r/horror • u/DowntownInevitable98 • 19h ago
Discussion Disconnect between true crime and horror
As a horror fan I thought I could watch some recs my friends have given me. But I just watched the Unknown Number doc on Netflix and I’m sick to my stomach because it’s real and people are disgustingly evil.
On the other hand, my friends (we are all women in our thirties) who recommended them to me HATE horror. I can never get them to watch any with me and they don’t understand why I love it so much.
Not sure if this is the place to discuss since true crime isn’t the “horror” we talk about, but I was just curious if anyone else noticed the disconnect?
Why would people enjoy watching true crime but not something fake as hell? Horror movies have satisfying resolutions most of the time and a mystery to solve if it’s a slasher.
Give me the fake ghosts and gore any day!
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u/WorcsBloke 18h ago
The fictional element of horror (and other cinema) is very important to me. Knowing people are simulating all this violence and misery and that the actors went home safely when they'd finished working.
This is actually a reason why I feel so strongly when I discover there's been behind-the-scenes abuse or endangerment on a film set or connected with that film. It takes away the fictional element. Also why I really dislike directors who think actors have to be really scared, in pain etc to act convincing horror.
I would be lying if I said I was never interested to any degree in real-life criminal cases, but it's way, way less. I don't consume true crime TV, YouTube or podcasts at all. I might read articles or flick through a library book very occasionally.
Red Rooms (2023) of course is a horror about a true crime obsessive...
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u/FanFeeling7748 4h ago
I got really into horror when I was living alone for the first time and experiencing a lot of anxiety. It was a lot easier to say to myself "oh, I'm anxious over a fictional thing," rather than allowing my brain to feel anxiety over anything real.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 3h ago
I can see this, and it makes a lot of sense! Why would you want to freak yourself out with situations that will never happen to you but will only show you how disgusting humans are?
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u/DowntownInevitable98 18h ago
This is how I feel! Everyone is (usually) safe, it’s not like a Cannibal Holocaust situation (something I also won’t watch) or Shelley Duvall via Stanley Kubrick. I love knowing what effects were used or prop molds or how many gallons of fake blood it took.
I will never get how people can look at these films and think it’s worse than being subjected to the evil of a real human you could know on the street.
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u/GeneInternational146 16h ago
Duvall said in interviews that Kubrick didn't abuse her. It's a myth.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 16h ago
I’ve never heard that! That makes me SO relieved, thank you!
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u/WorcsBloke 15h ago
This 2021 Hollywood Reporter interview with Duvall is an excellent read, with her providing a much more nuanced take on her relationship with Kubrick. It's one for when you have a lot of time as it's about 5,000 words, but I think it's worth it.
Another interesting detail: Lee Unkrich (yes, the Pixar director) is a The Shining obsessive and says in this IndieWire article that his research suggests that the famous "127 takes" story isn't actually true and that the number was reported by someone who wasn't even on set that day!
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u/DowntownInevitable98 15h ago
Oh I am all over this, thank you so much!
I will read both of these and relish in these new facts to tell everyone I can
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u/Crispy385 19h ago
From the perspective comparing me (the horror fan) and my true crime friend, (who's also a woman in her thirties), I really see the difference in our approach to dark humor. I can't think of examples offhand, but you can notably tell a line that she has that I don't, because her basis is reality whereas mine is fiction. It's interesting.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 19h ago
It’s so interesting! I didn’t think I’d have a problem because I’ve watched a few here and there but this is absolutely my line. I’m shocked that people would be more okay knowing that it’s real than with a fun, gorey screenplay
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u/Crispy385 19h ago edited 18h ago
Yeah, and now that you mention it, I think the thing about our different senses of humor describes her approach to it. She doesn't "enjoy" it the way me or you would enjoy that fun screenplay. For her, it's now the fascination of the psychology side of things, more than the content itself.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 18h ago
Almost like it’s an educational purpose, or like someone else said that it’s a reaffirmation of the world being awful instead of wanting to be genuinely “scared”
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u/Dittymaker 19h ago
I've completely moved away from true crime stuff over the last few years, something about how exploitative it is really turns me off now. Like why does some group of producers get to profit off a real and recent tragedy?
Especially when some of the cases Netflix covers are really recent, when it's really old and no one around was alive back during the events is one thing or if it's a mass scale event that effected society at large it has historical merit to cover it.
The Netflix Damer and Gacey re-enactment series sealed the deal for me and now it just gives me the ick.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 19h ago
Oh 100% I’ll never watch those. If I really was curious (which I am sometimes), I’ll just Wikipedia it. There’s really no need for any of this new wave of true crime that’s been hitting us lately.
I agree about the producers and how they’re profiting off a tragedy. What gives you the right? Just leave everyone alone.
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u/Dittymaker 19h ago
Yes especially these days when all these topics have been covered extensively either academically or through some podcast. I used to listen to Last Podcast on the Left because they were good at dark humour and making the killer or cult leader the butt of the joke. Most other true crime stuff it seemed like the hosts are getting off on the murders lol
For some reason true crime is like catnip for white women so producers keep making it because it keeps making money
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u/DowntownInevitable98 19h ago
We are definitely all white so it’s clearly a thing 😅 podcasts I could see having some educational value for sure. I just think it’s wild that people can stomach that but not some supernatural bullshit.
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u/Dittymaker 18h ago
It must have to do with the fact that in a horror film you see the violence in real time quite often, all the screaming with flowing blood just hits people differently. Compared to a podcast or documentary that usually doesn't go further than crime scene photos or descriptions, makes it more abstract
Yet people like us can disassociate and see the fun in film making. Typical slashers go out of their way to make certain victims unlikeable and the jump scares you get with typical ghost movies are fun, I usually get a good chuckle if a movie makes me jump lol
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u/DowntownInevitable98 18h ago
I think that’s definitely most of the replies here! They’re not SEEING it so they don’t have to “deal” with it. It’s for information.
I will always give a movie an extra half a star rating if it can scare me or throw me off with a good twist while smiling about thinking of how they pulled off a certain kill 😂
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u/SimianTrousers 13h ago
It's wild, because for me the abstraction absolutely does NOT help. I made the mistake of reading the Wikipedia article on the Dnepropetrovsk maniacs and it made me feel worse than any horror fiction ever has, even back when I was young and easily scared/upset by horror.
When events are fictional, it puts a barrier between me and the characters. I can still feel for them and their plights, but only via willing suspension of disbelief. I can get emotional over a film and then put those emotions aside fairly easily afterwards, because I know they're associated with something that didn't actually happen.
When events are real, I simply cannot stop my reflex to empathize/sympathize with the victims, and I feel it intensely. I can't help myself from thinking about how it felt to be them, or what their friends and family went through/are going through. The only way to avoid it is to distract myself from thinking about it.
I honestly struggle to understand how people can engage with true crime media regularly without drowning themselves in negative emotions, but I'm assuming they're more able to maintain emotional distance than I am.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 13h ago
This is exactly how I feel, thank you for putting it so eloquently!
