The commercialisation of serial killers is deeply disturbing. Dramatic music, sound effects, long moments of suspense, and theatrical visualisations are used to intensify entertainment value. In many instances, the tragic stories of victims are sensationalised to make a profit, further warping our sense of reality. An unsettling culture has developed where this content can be consumed as entertainment or a way to pass time, which puts society at risk of becoming desensitised. Our morbid curiosity is preyed upon by a formidable number of films, books, TV series, documentaries, podcasts, and even fan pages about serial killers. To cultivate further interest, headlines are embellished with memorable nicknames such as ‘Acid Bath Murderer’, ‘The Berlin Butcher’ and ‘Zodiac Killer’, which submerge real-life killers in fantasy and myth. Prey for the mediaĮven fictional serial killers are referenced (Wiest, 2019, 336). This is either as a means of comparison or simply for their notoriety. In a study by Wiest (2019), it was found that many news articles include the names of serial killers irrelevant to the murders being reported. Dropping the name of a well-known killer in a news headline is a sure-fire way to generate clicks. Serial killers have attained celebrity status in society.
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