There's no shortage of shocking and thrilling true crime documentaries and series
NEED TO KNOW
-
Some of the most popular releases explore mass murders, infamous cults, disturbing disappearances, familial killings and even bizarre kidnappings
-
From Netflix to Hulu, there are plenty of options for true crime fans to stream
There's a reason for the saying "real life is stranger than fiction" — and sometimes, it's scarier, as evidenced by a slew of true crime documentaries and series available to stream.
These docs cover real-life crimes that can be psychologically and physically terrifying, which means they aren't for the faint of heart. All the big-name streamers, including Netflix and Hulu,have an impressive library of twisted talesfor on-demand viewing.
Since true crime is such a vast genre, there's no shortage of offerings for people looking to learn more about some of the scariest stories. For instance,The Way Down: God, Greed and the Cult of Gwen Shamblinexplores cult leaders, whileDevil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Frankeunpacks abusive parents andUnknown Number: The High School Catfishreveals the devastating realities of cyberbullying.
Others uncover notorious serial killers, likeGone Girls: The Long Island Serial KillerandMy Father, The BTK Killer. What connects them all is the psychology of criminals, the aftermath for the families and the justice that sometimes doesn't get served.
If you're drawn to the darker side and psychology of human behavior, these chilling true crime documentaries and docuseries will get you hooked.
One Night in Idaho: The College Murders
In the early hours of Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022,four University of Idaho students—Kaylee Goncalves, 21;Madison Mogen, 21;Xana Kernodle, 20; andEthan Chapin, 20 — werefound stabbed to deathin their off-campus home. One month later, suspectBryan Kohbergerwasarrested in Pennsylvania.
Though hepleaded guilty to four chargesof first-degree murder in July 2025 to avoid the possibility of being executed, Kohberger wassentenced to four lifetimes in prisonwithout parole, plus 10 additional years for burglary.
Produced beforethe gag order was lifted, the four-part 2025 docuseriesOne Night in Idahoturns its focus to the families, friends and community membersstill wrestling with the aftermath, offering a piercing look at a case with many unanswered questions.
WatchOne Night in Idaho: The College Murderson Amazon Prime Video
Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story
FredandRose Westseemed like an ordinary couple, but behind closed doors, theyspent two decades committing horrific crimes— abusing and murdering at least 10 young women, includingtwo of their own daughters.
Netflix'sFred and Rose West: A British Horror Storyrevisits their infamous story, featuring more than 100 previously unheard police tapes and shedding new light on one of the U.K.'s mostdisturbing serial killer cases.
WatchFred and Rose West: A British Horror Storyon Netflix
A Deadly American Marriage
This Netflix 2025 true crime documentary revisits the mysterious death of Jason Corbett, an Irish widower who marriedMolly Martensjust a month after losing his first wife.
When Corbett was foundbrutally murdered in their North Carolina homein August 2015, the case led to a series of damning accusations against him, his second wife and their family.
Molly and her father pleaded no contest to reduced charges of voluntary manslaughter in October 2023, per theAP. They were released from prison in June 2024.
A Deadly American Marriagesets out to shine "a bright light on the many questions that have lingered since the shocking events of that night."
WatchA Deadly American Marriageon Netflix
Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing
Starting her social media career at 8 years old, internet celebrityPiper Rockellebuilt a multimillion-dollar empire through viral challenges, staged pranks and seemingly innocent "crush content" with her friends.
However, as Netflix's three-part 2025 docuseries reveals, Rockelle's "Squad" was an artificially designed group of kid actors, many of whom went on toallege physical, emotional and sexual abusefrom Rockelle's momagerTiffany Smith, who has denied the claims.
Bad Influenceunpacks Rockelle's case to expose the dark underbelly of child influencers and the adults who profit from their fame.
WatchBad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencingon Netflix
Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke
Popular family vloggerRuby Frankebuilt a following of more than 2.5 million subscribers on her8 PassengersYouTube channel, crafting a picture-perfect image of her Mormon family — until her strict parenting methodsstarted to raise red flags.
In August 2023, Ruby and her podcasting partner,Jodi Hildebrandt, were arrested and later charged with four counts of aggravated child abuse. Theywere sentenced to between 4 and 60 yearsin prison.
On Hulu's 2025 three-part docuseries, Ruby's ex-husband,Kevin Franke, and their two oldest children,Shari FrankeandChad Franke,share their side of the storyfor the first time on camera.