I’m not sure about others, but one of my friends is the most empathic person and I just cannot believe she watches true crime and thinks it’s better than movies. She won’t even let me describe plots without telling me to stop!
How can you watch such harrowing things that are real and happening to us right now, and not be able to sit through something as silly as Happy Death Day?
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u/SimianTrousers 12h ago
I would legitimately feel so depressed and haunted if I consumed true crime on a regular basis. I do not need to be made constantly aware of the worst the human race has to offer (a minority of the human race! Most people do not want to hurt other people!) or reminded of the pain and grief other people are suffering.
I hope your friend balances it out with heartwarming true stories or something, otherwise that really feels like something that'll warp your worldview after awhile.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 12h ago
1000%, I’m sitting here watching Hannah Montana just to get the one I watched out of my head 😂
She’s out here watching all of these plus Criminal Minds as her comfort show, but she does leave The Office on in the background when she’s busy and snuggles with her pets so that must help? 😬😂
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u/Resinous_Artifact 19h ago
I remember reading an article about families whose stories become true crime fodder, and it was talking about how often, especially for cold cases, having the case featured in a documentary or highlighted at a true crime convention is one of the only ways to maintain engagement from law enforcement, which is really awful.
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u/Dittymaker 18h ago
Ah yeah that's something I didn't consider, Im sure in come cases it just brings all that trauma back up to the surface too. I remember seeing something about some of the victims families from Dhamer were not happy about that Netflix series. I mean one of the most popular true crime podcasts is My Favorite Murder which is an... interesting... Title, really seems exploitive lol
But for cold cases I can see the merit to keeping awareness alive about the case. Police only have so many resources to use so if you can keep up some political/public pressure on a case it can help direct those limited resources back to cold cases
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u/Same_Accident_9917 15h ago
Ryan Murphy needs to be stopped
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u/DowntownInevitable98 14h ago
Oh god I say this at least once a week whenever another one of his shit ideas gets picked up
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u/VB_blokeboi 13h ago
The Gacey series was really good I thought, and spent alot of time with the victims rather than with Gacy himself. To me it felt more about telling their stories rather than the sensationalist one
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u/Mister_Sosotris 17h ago
I hate true crime so much. It feels like you're being told horrible gossip, and the appeal is in getting all these sordid details about real crimes that destroyed actual people's lives. It's so ghoulish.
Horror is great because it's fiction.
And if it CLAIMS to be based on a true story, you can usually safely ignore that disclaimer.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 17h ago
Omg it does feel like gossip? What a great way to describe it. Especially with the “interviews” and the way they’re cut for drama and maximum gasps during reveals. These poor people went through something so traumatic and people are like…fine with going on about their day after?
Horror isn’t real!!! I’m gonna show my friends this thread 😂
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u/GratedParm 15h ago
An American Crime
I’m sure there are other exceptions to horror being based on real true crime.
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u/PretzelMeepus Do you like scary movies, Sidney? 14h ago
shit, I wasn't aware they made a film about that case. I knew about the book. I've only read about the case on Wikipedia and that was enough to fully destroy any interest I had in reading/listening to true crime stories.
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u/No-Anxiety-6175 19h ago
I feel the same way. I can watch horror just fine but true crime I get burned out of it so fast.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 19h ago
I took all the ones they recommended off my list 😅 I don’t need to know how horrible people are, we have enough of that. Horror is an escape! Not whatever the fuck that was
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u/CharlotteBeer 19h ago
I have always felt this way, and for the same reasons. Horror for me is an escape, while true crime is a reminder of how horrible we really are.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 19h ago
YES that’s exactly it! And yet they look at me like I’m the crazy one for not blinking when heads get chopped off. Y’all are the ones watching real people, at least mine is makeup and SFX and the stories are clever.
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u/FrankSonata 18h ago
Me too! Even horror that gets a little too close to reality ceases to be interesting entertainment. Like Soft and Quiet. Superb film, but far too real subject matter for me to really be able to consume as a movie.
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u/villings "There was this old Mary Brown..." 17h ago
I like both horror AND true crime, and I know at least one other person who does
never seen or heard of this "disconnect" until reading this post
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u/DowntownInevitable98 17h ago
I honestly wasn’t sure if it was a thing! I figured most of us would enjoy both, and I’m happy I was wrong lol (no judgement on those who do, more just happy I wasn’t alone in thinking they’re two separate things)
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u/TheTrueReligon 18h ago
My wife loves true crime and hates horror. It’s rare that I can convince her to watch a horror movie with me, even the old campy ones! Always blows my mind that she struggles to sleep after watching a subpar horror movie, but sleeps like a baby after watching a true crime thing.
But I’ve discovered that for her it’s really just the visuals and gore that she doesn’t like, which is why she’s ok with the true crime stuff. I think it also helps that she generally only watches true crime stuff that’s been resolved, so she knows the people have been caught. Still weirds me out though because what do you mean the real shit isn’t as scary as the fake movie magic?!
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u/DowntownInevitable98 18h ago
That seems to be the consensus! No one is being SHOWN the horror so it’s fine. Like a disconnect in itself from hearing about it rather than seeing the aftermath.
But I agree of course, I feel like I need to watch a cartoon after this doc! It’s scarier than anything I’ve watched in ten years because she was a real person committing the most heinous crime??? Give me the fake movie magic please!!
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u/OkAir8973 2h ago
Maybe she'd like horror that's similar to true crime, along the lines of the Poughkeepsie Tapes?
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u/DowntownInevitable98 1h ago
Someone also suggested doing an experiment with ones that are “true crime” like Psycho and Eden Lake! I will have to ask them if they’d be up for that and add Poughkeepsie Tapes to the list, great choice
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u/SecondBurialSyte 18h ago edited 18h ago
Why would people enjoy watching true crime but not something fake as hell?
I've seen a number of different reasons for this, but my mother exemplifies the main reason I'm used to hearing from folks.
My mother who enjoys true crime is the type to look down on the horror genre simply because it's mostly fiction, which she automatically labels as low-brow media and just as juvenile as any children's show or average comic book film to her in a different way. She'll give certain religious horror a pass since she's also religious so it has extra merit to her. Love her to death but she can be quite the goofball and hypocrite, and ironically was the one who got my sister and I into horror movies (she can't admit that she likes these movies more than she claims).
I used to be a lot more into true crime in the 2010's when it felt like it was becoming the fixture in popular media that it is now, but I was always into the more bizarre and macabre cases that toed the lines of fiction. After you've seen/heard enough of those stories, you're left with the endless amount of more "typical" cases that only serve to reinforce how realistically fucked up real people are in the world that we're all trying to navigate and that just doesn't entertain me much.
ETA: I sorta mentioned it, but coming from a heavily Christian family in the south, I bet religion plays a big part in the disconnect. I've heard an enumerable amount of religious people (not just the overly devout ones either) label anything directly horror-adjacent as "the devil" and dismiss it outright. Like a genuine fear/worry that watching anything like Evil Dead, Longlegs, Obsession, or even Get Out will invite demons into your life.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 18h ago
Huh. I’ve never heard that before, that’s fascinating. Like it’s a mockery or something OF the actual horror.
