often becomes a safe space for many people to explore darker themes and emotions in the privacy and safety of their headphones. 

True crime stories walk the audience through a crime from the “what”, “where”, “when”, “how”, and most importantly the “why”. Many women tune into true crime stories to understand the motivation behind crimes, and to unravel what makes the criminal think. In doing so, women become more aware of the dangers that are out there in the world and become more proactive in protecting themselves. 

Some true crime stories remain unsolved, with stories ending with the perpetrator still on the loose. However, when the true crime story ends in the arrest, and conviction of the murderer, then all the better. Even if the endings are oftentimes not very happy at all, with much pain for a murder victim’s loved ones, an arrest, and a conviction is the closest thing a true crime story will have to a “happily ever after”. because what is more satisfying than a criminal being brought to justice in the end? 

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