WatchDevil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Frankeon Hulu
American Murder: Gabby Petito
For couple vloggersGabby PetitoandBrian Laundrie, their "van life" adventures painted a perfect picture on social media — but the reality behind the filter was far more disturbing.
Petito was foundstrangled to death by Laundriein September 2021. Laundrie died by suicide, with his family's attorneyannouncing that he was found deadfrom a gunshot wound to the headfive weeks after partial human remainsof the 23-year-old fugitive were discovered in October 2021 in Florida's Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, near Laundrie's last known location.
The 2025 Netflix docuseriesAmerican Murderunpacks the case that gripped the nation,retracing the couple's final daysand unveiling the chilling secrets they kept off camera.
WatchAmerican Murder: Gabby Petitoon Netflix
Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey
On the morning after Christmas in 1996, 6-year-old pageant starJonBenét Ramseywas found beaten, sexually assaulted andstrangled to deathin thebasement of her family's homein Boulder, Colo.
The 2024 docuseriesCold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramseyrevisits the allegedlyincompetent investigation by the Boulder Police Departmentand how media sensationalism influenced the public's perception of the case whileexamining several suspects, such as JonBenét's parents,PatsyandJohn Ramsey.
WatchCold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramseyon Netflix
The Menéndez Brothers
In light of the controversysurroundingRyan Murphy'sMonsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story, theMenéndez brothersgot toshare their side of thingsfor the first time since they were convicted and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in 1996.
This 2024 Netflix documentarydives into their 1989 parricide— killing their parents,José and Kitty Menéndez, after alleging years of sexual abuse — and the high-profile trial that followed.The Menéndez Brothersfeatures exclusive audio interviews with Lyle and Erik from California's Donovan Correctional Facility.
WatchThe Menéndez Brotherson Netflix
American Murder: Laci Peterson
American Murder: Laci Petersongoes deep into the heartbreaking case ofLaci Peterson, who went missing on Christmas Eve 2002 while eight months pregnant. Her body was discovered months later, just one day after the remains of her unborn child, Conner, were found.
Despite his claims of innocence, her husbandScott Petersonwasconvicted of her murderin 2004. This three-part 2024 Netflix docuseries paints a fuller picture of Laci's life and untimely death, including rare interviews with her mother,Sharon Rocha, and Scott's former mistress,Amber Frey.
WatchAmerican Murder: Laci Petersonon Netflix
Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini
In November 2016,Sherri Papinidisappeared during her morning jog and resurfaced three weeks later with a far-fetched tale of being abducted by two Hispanic women. For four years,her story baffled investigators, until one day they finally got their answer: Sherrifaked her own kidnapping.
Over three episodes, this 2024 Hulu docuseries examines the case, featuring interviews with those closest to it — including her ex-husbandKeith Papini, whoshares his side of the storyfor the first time.
WatchPerfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papinion Hulu
Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult
Netflix delivers a hard-hitting three-part docuseries that dives into a dark corner of the billion-dollar app.
Directed by Derek Doneen, 2024'sDancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Culttells the unsettling story of young dancerMiranda Derrick, who signed up with a management company called 7M — which turned out to be a religious group led by Shekinah Church pastorRobert Shinn.
The former leader has faced allegations of sexual abuse and coercing members into cutting off contact with their families — all of which Robert, his associates, 7M and the Shekinah Church vehemently deny.
WatchDancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Culton Netflix
The Jinx
For hisEmmy Award-winning 2015 docuseries, director Andrew Jarecki sat down with wealthy New York City real estate heirRobert Durst, interviewing him about thethree murders he was accused of committing— which heshockingly confessed to on camera.
HBOrevisits the aftermathand shares what happened next in 2024'sPart Two, whichchronicles Durst's life sentencefor themurder of friend Susan Bermanand hisdeath at age 78in 2022.
WatchThe Jinxon HBO Max
Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV
AfterJennette McCurdy's 2022 memoirI'm Glad My Mom Diedexposed the toxic cultureof the Nickelodeon empire and child stardom, other whistleblowersstepped forward with additional revelationsabout the behind-the-scenes workings of the children's TV network.
On this four-part docuseries (witha bonus episode that airedApril 7, 2024),former child stars— includingDrake & Josh'sDrake BellandZoey 101'sAlexa Nicolas— and crew membersreflect on their experiencesworking with producerDan Schneider, inappropriate actions both on- and off-screen and the untold stories of child actors being allegedly abused.
