Autumn: The Season Of True Crime

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Queen's U chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

Since it’s officially October, I can now finally say that spooky season has arrived! And what better way to get into the spirit than by watching something scary? While I’m not a big horror movie watcher, I do love a good true crime – whether it’s a TV show, movie or documentary. 

I’ve been watching true crime for many years now. I remember when I first got into it – it was the spring of 2020, at the beginning of COVID lockdown, when I had more free time than I knew what to do with. The first ones I ever watched were Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes and Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich. Both were very interesting and informative, and I highly recommend either if you’re new to watching this kind of subject matter. They’re what got me into this genre and made me fascinated with criminology, a field of study I learn a lot about as a sociology major!

The most recent true crime I’ve watched was the first three episodes of the new series Monster: The Ed Gein Story on Netflix. Of all the famous serial killer shows and documentaries I’ve watched, this was the case I knew the least about going into it. My only background information about Ed Gein prior to watching was that he inspired well-known films such as Psycho, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Silence of the Lambs, and that he made objects from the remains of his victims. So, let’s just say I was a bit nervous going into this one. Thankfully, I watched it with three of my friends which eased my nerves a bit. 

After watching those first few episodes, I have to say I’m equally intrigued and terrified. It’s fascinating to see the backstory of his upbringing and how that influenced his relationships with his family and people around him. I didn’t realize how heavily inspired he was by World War II and the German war criminals, specifically Ilse Koch (who sparked the idea for how he would use his victims’ remains). I’ve always felt creeped out watching something from this genre, but this show is by far the most intense for me in that department. This is the first time I’ve actually felt sick to my stomach while watching the story unfold before my eyes, and I haven’t even watched half of it yet. That said, the acting is incredible and the quality of the show is outstanding. So, if you’re into true crime and can stomach it, I definitely recommend it. 

Watching Monster: The Ed Gein Story has made me realize that I prefer watching true crime documentaries over shows or movies. The shows do a good job of visually recreating what happened (as shown in Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story), but they’re not fully accurate because they often exaggerate events or create false narratives to boost entertainment value. While the graphic content in the shows keeps me awake when I’m trying to sleep at night, it grabs my attention, causing me to want to learn the full story of what happened. This is what I go to the documentaries for. They do such an amazing job of storytelling, and providing the facts and filling in any gaps that the show may not have covered accurately, or at all. So if you’re interested in true crime as much as I am, I’d suggest you just watch both! 

If you’re in the Halloween spirit and are tired of watching the same horror movies over and over again, I recommend giving true crime a try. There are so so many fascinating and informative ones to choose from, I have no doubt you’ll find something that captures your interest.

Happy watching!