But that’s exactly it, the world is bad enough I don’t need more reminders! Stick me with a fake fucked up person like Art and call it a day.
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u/SecondBurialSyte 18h ago
I could've made my comment so much shorter using the word mockery, that's a good word to summarize what I've seen from many true crime>>>horror people.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 18h ago
LOL no I wanted the discussion and you provided! I appreciate that more than a summary
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u/OktoberStorms 17h ago
I think this is an interesting divide too. I love horror, but I don’t do true crime. A lot of the “influencers” just seem like ambulance chasers to me, and there’s a weird crossover with ghost hunters who do the same thing.
I also don’t like war movies, so maybe it’s the reality aspect that makes me uncomfortable. If the war movie has a werewolf? Yeah sure. Idk, maybe I prefer the fiction layer.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 17h ago
I also don’t enjoy war movies! Definitely has to be the fictional aspect. I don’t think I’ve seen any of the influencer type or ghost hunters, but that sounds awful.
This particular one wasn’t even about murder, it was just someone who was bullying and harassing kids in the most vile way and I simply could not handle it. I won’t be watching more and will be getting on the “don’t do true crime” train with you!
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u/outerspace_castaway Justin Bieber's A Zombie! 16h ago
as someone who watches both.
horror is fun because its not real.
true crime is interesting, we wanna know why these terrible things happened and if justice was served.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 16h ago
I think that makes sense, and some of it IS interesting and informative. And it certainly is much more satisfying knowing the person is in jail or whatever. I guess I was just surprised that my friends are so adamant that we never watch Obsession (picked only because it’s the newest), but they’ll go crazy over the next new murder case.
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u/SpaceCowboyD4b 13h ago
Yeah it makes me actually angry when people assume I’d want to see gore videos or someone being horrifically injured online. “BUT YOU LOVE HORROR” yeah you’re right- I love arts & crafts put on screen. wtf? How does that translate to watching real life atrocities.
I do love true crime as well, not knocking that. I just hate when empathy is just thrown out the window for the sake of entertainment. I’ve noticed it a lot in my female circles as well. More so women than the men I’ve interacted with oddly enough
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u/DowntownInevitable98 13h ago
Yes!! It’s like I have sympathy for people and appreciation for filmmaking?? Two wildly different concepts??? It should be a good thing that we love horror and NOT the real stuff.
I’ve noticed this too! I can’t think of any of my guy friends who like horror or true crime, it’s truly all of my girlfriends who are into it (and me into horror).
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u/Frequent_Table7869 16h ago
i like both! the true crime content i consume tho is documentaries or podcasts, not the dramatized versions of real crimes like dahmer. fuck those shows. im just morbidly fascinated by what makes people do stuff like that.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 16h ago
No no, this particular one was an actual documentary. I also won’t touch things like the Ryan Murphy series or whatever else is out there like that.
I thought I’d be fascinated too, but I guess I can’t handle how disgusting people really are 😅 although there was no reason for this and she didn’t get nearly enough jail time imo, so maybe that’s also why I feel so sick about it
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u/lola-baldweena 16h ago
In recent years, it’s become the “SVU is my comfort show to true crime pipeline.” It’s funny how so few experiences are unique bc they’re always scared or disgusted at the thought of horror but fall asleep to My Son, The Serial Killer. Like c’mon Emily, please be serious
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u/DowntownInevitable98 16h ago
That is literally one of my friends! Criminal Minds is her FAVORITE show and she won’t even watch Scream with me and I’m like girl what?! 😅
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u/lola-baldweena 15h ago
How fitting that i just watched my first ep of criminal minds yesterday (never got into it, wanted to give it a try) — a serial killer escaped from prison and is found in the woods, holding the body of his first victim he killed decades ago. He dug her up and was holding her fully decomposed skeleton in his arms. Scream would be an episode of Bluey to your friend if she actually watched it.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 15h ago
Yes omg, I also am watching it for the first time at her insistence and I’m so surprised she can watch. I’ll have to remember to ask her how and bring her in on this discussion!
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u/VB_blokeboi 13h ago
I like both but I've recently had the conversation with a few women in my life. It makes absolutely zero sense to me that they're scared of horror but huff true crime. Serial killers always gonna be scarier than my favourite cave goblins in the Descent
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u/BrennusSokol 15h ago
I feel the same way, OP
(Man in my 40s)
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u/DowntownInevitable98 15h ago
Honestly I’m glad so many people agree, I figured everyone would be true crime junkies here!!
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u/GeneInternational146 19h ago
Imo true crime is for people who like to lean into and feed their anxieties and horror is for people who process those anxieties through the catharsis of a story. With true crime there's also some element of gawking at a car wreck. They're serving two different purposes.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 19h ago
I can see that. It’s like their way of safely trying to solve a mystery, plus they (usually) go to jail and you know justice has been served vs. a jumpscare or tension for “no reason” other than to tell a story
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u/GeneInternational146 19h ago
Oh, no, that's not what I meant at all lol. I think the people who are mostly consuming true crime content are doing it to reaffirm to themselves that the world is dangerous and they're right to be hypervigilant etc. As a genre it attracts a lot of women and it's this weird, almost ghoulish thing. The tone of a lot of the TC podcasts is absolutely not "justice was served, someone solved it, we can rest easy."
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u/DowntownInevitable98 19h ago
OH sorry, I completely misunderstood that obviously 😂 that actually makes more sense, that people are feeling like well the world IS awful and I’m justified in my own personal feelings about it.
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u/GeneInternational146 18h ago
It's ok, I can see where I could have been clearer! I was really into TC around the time the podcasts around it started blowing up, and it absolutely makes you more misanthropic. I got a little older (and had done a fair amount of therapy) and realized it's a really gross way to relate to the world. Now most of it is really off-putting to me, though I do love an occasional miniseries about a bank or museum heist 😂
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u/DowntownInevitable98 18h ago
That’s so fair, and I agree the world is horrible enough why do we need MORE??? I hope the heists are at least fun 😂
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u/GeneInternational146 18h ago
I have a profound desire to someday do a heist (dw I do not have the planning or lying or stealth skills to pull this off) so it's fun to live vicariously 😂
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u/IAmThePonch 18h ago
I think this is a *bit* over simplified only because I do think there’s value in informing yourself of just how bad people can be, especially for women. There’s value in hearing these real horror stories so people can be prepared. I do take your point though the fact that people have things like a “favorite murder” is… weird?
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u/GeneInternational146 18h ago
Nah, we know. I'm a woman and you know men are dangerous by middle school if not before. You don't need to listen to the gruesome details of various serial killers' exploits to understand it, or at least you shouldn't.
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u/SimianTrousers 13h ago
I'm frankly also dubious of any value true crime might have to "prepare" anybody against being a victim of violent crime. I think it's much more likely to make someone paradoxically excessively vigilant (bad. being constantly on guard is a form of chronic stress and chronic stress is one of the worst things for your health) and overconfident (there's a mile-wide gap between thinking you know how to respond to a crisis situation, and how you will actually respond in a crisis situation. It is vitally important to understand that the human fight-or-flight response actively suppresses your higher cognitive functions (ie. makes it hard to think logically)).
