Everyone has at least one true crime story that shakes them to their core–Even those with an affinity for the macabre. Streaming services have made these tales particularly accessible, allowing audiences to watch some genuinely horrid cases play out as television shows from the comfort of their couch.
Whether it is a docuseries or a dramatic reenactment, true-crime TV can be too real for some viewers to stomach. The Keepers and I’ll Be Gone In The Dark are two of quite a few shows that have proven to be too chilling for some audiences to get all the way through.
The Keepers
In 1969, a nun and teacher of the Archbishop Keough High School community, Catherine Cesnick, went missing. The case went cold until the 90s, when a former student spoke up to accuse the school's chaplain, Father Maskell, of sexually abusing her and showing her Cesnick's corpse as a threat.
The Keepers explores the case of Catherine Cesnick, which naturally involves giving viewers an all-too-close look at what happened behind the closed doors of this religious institution. The murder of an innocent and beloved woman is scary enough, but the show's deep dive into the corruption within the Catholic Church is what makes the audience squirm in their seats. The story is so dense and stomach-churning that the show even leaves out some pieces of evidence.
Des
Des is a dramatic reenactment of serial killer Dennis Nilsen's story. In the 1980s, rotting flesh and bones clog a drain near Nilsen's house, and he easily confesses to having disposed of 15 or 16 bodies. The show stars David Tennant, the best doctor from Doctor Who.
Dennis Nilsen is a true murderous psychopath. Knowing that people like this have existed is enough to make anyone uneasy. On top of how gruesome his murders were, watching this show play out is riveting yet too much for a lot of people. Instead of finishing the show, some may be better off switching the television to Doctor Who for a much lighter David Tennant role.
Unsolved Mysteries
Unsolved Mysteries is an anthology crime series in which each new episode features a different mystery. These true stories include everything from missing persons to UFO encounters, told through both interviews and reenactments.
Unsolved Mysteries is one of the best true crime shows on Netflix right now, and with good reason. Each episode provides a gripping new mystery that keeps users on the edge of their seats until the very end. However, given how dark and dense the episodes can be, some may only be able to make it through one or two episodes before retiring for the night so as not to scare themselves further.
Fear Thy Neighbor
Fear Thy Neighbor is a true-crime American-Canadian anthology series that walks audiences through stories about neighbors from hell. At the very least, these neighbor correspondences result in violence, and much of the time, they result in death.
This Discovery+ show takes being "neighborly" to a new and horrifying realm. At a minimum, audiences will think twice before going next door to ask for a cup of sugar. Some cases are so horrific that viewers can only lock their doors, close their curtains, turn off Fear Thy Neighbor, and hope to make it to the next morning.
The Innocent Man
Netflix's The Innocent Man is a docuseries that uses archival footage and interviews to tell the story of the events surrounding two shocking murders in Ada, Oklahoma. This includes a focus on Ron Williams, the alleged murderer who came very close to facing the death penalty for a crime that he did not commit.
The murders of two young women in a small and intimate town that The Innocent Man describes are incredibly harrowing. However, there is something particularly unsettling about an innocent man facing the death penalty. The case is a lot to keep up with, and the poor manner in which authorities handled the situation might prove to be too much for the weak of heart.
I'll Be Gone In The Dark
The docuseries I'll Be Gone In The Dark on HBO Max tells the story of a murderer nicknamed, "The Golden State Killer" through the lens of author Michelle McNamara. The serial killer and rapist wreaked havoc upon California in the 1970s and 80s, and the law did not catch up with him until the late 2010s.
One of the takeaways from I'll Be Gone In The Dark is the sheer breadth of darkness surrounding the story. The story of the Golden State Killer is so disturbing that even Michelle McNamara, the writer who used her writing to bring justice to the victims, died from an overdose after becoming dependent on drugs to work.
The Jinx
The HBO mini docuseries The Jinx tells the odd and intriguing story of Robert Durst, a real estate heir who killed his wife as well as a family friend and a neighbor. While the series exploring his involvement was released in 2015, Durst ended up being convicted in 2021.
The murder-centric docuseries are already unsettling, but with the added knowledge that Robert Durst was guilty of the crimes, it becomes a lot more disturbing for viewers to sit through. So many unanswered questions from the series have answers that are all too devastating.
Ted Bundy: Falling For A Killer
Ted Bundy: Falling For A Killer takes a feminist approach to the classic serial killer tale of Ted Bundy, focusing on all of the ways that Bundy's resentment of women acted with the rising gender movements in the 1970s to make his murders all the more destructive.
While there are plenty of Ted Bundy media out there, the Amazon Prime show does not shy away from the way that misogyny made a murderer. The focus on his female victims is enough to make some viewers feel sick to their stomachs and unable to finish the show--Especially women who know how easy it is to find themselves on the receiving end of misogyny.
Atlanta's Missing And Murdered: The Lost Children
In two years in the 1970s and 80s, roughly 30 African American children, teenagers, and young adults went missing from their Atlanta homes. The lost children were killed, and members of the KKK are believed to have been involved.
The docuseries Atlanta's Missing And Murdered: The Lost Children is a harsh reminder to the American people that for as bad as they believed racism in America to be in the mid-late 1900s, it was probably a thousand times worse. The inhumanity that resulted in the deaths of 30 children is so gut-wrenching that it is no wonder that many viewers cannot make it through the series.
Seduce: Inside The NXIVM Cult
The documentary mini-series Seduce: Inside The NXIVM takes a deep dive into the cult of NXIVM and their evil, charismatic leader, Keith Raniere. The cult is known for sex trafficking and forced "sexual slave" labor.
This docuseries tackles an extremely uncomfortable topic, but it is a story that the world needs to hear to prevent it from happening again. Cult leaders are utterly horrifying, especially when their actions are as harrowing as Raniere's were. The stories of manipulation and the sick motives behind the cult can be simply unbearable for plenty of viewers