by Madeline Ramirez
True crime has been rising in popularity throughout the 2010s, specifically striking a chord with young adults and teenagers. The subgenre of nonfiction entertainment covers real accounts of serial killers, stalkers, murderers, and more. Stories that were once only broadcasted in news coverage have been turned into books, podcasts, online content, and pretty much any form of entertainment media that reaches consumers. Recent additions include Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer on Netflix and Youtube channel ThatChapter each of which have attracted many eager true crime enthusiasts.
Such a spike in popularity with young people has spurred experts to dive into the controversial genre and discover for themselves why high school students are bingewatching murder series’.
Some have connected this fascination with the longing for taboo and thrill. Young adults are in the midst of developing their brains which often includes a compulsive affinity for sources of entertainment. Teens want to be scared and shocked because it makes us feel more mature and prepared for the life ahead of us. True crime content recreates that high we seek, according to criminologist Dr. Scott Bonn. In an interview with InsideEdition.com, Bonn insists that the recreation of our primal fear on a platform we can watch in the comfort of our own home is what keeps us hooked. “We don’t have to actually be face-to-face with evil in order to understand it. We can sit back, enjoy a bowl of popcorn, and within one hour, have evil resolved,” says Bonn. The horrific crimes teenagers consume in a 2 hour Netflix documentary shock and fascinate them at levels unattainable by a fabricated story. It’s almost comparable to watching a horror movie, yet what sets it apart to youth is the truth in true crime content.
Others point fingers at our inner longing to dissect the killers’ minds and lives. For many, the draw of a true crime novel or podcast is the criminal. Their actions disgust us, yet we can’t look away. Janice Holly Booth, author of bestselling true crime novel A Voice out of Nowhere: Inside the Mind of a Mass Murderer, links her captivation with serial killers to the cores of crimes when asked by HopesandFears.com. Booth stated, “For me, at least, the fascination is not so much about what these broken people do as it is about why they do it. Deconstructing that mystery, getting to the very dark heart of their deeds, is what keeps me hopelessly captivated by true crime stories.” Newer generations have a drive to figure out the world. Young adults want to rationalize away every problem they cannot make sense of; they lack the experience that proves the world is unpredictable. In reality, spouses kill spouses, parents kill children, coworkers kill coworkers, and people don’t make sense.
Exact reasoning behind surges in criminal content is not certain. A lot of factors, from pubescent development to instinctual fascination, have fostered the true crime phenomenon. The next time you watch the new serial killer documentary or stream the latest episode of My Favorite Murderer, ask yourself why. Like many famous criminal cases, the truth may surprise you.