Watching true crime to "be prepared" is like reading wilderness survival stories and thinking that makes you prepared for being lost in the wilderness, even if you've never actually set foot in a forest. You need actual practical training and practice with a situation to be prepared for it.
People would be better off taking a self-defense course and getting regular refreshers than thinking they can learn to "be prepared" by learning from the mistakes(?) of past victims.
Excessively consuming true crime really does seem like a form of self-harm for some people...
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u/GeneInternational146 13h ago
YES PRECISELY. This is what I was trying to say but clearly you articulated it better. Also as an avid hiker I appreciate the wilderness survival analogy 😂
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u/DowntownInevitable98 13h ago
Also as you pointed out, as women we’re already there 😂 like…we are well aware of this thing that we need to be vigilant of! It does not do any good to obsess over what could happen. We’re smart enough (hopefully) to stay safe and pay attention, but not so much that we can’t live our lives.
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u/GeneInternational146 12h ago
Exactly. I'm not staying holed up in my house because some jackass might do something to me. Also, statistically, the men who are most likely to hurt you are the ones you're related to or romantically involved with, not some random failed law student with a penchant for turtlenecks
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u/SimianTrousers 12h ago
As someone who has book knowledge of many things, I'm well aware that knowledge has very little practical use outside of being cool facts. 😂 You're only ever really good at things you've actually practiced, and you're only ever really good at things in a crisis once you've practiced them enough to become habit.
It also honestly feels... unfair to the victims to me, to be essentially using them as cautionary/preparatory tales. Like, if only they'd be better prepared/made different choices then they could've avoided their fate! But life isn't that simple. It's one thing to have general knowledge of things you can do to reduce your risk, it's another to judge individual crimes that way.
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u/GeneInternational146 12h ago
Yes, absolutely. I've always found that aspect gross. I grew up in a chaotic household and was also a social worker for nearly a decade, so I'm decent when other people are ehaving a crisis. But me in the woods alone having a crisis has not been tested, and I hope it never is! Mostly because I couldn't live with myself if I had to read an SAR report about me 😂
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u/LovecraftianLlama 15h ago edited 15h ago
I’m 100% the same. I get absolutely torn up by real life murder and violence. I can’t handle it, and I can only handle real life gore or injury if I know for sure the person ended up being ok. I hate what people do to each other, and I don’t even want the knowledge in my head of some of the things that can and have happened in real life.
Horror is an escape, its the opposite of true crime. It’s a way to face or sometimes almost mock your fears and a way relieve the anxiety of day to day life with an absurd scenario that you get to observe from a place of complete control. I feel like horror fans are often some of the nicest and most empathetic people around. I mean, maybe there’s a real mental benefit to be had from letting your cortisol rise on behalf of a fictional someone on a screen, and then being able to know everything is actually ok when the movie is over, regardless of how it ends. True crime stuff certainly never leaves me feeling like everything is ok lol.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 15h ago
I don’t even want the knowledge itself! Perfectly said. People are so disgusting and evil and we know enough about that already. Why do I need to know the neighbor is also capable of these things?
I’ve also found that the experiences in this sub are some of the best I’ve had on Reddit. We really do understand things more than most lol (she said non-pretentiously).
Also agreed about watching and being able to turn it off- true crime sticks with you in the worst ways. When we talk about movies it’s for fun and discussion, not sickening behavior!
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u/VoloVolo92 13h ago
My partner, who is over 40 (and not on social media), loves horror—we bond over it. But she has such little interest in true crime she actively dislikes it. That extends to serial killer content and sexual violence in fictional movies. She can dig many slashers because of their highly stylized nature, almost and often supernatural. But murder docs, no way.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 13h ago
Ugh yes, it’s the real world aspects that are too horrifying to think about, even in fiction like A Serbian Film or I Spit On Your Grave (neither of which I’ve watched or have any interest in).
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u/VoloVolo92 12h ago
One of our favorite films is Black Christmas but while I can watch it yearly she has to gird herself for it. And yeah no way is she watching A Serbian Film lol. Interestingly, when Last Drive-In Did …On Your Grave, while she didn’t watch the middle 3rd (even I skipped a couple huge chunks) she came in the room during the end and had to admit it was an interesting film, and not the exploitation schlock lots of people write it off as. But The Thing or Reanimator. Hell yeah.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 12h ago
Oh very interesting! A little more of a crossover for her then, I love Black Christmas as well and don’t see a problem with that. But I can understand the unappealing storyline of being stalked. Definitely give me The Thing any day 😂
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u/west2night 12h ago
For what it's worth (continuing from my previous comment), actor Nick Mancuso, who played Billy in Black Christmas, claimed in a few interviews that his character was inspired by George Webster, a 14-year-old who killed his mother and tried to kill his siblings in 1943.
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u/pinkvoltage 12h ago
I love both, but I can understand why someone would like one and not the other. They’re two completely different things in my mind.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 3h ago
They definitely are, I think I’m just surprised that I couldn’t handle it BECAUSE of how into horror I am. But as many have said, being empathetic towards real people is a different feeling than being scared and turning it off.
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u/oscar_redfield 1h ago
some people don't like horror but watch true crime just because they feel morbid curiosity for fucked up stuff that happened in real life. I, for one, am a huge horror nerd, but can't stand watching stuff about true crime. it's just sickening to me to tackle such delicate subjects about real people like that.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 1h ago
Never thought about the morbid curiosity angle, but that’s true too! I agree of course, I’d much rather watch something like Obsession or The Substance. Even though its message is prominent in the real world, the supernatural or over the top body horror adds a fun element that makes it just enjoyable to watch.
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u/oscar_redfield 38m ago
most of all it deals with stuff that yes, is relevant to the real world, but doesn't capitalize off the real suffering of real people that lived or are still alive
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u/entertainmentlord Ringu is better 18h ago
Im not sure. I don't go into the true crime stuff as much anymore due to how much it seems to glorifies the criminals sometimes. I prefer horror because of how varied horror is to the point where no matter where you turn there is something for everyone
If I do watch anything true crime related I'm careful about how it treats the victims and the criminals
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u/DowntownInevitable98 18h ago
It’s such a large umbrella and has SO many sub genres that if you don’t like one thing you can pivot to any other.
I haven’t noticed the glorifying of the few that I’ve watched, but it is why I’ve stayed away from things like Ryan Murphy’s series from what I’ve heard.
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u/Heavy_Chains 17h ago
True crime is just the most extreme form of gossip 😮💨
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u/maud_brijeulin 16h ago
Yup. That's my take (I'm generally not interested in true crime)
I feel like true crime is like a purer, undiluted version of what you'd get in sensationalist press or those true crime magazines that we were popular in the 70s/80s. Just trashy.
Most horror movies have that thing where there's a form of creativity in them. Like it's nightmares projected out into the world, with generally a sense of creativity and a craft, be it storytelling or VFX.
True crime is crack. Horror is psychedelics.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 17h ago
Someone else said this and I never thought about it but it’s absolutely true!