Schneider has denied all wrongdoing and is suing the producers of the docuseries for defamation, perThe Hollywood Reporter.
WatchQuiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TVon HBO Max
American Nightmare
WhenAaron Quinnreported the abduction of his girlfriendDenise Huskinsto the police in March 2015, he found himself initially cast as the prime suspect, only to witness a jolting reversal as they — along with the media — shifted the responsibility onto her, accusing her oforchestrating aGone Girl-style smokescreen.
Advertisement
In the end, the truth came out: Huskins and Quinn had committed no wrongdoing. She had been kidnapped and assaulted by a man named Matthew Muller who later pleaded guilty to one count of federal kidnapping. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
The 2024 three-part docuseriesAmerican Nightmaredives headfirst into several thought-provoking issues, including victim-blaming and glaring inadequacies in the criminal justice system.
WatchAmerican Nightmareon Netflix
Chowchilla
Featuring exclusive interviews with the survivors, the 2023 documentary from CNN Films and HBO Maxexplores the most bizarre mass kidnappingof all time.
In Chowchilla, Calif., three masked menhijacked a bus carrying 26 school childrenand loaded them into soundproofed vans that drove them to the underground chamber where they were buried alive.
The kidnappers planned to ransom the children for $5 million, but the victims managed to escape — after 16 hours underground, they clawed their way to freedom as the three men napped.
WatchChowchillaon HBO Max
The Curious Case of Natalia Grace
It's the story thatleft the world in disbelief. This ID documentary series followsMichael and Kristine Barnett, the white-picket-fence couple who adopt a young Ukrainian girl with dwarfism,Natalia Grace, and later accuse her of being an adult masquerading as a 6-year-old.
The saga unearths new layers on the second season as Natalia shares her harrowing experiences with her adoptive parents andhas a face-to-face confrontationwith Michael. The third and final season — which wrapped in 2025 — sees Natalia dealing with her attachment issues andreclaiming her independence.
WatchThe Curious Case of Natalia Graceon HBO Max
Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets
Season 1 of this four-part limited docuseries focuses on the Duggars —one of reality TV's most prominent familieswho were at the forefront of TLC's19 Kids and Counting— and thepractices of their religious organization, Institute in Basic Life Principles.
Exposing the household's disturbingsecrets that never made it on-screen, 2023'sShiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secretstouches on serious subjects such as sexual abuse, child pornography and religious trauma.
WatchShiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secretson Amazon Prime Video
Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal
After Margaret "Maggie" Murdaugh, 52, and her son, Paul Murdaugh, 22, werefound murdered at their hunting lodgein June 2021, their family's veiled history of corruption began to surface.
This 2023 docuseriescenters on the Murdaughs,South Carolina's illustrious legal dynastywhose members were tied to multiple homicides, financial fraud and other alleged crimes. Eerily timely,Alex Murdaughwasfound guilty of his wife Maggie and son Paul's murdersandsentenced to two life sentences in prisonshortly after this Netflix series came out.
WatchMurdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandalon Netflix
Waco: American Apocalypse
Self-declared prophetDavid Koreshindoctrinated a group of peopleliving in Waco, Texas — notoriouslyknown as the Branch Davidians— to believe the rapture was nearing and they needed to ambush the U.S. government.
In the ensuing, infamous stand-off Koresh died, along with over 70 members of the group. A small number of Brand Davidians reportedly still exist.
Directed byNight Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer's Tiller Russell, the 2023 three-part limited seriesWaco: American Apocalypsenarrates the events that led up to the 1993 massacre, one of themost infamous and fatal police siegesin American history.
WatchWaco: American Apocalypseon Netflix
Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence
Stolen Youthchronicles the disturbing case ofLarry Ray(né Lawrence Grecco), a man who lured his daughter's college roommates into a sex cult beginning in 2010.
In April 2022, Ray wasconvicted on 15 counts, including sex trafficking, extortion and racketeering conspiracy. He was sentenced in 2023 to 60 years in prison.
Over three hour-long parts, Hulu gets a closer look at the storythrough personal accounts and unseen footagefrom Ray and the survivors.
WatchStolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrenceon Hulu
Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey
The rise and fall ofWarren Jeffs, the disgraced former president of theFundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is chronicled in this 2022 four-part docuseries. Jeffs married as many as 78 wives, including 24 girls, and oversaw the abuse of other women and children.
