Main content

David Wilson’s Crime Files: Are we obsessed with serial killers?

The recent success of Netflix’s movie and documentary on serial killer Ted Bundy shows there’s considerable interest in the people behind some of history’s worst crimes.

But this is by no means a new phenomenon. Serial killers such as Aileen Wuornos, Fred and Rose West, David Berkowitz and John Christie – to name but a few – have all been the subjects of movies and TV programmes.

Criminologist Professor David Wilson investigated the phenomenon of our fascination with serial killers as part of his programme David Wilson’s Crime Files. He explored how they remain hidden well enough to commit the sensationalist crimes that grab the public’s attention.

The ‘disguises’ worn by serial killers

Serial killers “inhabit our imagination as alien others, as monstersâ€.

More conversation about serial killers

Playing a serial killer on screen

Zac Efron discusses playing Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile; and Charlize Theron discusses her Oscar-winning performance as Aileen Wuornos in Monster.

Latest features from ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Scotland