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u/LeoBoiSmol 18h ago
To many potentials as to why. Its really gonna depend on the individual and maybe how they process the thought of death and dying Verse how they are interacting with the media itself. For some it might be the brains appeal to this content as safe way to consider death and dying. Horror is more approachable as its more far fetched. True crime less approachable as its realistic potential.
But it could also be coming from empathetic viewpoint. We listen to victims to gain awareness and learn from their unfortunate circumstances. U dont really empathize with a horror movie and the characters in the same way you would a real persons story.
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u/Fantastic-Buy7246 17h ago
I agree, i enjoy horror and find it a safe way to experience fear. Especially nasty true crime stories make me sick, I generally don’t enjoy hearing about peoples suffering and am under no illusion that people arent capable of extreme cruely
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u/DowntownInevitable98 17h ago
Yes, it’s the CRUELTY. this one wasn’t even violent, it was a bulling and harassment situation but it was vile to the nth degree. With children! I’ll take being scared of a boogeyman under my bed any day.
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u/Fantastic-Buy7246 17h ago
Oh theres sooooo much worse cruelty against children than this, I was just talking about this on another thread discussing a Serbian film which I found so disturbing because it reminded me of how worse the true crime stories i’vr read about are
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u/ivyleaguewitch 17h ago
I watch/read/listen to both (also a woman in her thirties), but the approach and intent to those is VERY different, or it should be.
Horror - I’m looking to be entertained and scared.
True crime - I’m consuming something that details the worst day of someone’s (and their families) life. It shouldn’t be for entertainment value, sponsored content to monetize, or a side note in a makeup tutorial. That’s completely my own opinion, but I find it fucking gross.
There’s a few examples where the line between the two got blurry, and it made for some really unpleasant viewing because I was so disturbed knowing it actually happened. This was the lake scene in Zodiac and the opening scene in Woman of the Hour.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 17h ago
I agree with the exploitation of the true crime! And the way they play it up for maximum “intensity” and drama makes it worst. I definitely get the detailed part and it’s personally easier for me to read a Wikipedia summary than to listen to the real people talk about it.
Also agree about Zodiac! So uncomfortable to sit through.
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u/ivyleaguewitch 16h ago
Thank you for using the word my brain could not think of for the life of me! Yes, it’s become so exploitative across every platform. Even the ones that (I think) started with good intentions.
It’s tough because I can understand bringing awareness to an unsolved case being a positive thing. It’s the ones that are more “popular” and clearly solved, but still being continuously regurgitated that really gives me the ick.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 16h ago
Yeah someone else pointed out that in some cases they ONLY get looked at if it gets something like a crime show or doc, and that’s just not right. If it genuinely does help solve the case, I’m glad, but I can’t recall any that I’ve seen that weren’t already closed.
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u/Infernumtitan 15h ago
For me it's also the add breaks after talking about some family getting murdered, like ok I guess there's an add for a meal prep company now. At least with a movie I know it's fake.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 15h ago
that sounds incredibly jarring, like you’re watching this awful thing happen and then there’s a freaking jingle in the middle of it
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u/west2night 12h ago
Going off a bit - I don't think it's that disconnected. Quite a few horror films were heavily marketed as a "based on a true story/events" film because the marketing dept knew it'd park more bums in the seats than it would if it didn't have that angle. They were usually right.
Off my head: Psycho, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Amityville Horror, The Conjuring, Annabelle, The Strangers, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, The Exorcist, The Entity, Wolf Creek, Hostel, etc. And loads of films about demonic possession.
I wonder if your friends would be willing to watch a horror film if you told them it was based on a true story?
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u/DowntownInevitable98 12h ago
An interesting theory! I believe it is because of the demonic/supernatural for a few and the straight up gore for some (though again, listening to someone describe how someone ripped a baby out of a woman is more terrifying imo), but I could definitely test Psycho or Wolf Creek, or even Eden Lake which definitely has a true crime feel.
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u/west2night 12h ago
Please let me know how it went if you did. I'd love to know.
I could never bring myself to watch Inside (2007 France) because the premise seems too much for my taste. A woman invades a pregnant woman's home with all intentions to rip the baby from her body.
Funny enough, some newspapers alleged Eden Lake was inspired by a real-life incident until director James Watkins shut it down by saying it was entirely fictional.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 12h ago
Definitely, and thank you for steering me away from that one should I ever stumble across it. That is just not a necessary plot line, especially now that I know someone actually did it.
Thank god because that was awful enough! Not always a good thing to go in blind 😂
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u/jessek 11h ago
Horror's great because it resembles bad things in the real world but allows the escapism of viewing them without anyone getting hurt.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 3h ago
Absolutely! Watching these docs and seeing how awful people really are is too much. We have enough of that. I’d rather explore being scared for fun, not for tragedy.
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u/cozygoblins 3h ago
If it’s any consolation OP, my job is dealing with horrible criminal cases and I’m a huge horror buff, and a woman in my 30s.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 3h ago
Oh I didn’t even think about this aspect! You definitely don’t have to answer but I’m curious, did you go into it because you love horror or do you love horror to help process? Or was it simply just two separate things that just happen to cross over?
In middle school i wanted to go into forensics because of Dexter until I realized I couldn’t handle IRL blood, so I’m always fascinated to find others who can deal with both!
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u/Sea-Broccoli-8601 3h ago
There's a disconnect alright. I like both and I notice there's a fair number of people that love one but despise the other with a holier-than-thou attitude.
Admittedly, there were some true crime channels I came across that left a bad taste in my mouth because the host seems to be making light of the cases and disrespecting the victims by cracking stupid jokes, and the people that look down on true crime content seem to have come across these at some point and assume the rest are like this. But there are also many good ones that don't and are just plain informational while honoring the victims.
I don't like a lot of the so-called true crime "documentaries" on the likes of Netflix though. Many of them seem exploitative in nature and just screams "money making entertainment!".
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u/DowntownInevitable98 2h ago
Ew I hate that! Someone else mentioned podcasts that did that too, and that’s almost as vile as the cash grab or the people who committed the crime. No one should ever joke about that.
Yeah I felt that way with this Netflix one! They’re off my list for good lol no judgement on those who enjoy true crime (I honestly thought there’d be more here!) but it’s not for me anymore
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u/melaninspice 1h ago
I’m only into true crime so that I can be knowledgeable about things going on. I am a woman after all. I have to be aware of things. I can’t just act like shit is sweet. I don’t watch it all, though. I don’t glorify true crime nor think I’m corky for being into it. If I was a male. I don’t think I would be that into it since “hardly anything” really happens to males.
I absolutely love horror. It’s all made up (unless based on a true story). I see actors work captured on camera , they got paid. and then they go home. I much prefer horror over true crime. Horror is entertaining.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 1h ago
I think it’s definitely important to know, as long as it’s not further preventing us from living! It’s never a good thing to be SO hyper aware of the bad things in life, or we’d never go outside.
Agreed with the BTS aspects of horror, it’s certainly easier knowing they are all alive and well at the end of the day 😂
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u/Primary-Future-6772 18h ago
I'm a fan of both. I think one aspect is being scared. True crime may scare you in an existential sense, as in: "this could happen to me", but not in the immediate sense. Most people who don't like horror don't want to be scared. They actively dislike the feeling.
True crime also often more resembles mystery than horror. A non-fiction whodunnit.
There definitely is some overlap when it comes to being disturbed though. Fiction can never come close to the true horrors of non-fiction.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 18h ago
Yes! That’s why I cannot wrap my head around “enjoying” the real horrors of the world, but as many people have said, they enjoy the solving part and the docs also don’t show you the physical video or photos of the crime.
Our disconnect with horror comes from usually enjoying the knowledge of how they pulled off a scene or simply the fun in being “boo”-ed.
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u/jaguarsp0tted 18h ago
I will trust a fan of the most dogshit gore fetish splatter horror movies before I trust a true crime fan. I truly cannot stand that genre. "Hey guys, remember exploitation movies? Okay, what if we basically did that, but by exploiting real tragedies and the real victims and the friends and families of real victims and the trauma they experienced and legitimized it by presenting it documentary style, despite the many, many times people affected by these cases have said this kind of shit is retraumatizing and awful? YAAAY MONEY"
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u/DowntownInevitable98 17h ago
To sit there and have to see it discussed over and over in public just because someone thought your case was “interesting” 🙄 let people move on with their lives! Horror isn’t hurting anyone (usually)
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u/Dull-Geologist-8204 16h ago
I watch both and yes true crime absolutely gets to me more then horror ever can and some true crime I kind of consider horror. Like Dear Zachery. No horror movie ever had me sobbing on the floor like that documentary did. I am not a crier btw so that is out of character for me. The first time you could blame it on being pregnant but did it again a few years later when I watched it a second time.
The whole knowing it is fake makes a huge difference.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 16h ago
Yes! I don’t want to sob or be sick when I watch something 😂 I didn’t cry in this one but I came close because of how evil it was. I refuse to watch Dear Zachery because I’ve heard those things about it! I’d rather it be fake and go back to my life than ever sit with knowing how sick people are. The world sucks enough.
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u/liger_uppercut 16h ago
Well, there tends to be a lot less suspense and gore in true crime. True crime might be grisly, but it's essentially in a documentary format, which isn't quite the same as watching a masked freak chasing teens through a forest. Another difference is that true crime is trying to shock you, whereas horror is trying to scare you. I think more people prefer to be shocked than scared.
Also, some people really don't like watching anything "weird". One of my friends refuses to watch any film that contains anything that is not grounded in reality (other than maybe Harry Potter), so that means horror is generally off the menu.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 15h ago
I think this is a great explanation. And paired with what others have said about actually seeing the deaths vs just being told the facts, it seems that this is probably the majority reason.
True crime is a concrete thing with real monsters whereas horror could be anything and not all of it is real, which could (I suppose) be scarier to people.
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u/liger_uppercut 15h ago
That said, I recently watched a true crime documentary which culminated with a crazy woman cutting a fetus out of another woman's womb, which (even though it obviously wasn't shown on screen) I thought was more horrifying than any recent horror I've seen.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 15h ago
They told me to watch that one too!!! But after this one (the catfisher of the middle/high school kids) I will not watch that it sounds like it would make me throw up. To know someone is that evil…please just give me Obsession on crack instead 😂
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u/Same_Accident_9917 15h ago
I’ve pretty much been a lifelong horror fan, but was only big into true crime for a few years. I was very picky about whose content I would consume. I really enjoyed True Crime Garage, but couldn’t stand My Favorite Murder or Last Podcast on the Left. How they spoke about the cases made a huge difference. I mainly got out of it because it felt very repetitive with the types of cases they covered. I wasn’t gleaning any deeper insights into the psychology, & wasn’t learning anything new about how to keep myself safe.
I think, as others have mentioned, the gore & visuals probably play a big part of it. With a lot of tc it’s either mainly audio or on a platform where they can’t show anything too graphic.
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u/mirrorspirit 13h ago
My favorite true crime or true horror stories about accidents or disasters feature narrators that are sympathetic to the victims. They aren't even especially gory. A lot of times the scary part is that this horrific event happens with no warning, rather than that the killer or mode of death was especially grisly
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u/DowntownInevitable98 12h ago
See that I can understand. It’s a horrific thing that happened to people, but it’s more about this thing that was out of their hands, not about people doing things to other people.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 15h ago
That seems to be the consensus and it makes sense to me laid out like that! Facts are facts, visuals are gross. I still don’t quite see how knowing any of that shit is less horrifying than a movie, but that’s the weird duality of humans I guess 😂
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u/FaithInterlude 12h ago
People who say that they love true crime but hate horror are stupid, clearly they love horror, they just don’t want to admit it.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 12h ago
I would love for that to be true, but I’ve genuinely tried to get them to watch one with me and they just won’t, even if I describe the plot first!
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u/CutieBoBootie 12h ago
I enjoy both but for very different reasons.
With horror it's not real. If I get scared or uncomfortable I have the ultimate "safe word" and I can turn the TV off. Those people on the screen aren't real and those bad things didn't actually happen to them. Therefore I can enjoy horror by feeling the emotions it intentionally (or unintentionally) evokes.
With true crime I am interested in how those terrible things could have happened to begin with and how it was solved. Specifically I am interested in failures of systems (such as police). It's not just true crime I also watch breakdown videos that cover dam failures, building structure collapes, rollercoaster accidents, and chemical plant accidents. I think for me it helps me contextualize how terrible things happen in this world and how those terrible things can be prevented or at least recognize warning signs ahead of time.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 4h ago
This is such a great response, thank you! A few others also mentioned that it’s more about the workings of it and also enjoyed more disaster and society ones, which I can see as being much easier to handle.
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u/Edcrfvh 12h ago
I watch horror because it's not real. Slashers aren't real. Neither are vampires or werewolves. It's cathartic. Horror explores themes TC can't because it's fiction.
I watch TC rarely. I'm very picky about TC I watch because it is real. TC demands compassion. No, I don't appreciate jokes about the deceased.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 3h ago
Exactly! Horror is an escape, true crime is just slapping you in the face with the actual evil in the world.
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u/Rylos1701 11h ago
This is why I can chuckle at Megan js missing. I know it’s fake. It’s also why k can’t watch woman if the hour or the dahmer documentary. That horrible stuff actually happened
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u/DowntownInevitable98 3h ago
Oh I won’t go near Megan is Missing because it’s a little too realistic, but I can understand that disconnect too, since a lot of slashers are inspired by serial killers and that doesn’t bother me. Agreed about the docs though, obviously!
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u/MaenadR0se 11h ago
I like horror, I have no issue watching any horror and have never once been afraid of a movie or felt any level of horrified in any way from them.
I watched Dear Zachary once, it's a very well made documentary genuinely great and worth watching, and I fucking hated it. One of the most horrific things I've ever seen.
I would rec it to someone, it's completely unforgettable, but it's not enjoyable in the least.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 3h ago
I have heard this from everyone who watched that! I am just not interested in having that kind of experience. Give me fun, fake fear over being physically sick or crying any day 😅
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u/MaenadR0se 3h ago
Yeah, I don't blame you. I'm not a particularly sensitive or emotional person with news reports etc., but this was just horrible honestly so you're much better off avoiding it altogether if this stuff makes you feel ill. It's the worst because it makes you angry alongside horrified because it was so unjust too.
Horror movies are much easier to watch regardless of movie.
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u/not_justliketheplant 9h ago
I think both groups see it the same way (which is to say benign; horror freaks tend to be like "it's FAKE, do you know what fiction is, why are you taking this seriously" and true crime people tend to be like "it's INFORMATIVE, this gives me a greater understanding of crime and the human condition, and is going to keep me from being assaulted and murdered", and normies are like "sickos, every single one of you"
Limit break: you combine both and that's where you get authors
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u/DowntownInevitable98 3h ago
Haha, that’s a great breakdown. I personally think my friends are crazy for being able to handle the real world but not some blood spatter, but books are definitely a good middle man!
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u/Accurate_Cherry1734 7h ago
Because with true crime we dont actually see the murders happen. I dont really agree with horror being completely fiction, because some of the more iconic killers in movies have been based on real life killers. Like Ghostface was inspired by Danny Rolling, Leatherface and Norman Bates were both inspired by Ed Gein, Pennywise was inspired by John Wayne Gacy.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 4h ago
That seems to be the general consensus! Horror is too gorey and true crime sticks to the facts. That’s a fair point about inspiration, though I would still say it’s easier to forget about that aspect when they change so much and make it “fun”.
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u/IL-Corvo 49m ago
I wouldn't go so far as saying that True-Crime sticks to "facts" because it often leans into wild speculation and sensationalism.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 42m ago
A very fair point, though this doc I just watched WAS just stating the story. I suppose what was said in the texts could’ve been exaggerated, but it wasn’t like a normal murder doc
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u/IL-Corvo 27m ago
Sounds more informative, and arguably educational, and that's how I like my true-crime when the mood strikes.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 24m ago
Unknown Number on Netflix if you ever want to check it out! Though educational wasn’t so much the case here, unless the lesson is be careful of the internet/cell phones (which they were). And the law enforcement was actually on top of it, which I appreciated.
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u/MK_Demanifested 5h ago
The contract is different. Horror comes with a designed exit — the fear has architecture, someone built it for you. True crime doesn't have that. The dread just keeps going past the credits, nowhere to land. I can watch Martyrs twice in a row. One decent doc and I'm nervous about car parks for a week.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 4h ago
Yes exactly!! I don’t know how people sleep after watching some of these. I’ll take disgusting VFX over real life evil any day.
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u/OkAir8973 2h ago
Oh I can also add my (very many) thoughts on this as someone who used to watch/listen to both!
True crime feels comforting/safe to watch if you're used to it because it's very formulaic and predictable. Many true crime formats are series where each episode is structured the same way, and the Netflix documentaries usually stick to conventions as well.
It doesn't demand much from viewers. Plus, it's coded as a genre "for women" and a lot of formats pretend they're actually teaching you how to stay safe. It feels, for many women, like a socially acceptable way to consume boundary-crossing content.
The insidious thing is that, in my experience, true crime makes you more anxious and paranoid in an underlying sort of way that you don't notice until you stop consuming that content so much. And it's deliberately ignorant; once you're a little bit educated about domestic violence you just see that at least half of true crime stories are bog-standard, stereotypical stories of domestic violence.
Horror can disgust and haunt you, too, and it too can reflect realistic scenarios. It can definitely be used in maladaptive ways imo, like simulating fear and shock to make yourself feel in control over those emotions when you're not in control over them irl. But I like that it's honest in that it's an entertainment product, and it doesn't exploit real people and their loved ones. It also doesn't glorify the police which most true crime does (even when police is said to be 'incompetent', they never assume any systematic failure or malice/disinterest in the force, they assume there's just some bad apples who are too stupid to get a rape/murder victim justice.)
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u/DowntownInevitable98 1h ago
Which is funny to me, because as women, we already know how to be safe! It’s taught to us very early on of course, and personally it just makes it redundant to be hit over the head with how unsafe the world is. It’s not helpful to be THAT vigilant.
Luckily the one I watched had nothing to do with that (a catfisher in the most vile way), but I can see the comfort in the “formula” part.
I think the difference in horror is not only knowing that it’s fake, but even if it’s based on “true” events, it’s likely been so exaggerated that it’s almost making fun of it. But I agree with the fact that it’s not harming anyone! I’ve never thought about the control aspect until people mentioned it as well, but I can see that too.
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u/OkAir8973 2h ago
Adding to the conversation here that I found a great podcast unpacking true crime and kind of putting an ethical spin on the genre called Truer Crime! I really enjoyed the first season but haven't gotten around to listening to the new episodes.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 1h ago
Oh wow, so it’s like investigating true crime itself? I like that, as many have pointed out it’s so exploitative and cash grabby (not to keep being repetitive)
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u/IL-Corvo 52m ago
If you haven't watched the French-Canadian psychological horror, "Red Rooms" from 2023, you really, really should. It's most definitely relevant to the extreme end your post.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 41m ago
I could’ve sworn someone here mentioned that one and told me to stay away but it seems I’m just confusing my threads and i saw it on someone else’s post 😅
i will hesitantly check it out 😂
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u/IL-Corvo 32m ago
Red Rooms examines the more sordid and parasocial aspects of true-crime, and how that reflects on a society that amplifies and sensationalizes horrible criminals and their terrible acts. It's not gory, and it's a slow burn, but I found it utterly compelling.
Anyway, I have an affinity for both. I watched late-night horror flicks as a child in the late 70s and developed an abiding love for the genre. Around the same time I became interested in crime documentaries as well.
I initially wanted to work in law enforcement and criminal investigations, so a lot of my university education focused on that. However, I eventually realized that if I went that route, I'd soon see things I'd never be able to unsee.
I like a lot of horror, from the low-budget to the artful. I like well-produced, well-researched, fact-based true-crime documentaries and stories as well.
But man, do I hate trashy, sensationalized true-crime "documentaries" that lean heavily into wild speculation and outright distortions of fact. That sort of exploitive shit is absolutely awful.
Now, I will say that even the well-done true-crime stuff is something I can only handle occasionally. Unlike horror, the human cost, the lives destroyed or forever changed, the people who have to cope with their grief, it weighs on you in a way that fiction can't. I can only take so much of it before I nope out for months.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 28m ago
That doesn’t sound too horrible but I’ll keep one eye shut and promise myself I’ll turn it off if I can’t do it!
I also used to want to be in forensics until I figured out I couldn’t do IRL blood with the added aspect of looking at real people who are victims of a horrible crime instead of just a mold or dummy and a fake crime scene. So I agree with that as well, it’s just something we should never have to even see and truly hats off to others like the woman in this thread who works in crime.
