Title: 12 Reasons We Love True Crime, According to the Experts | Mental Floss
Headings: 12 Reasons We Love True Crime, According to the Experts
12 Reasons We Love True Crime, According to the Experts
1. Because being obsessed with true crime is normal (to a point).
2. Because evil fascinates us.
3. Because of the 24/7 news cycle ...
4. … And because we can’t look away from a “trainwreck.”
5. Because it helps us feel prepared.
6. Because there might be an evolutionary benefit.
7. Because we’re glad we’re not the victim.
8. Because we’re glad we’re not the perpetrator.
9. Because it gives us an adrenaline rush.
10. Because we’re trying to solve the mystery.
11. Because we like to be scared … in a controlled way.
12. Because the storytelling is good—and comforting.

Content: 12 Reasons We Love True Crime, According to the Experts | Mental Floss
arrow
crime
12 Reasons We Love True Crime, According to the Experts
BY Erin McCarthy
October 10, 2018
(Updated: April 14, 2021)
Photo illustration by Mental Floss. Images: iStock/Customdesigner (TV), iStock/D-Keine (crime scene)
Everywhere you turn these days, it seems like there’s a new—and wildly successful—book, podcast, or show devoted to a crime. Investigation Discovery, a hit from when it debuted in 2008, continues to top the ratings (and even throws its own true crime convention, IDCon ). From Serial and Dr. Death to In the Dark and Atlanta Monster, there’s no shortage of true crime podcasts. The genre is so huge that Netflix—whose offerings in this arena include The Keepers, Evil Genius, Wild Wild Country, Making a Murderer, The Staircase, and many more—even created a parody true crime series ( American Vandal ). Which raises the question: Why are we so obsessed with true crime? Here’s what the experts have to say.