The US Spotify and Apple Podcasts charts are brimming with true crime documentaries, including Dateline, Crime Junkie, Morbid, Rotten Mango, My Favourite Murder, Serial and MrBallen.
Americans love true crime stories, especially those about serial killers like Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer and the notorious Zodiac Killer, and experts say people return to them again and again because of the ever-present fear that something like this could happen to them.
“Somewhere deep down, we all know that if our circumstances had been a little different, or a lot different, we might have become a serial killer,” Dr. Rachel Toles, psychologist and host of The Psychology of Serial Killers, told Newsweek. “It's about understanding. It's about getting in touch with your shadow.”
True crime documentaries consistently stand out as the most commonly discussed topic among top-ranked podcasts in the U.S., according to Pew Research Center research, and Toles calls it a “guilty pleasure” for many.
The idea of an in-depth investigation of a crime and the actions of those involved makes up nearly a quarter (24%) of the top-ranked podcasts. According to the Center's 2022 survey, 34% of U.S. adults who listened to podcasts in the past year said they regularly listen to the true crime genre.
Among U.S. podcast listeners, nearly twice as many women as men regularly tune into true crime podcasts. Compelling stories, chilling details, and the potential to reveal dark truths about human nature keep listeners hooked with every episode. In addition to entertaining, the genre doubles as a DIY survival guide, helping listeners prepare for the unthinkable.
Toles said women are “more into true crime documentaries” than men, and that her show's audience is often mostly female.
“Men love to talk about sex. Women love to talk about murder,” Toles says, “because men spend their whole lives seeking sexual conquest. We women spend our whole lives trying to avoid being killed.”
Toles called the true crime genre a “DIY survival guide” for women.
Hollywood's personification of serial killers also plays a role, said Dr. Robert Schug, a forensic psychologist and professor of criminology. NewsweekThe phenomenon of serial killers is not as common as many people think.
“Most of what we think we know about serial killers, what we know now, is not accurate,” Schugg said, adding that that makes it even more intriguing: “You can't really generalize from one case to another. You have to treat each case individually.”
But Toles also thinks it has more to do with male and female personality: Women are more intuitive, she says. This may be due in part to socialization, but childhood can also create an instinctual desire for women over men.
“We understand that everything is connected,” Toles says. “Men tend to compartmentalize.”
Signs of a serial killer
Compartmentalization makes men more likely to become serial killers than women.
But Toles said all the factors must be met for someone to “have a seizure” — head trauma, parental abuse, severe bullying and repeated, intense sexual arousal.
Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heurman, who is charged with killing six Long Island prostitutes, met all of Toles' criteria, she said. Heurman began to “cross the line” because everything “escalated,” Toles said. Newsweek.
Heuerman was first arrested in July 2023 for the murders of four women known as the “Gilgo Four,” whose bodies were found inside burlap sacks along New York's Ocean Parkway more than a decade ago. Heuerman was indicted Thursday on charges of murdering the fifth and sixth victims, Sandra Costilla and Jessica Taylor.
He also appears to have had an affinity for serial killers: during a search of Heuerman's home in 2023, the task force found a book in his home office entitled “Cases that Haunt Us,” which outlines the facts, evidence, and victimology of several high-profile serial killer cases.
Heuerman also took notes from the book Mind Hunter by John Douglas. The notes, written in a Microsoft Word document, contain 87 disturbing details about the Gilgo Beach serial killer's methodical murder plan, including supplies like cat litter and tarps, dumpster locations, reconnaissance reports and body preparations.
The compartmentalization aspect also created a scenario where Heuermann's family would never find out about his murderous acts.
But Toles believes that if something had been different in Heuermann's life, he might not have become a serial killer. She said her research has yet to find a serial killer who is “simply born that way.”
“Somewhere deep down, we understand that not all humans are that different,” Toles said. NewsweekHowever, some people are pushed to their limits by circumstances and things.”
Rare knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom, seeking common ground and finding connections.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom, seeking common ground and finding connections.