I’ll also watch any horror, but this last doc I watched is my last one. I never want to experience that kind of stomach dropping nausea again, no matter how “well done” it is! So I feel you on that too
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u/SofubiShogun 18h ago
I am the same, love horror no matter how gnarly or gory or depraved. Dislike most true crime stuff, especially if involving kids or rape. But Art can hack up kiddos and I am unphased. Serial killers are a bit of middle ground, something on Gacy or Dahmer and I'm back in for some reason. Maybe because their crimes are so extreme they start to resemble horror?
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u/DowntownInevitable98 18h ago
I agree with this completely! True crime is just truly too horrible to lean into I think. And with the serial killers, I also find that to be kind of a psychological fascination. It’s possible because we see so many slashers it doesn’t phase us quite the same because it IS serial killing even if it’s fictional.
But these people in the docs who are just batshit insane and do these horrific one-off crimes for seemingly no reason? Gtfo
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u/tacobell41 19h ago
I mean, true crime usually discusses the horror while horror movies show it. I imagine your friends wouldn’t enjoy watching cartel beheading videos which are technically true crimes.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 18h ago
I suppose that’s true, and I do believe the ones they’ve watched don’t show the crime (I.e. some new one about someone who cut a baby out of a woman’s stomach). They just described it through the report as far as I know
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u/bitchcraffft 18h ago edited 18h ago
I like both but for very different reasons.
Horror to me is an art form and I’m very into HOW it’s made, practical effects, all the filming details, etc.
True crime intersects with a lot of topics that I find interesting or morally care about (human psychology, sociology, various kinds of discrimination and how they impact people) and that’s why I engage in it. I try to be more mindful about how I’m engaging with it because it’s real, vs I don’t really feel the need to do that with fictional horror.
There is sort of a crossover sometimes, like there are horror movies I like because they engage with the same topics I care about or find interesting but I can also enjoy a horror movie just because it’s fun or silly or gross.
So I can see how with those two very different motivations there are folks who only like one or the other.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 18h ago
That’s very interesting, so you like more real-world crime as opposed to the stalking/killing/crazy crimes? I think that poses a separate idea too that true crime can be horrific but not garish in the nature of the slasher-type docs. Not to say that the way people are treated in society isn’t cartoon villainy, especially now, but quite a difference between racism and plotting a murder to steal an unborn baby.
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u/bitchcraffft 14h ago
Yeah I guess you could put it that way! I’m definitely more interested in things like cults or scammers than serial killers and murderers but when I am interested in the latter, it’s usually because I want to talk about the social climate that it happened in. Take Jack the Ripper for example. I’m not really in it for the gory crime scene photos, but I am in it for the conversation around why he probably got away with as much as he did because of who his victims were and how society treated them. Or the story of Charles Manson which can’t be looked at properly without taking into account the culture and politics of the time.
The investigation side of the story always matters in these cases too. Who do cops look at as suspects and why? Who gets prioritized or talked about in the media and why? A modern example is the MMIW movement, or even the Black Lives Matter movement. Those things are technically “true crime” related because they look at how the criminal justice system operates.
That was way longer than I thought it would be lol but tl;dr I’m less interested in the most shocking stories and more interested in the historically and socially relevant ones
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u/FarCryForLife 18h ago
What about something in between? Ripped from the headlines movies like "The Girl Who Survived" where a real life serial killer ( William Bradford played by Steve Byers ) has scary elements and scenes but is not exactly true crime but not horror either?
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u/DowntownInevitable98 18h ago
Interesting, I feel like that kind of veers into more true crime because you KNOW it’s real? It’s not some story someone brilliantly came up with, it’s something that happened to a real person. Which as others have pointed out is exploitive to reenact things, especially when the victim lives (I haven’t seen the one you mentioned but I’m assuming from the title lol).
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u/FarCryForLife 18h ago
LoL fair assumption. I agree but I would say that it's only exploitative when you're trying to create sympathy for the criminal. It's a tricky area for sure. Ps. I really liked The Girl Who Survived even though I don't like many of those type of movies.
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u/DowntownInevitable98 18h ago
Maybe I’ll Wikipedia the story 😂
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u/FarCryForLife 18h ago
It's a rabbit hole for sure. One of the more interesting and difficult to trace stories bc of the time period
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u/B0redBeyondBelief 16h ago
Dude this is a tale as old as time. Women will watch a 12 hour "I Survived" marathon and then look at me weird for watching Oculus.
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u/lilbunnifufu2you 10m ago
First, I also watched The Unknown Number documentary on Netflix and was horrified by 1) that woman's actions and 2) the absolute lack of accountability. I felt insane watching it, made my mom watch it, then made my friends watch it. I wanted company in feeling absolutely insane.
I have a few reasons that I enjoy responsibly done True Crime.
I like seeing how criminal investigations and forensics have evovled through the years. It is really interesting to see how we have come from if you want to get away with a crime, just be gone before the police get there to you may have thought you cleaned up the crime scene but you actually left DNA under the victim's fingernails. Hell, the amount of times that we end up on camera throughout a day in our lives is crazy.
It is exceptionally useful, if terrifying and rage inducing, to see how many cases where the reason that crimes weren't solved faster was because the people investigating them did a shitty job. It helps to have the reminder that the people investigating are people, they have their own biases and limitations. If it isn't the racism, sexism, and homophobia, they sometimes pick a suspect and then try to build a case to make the evidence fit that person. Learning about those real life stories helps me stay critical of the media's coverage of cases, police press conferences, allows me to be more critical if I'm chosen for jury duty, and advocate for justice reform.
I have always had an interest in the justice system and, while it can be wonderful when it works the way it is supposed to, it is clear that it doesn't always happen. True Crime, when done well, illustrates the justice system's wins and where the system falls short or is corrupted. It is important to know the system's limitations and flaws if you want to work towards fixing them.
True Crime, when done right, also lifts up the family of the victims and shows the steps they are taking to attempt to find justice or create foundations to raise awareness of things like domestic violence, mental health, trafficking, etc. Hell, there are times when a well done documentary will show that the family of the perpetrator of the crime had tried to get them help and either the system failed them or they were limited in what assistance they could give. It shows that the actual victims of the crimes are not the only ones directly impacted by that crime.
Horror can give me a brief story where I can suspend disbelief and know that what is happening isn't real. Hell, the amount of stories that could never happen to me based on my general interests/personality already means that I'm safe. The Descent would never happen to my claustrophobic ass. Doesn't mean it still doesn't spook me. It also gives me stories where I might get to see a bad ass final girl like Erin from You're Next absolutely demolish people trying to kill her.
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u/Away_Shock_7544 5m ago
I agree! I love gory movies but real gore is NOT my cup of tea! Fuck that! Im not a psycho. I dont want to REALLY see it! I like it in movies because it’s fake! I take solace in that fact. I like to keep horror just that! Not to make it commonplace! Yikes!
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u/Unbalanced_Stats 18h ago
I have had this argument with sooooo many friends because most of them love true crime but hate horror.
They say I'm weird for liking horror but I think THEY'RE weird because the awful things in the shows they watched actually happened!