Jeffs was arrested in 2006 and later convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2011. The show includes stories from survivors and ex-members of the polygamy-practicing group. (The LDS church has said the FLDS has no affiliation with the wider church.)
WatchKeep Sweet: Pray and Obeyon Netflix
The Tinder Swindler
This 2022 documentary tells the story of con manSimon Leviev(born Shimon Hayut), whoswindled an estimated $10 millionfrom people around the world.
Presenting himself as the son of a Russian-Israeli diamond mogul, Leviev used Tinder to manipulate women into financially supporting his extravagant lifestyle, all while pretending he needed the money to escape his "enemies."
WatchThe Tinder Swindleron Netflix
The Way Down:God, Greed and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin
The five-part docuseriesThe Way DownfollowsGwen Shamblin Lara, the founder of the Weigh Down Workshop diet program and the Christian group The Remnant Fellowship.
Lara — whodied in a plane crashon March 29, 2021, whileThe Way Downwas in post-production — was convinced that God had given her "the key to permanent weight control."
WatchThe Way Down: God, Greed and the Cult of Gwen Shamblinon HBO Max
Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer
In mid-1980s Los Angeles, serial killerRichard Ramirezlurked at night for victims to torture and murder. The crimes andeventual arrest of Ramirez, known as the "Night Stalker," are documented in this gripping four-part series.
Ramirez was sentenced to death in 1989 and laterdied in 2013at 53 years oldwhile awaiting execution.
WatchNight Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killeron Netflix
Captive Audience: A Real American Horror Story
Produced by brothersAnthony and Joe Russo, this three-part docuseries will leave you feeling spooked.
In 1980, seven years afterdisappearing from his California homein 1972, 14-year-old Steven Stayner escaped his kidnapper, Kenneth Parnell, and returned to his family. Parnell was convicted and spent five years in prison.
Years later, theStayner family was thrust into the spotlightagain following the horrific crimes of Steven's serial killer brother,Cary Stayner. He was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances and one count of kidnapping. Cary is on death row.
WatchCaptive Audience: A Real American Horror Storyon Hulu
Unknown Number: The High School Catfish
The gripping 2025 Netflix documentaryUnknown Number: The High School Catfishtells the story of a young teenage couple,Lauryn LicariandOwen McKenny, who wererelentlessly cyberbullied by anonymous numbersfor months.
After theirparents got the police involved, the case remained unsolved for months until the FBIuncovered the shocking truthof who was behind the vicious messages after all.
WatchUnknown Number: The High School Catfishon Netflix
Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer
After escort Shannon Gilbert vanished without a trace in May 2010, a search began that led to the discovery of four bodies in December 2010. The missing women, all online escorts like Gilbert, becameknown as the Gilgo Four: Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Costello, Megan Waterman and Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
Then, in March 2011, authorities found the remains of more bodies along the beach. In total, since 2010, 11 sets of human remains have been found around Long Island's Gilgo Beach.
ArchitectRex Heuermannwalked free for over a decade until July 2023, when he wasarrested and chargedwith first- and second-degree murder in the killings of Costello, Waterman and Barthelemy after DNA evidence and phone records linked him to the victims, andadditional charges for more victims followed. On April 8, 2026, headmitted to killing eight womenfound on Long Island between 1993 and 2011.
The three-part 2025 Netflix docuseriesGone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killerwas released just over a year before Heuermann's admission and dives into the hunt for the serial killer through his victims, their loved ones and the police's perspectives.
WatchGone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killeron Netflix
My Father, the BTK Killer
Between 1974 and 1991, a serial killer targeting mostly women terrorized the city of Wichita, Kan. He gave himself the nickname "BTK," which stood for his "bind, torture and kill" method, and he taunted the police to find him.
In 2005, after the BTK Killer resurfaced to announce he was preparing to kill again,Dennis Raderwas finally arrested for the killing spree. He admitted to often allowing the dark side of his personality to take over as he stalked his victims, seeking out sexual pleasure in sadistic ways. Rader killed at least 10, though there may bemore unsolved murders linked to him.
The 2025 Netflix documentaryMy Father, the BTK Killertells the story of Rader's daughter,Kerri Rawson. HerDNA helped catch Rader, though she didn't know it was being used by investigators, and Rawson onlyfound out about her father's arrestafter it made the news in February 2005.
Rader received 10 consecutive life sentences.
WatchMy Father, the BTK Killeron Netflix
Read the original article onPeople
0 Comments