The series tries to tackle the twisted case of the Menéndez brothers who murdered their parents, but it ends up turning a family tragedy into a cheap spectacle.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on True crime
Displaying 1 - 20 of 28 articles
The complex, haunting stories in Highway 13 are centred around a series of murders. There are echoes throughout of the ‘backpacker murders’ committed by Ivan Milat.
Baby Reindeer, the autobiographical Netflix series about one comedian’s experience of stalking, has consistently been in the streamer’s top ten most-watched since its release. The story follows barman-cum-comedian…
Since the ‘trial of the century,’ the lines between news and entertainment have become increasingly blurred.
The new TV series, Feud: Capote vs the Swans tells the story behind Answered Prayers, the never-finished gossip novel that made its author a social pariah. But what was in the book – and was it any good?
Helter Skelter was the first and most famous book claiming to tell the ‘truth’ about the 1969 Manson murders. Sally Breen explores the myths and conflicting truths that have emerged over nearly 50 years.
Two new books go behind the scenes on the Teacher’s Pet case. One is by Lyn Dawson’s daughter, Shanelle, and the other is by Hedley Thomas, creator of the internationally successful podcast.
The answers lie in early human evolution.
The story of Anne Hamilton-Byrne’s cult The Family has been told in a non-fiction book and documentary, a novel, In the Clearing, and now a Disney+ series. What can stories like this teach us?
Madeleine McCann, the British girl who vanished as a three-year-old from her family’s holiday apartment in 2007, was back in the news last week as yet another person claimed to be Madeleine.
Criticism has been levelled at Netflix’s drama series about the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, including from his victim’s families, who say they were never approached about the show’s release.
Unfortunately, wrongful convictions do happen, and they often share similar underlying causes.
While Dawson’s conviction may seem like a win for investigative journalism, it remains unclear if true crime entertainment can regularly play a tangible role in achieving justice.
Cleo is the latest missing child case to grip the nation. And our fascination with every twist and turn of such cases can both help and be a curse.
A story about male violence and a damsel in distress, it is based on a true crime
The obsessive and voyeuristic media response to the disappearance of US travel influencer Gabby Petito has demeaned and trivialised a real-life tragedy.
Penny dreadfuls told real stories of murder and mayhem to 19th-century audiences seeking escape from city life. True crime podcasts have a lot in common with them.
In The Meddler, Australian documentarians follow an unassuming mechanic in Guatemala City as he prowls the streets with a camera trying to capture footage of crimes and dead bodies.
Television’s Unsolved Mysteries – about to be rebooted – deals with true crime on one hand, and supernatural events like alien abductions on the other. They share powerful psychological bonds.
From Super Bowl ads to Netflix documentaries, the complicated issues of criminal justice are portrayed in simplistic and highly political ways.
Top contributors
-
Forensic Criminologist, University of Newcastle
-
Honorary Associate Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Science, University of Newcastle
-
Lecturer, RMIT University
-
Senior Lecturer - Criminology and Justice Studies, RMIT University
-
Professor of History, University of Warwick
-
Research Assistant, University of Dundee
-
Professor of French and Comparative Literature, Queen Mary University of London
-
Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame Australia
-
Senior lecturer in literature, Australian National University
-
Professor and Director, School of Regulation and Global Governance, Australian National University
-
Associate Lecturer in Criminology and Justice Studies, RMIT University
-
Associate Professor in Creative Writing, Griffith University
-
Professor of Criminal Justice, University at Albany, State University of New York
-
Emeritus Professor, Creative Industries, CQUniversity Australia
-
Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney
