True crime

True crime is a genre of non-fiction detailing crimes.

Related Topics:
Non-fiction - Crime

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Many such books or articles feature high-profile, sensationalistic crimes as serial killers, the O. J. Simpson case, and the Pamela Smart murder, while others are devoted to more obscure events. Although reports and stories about true crimes have circulated throughout human history, and (often sensationalized) crime coverage is a long-standing staple of newspaper reportage, the modern "true crime" genre often considered to have begun with Truman Capote's "non-fiction novel" In Cold Blood, published in 1966. Later prominant true crime accounts include Vincent Bugliosi's Helter Skelter, Anne Rule's The Stranger Beside Me, and Joe McGuiness's Fatal Vision. The modern genre, which most often focuses on murder cases, is frequently marked by biographical treatment of the criminals and victims, attempts to explain criminal psychology, and descriptions of police investigations and trial procedures. Following especially after the success of the movie The Silence of the Lambs, a sub-genre of true crime has focused on methods of "profiling" of unidentified criminals, especially serial killers. Although true crime books of course center on sensational, shocking, or strange events, a secondary part of their appeal is that they often contains elements of social realism that are often not found in other non-fiction media, e.g., detailed descriptions of working class or socially marginal people and their lifestyles.

Related Topics:
Serial killer - O. J. Simpson - Pamela Smart

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