While reading fiction is fantastic, it is true that real life can be stranger than fiction, especially when it comes to the more gruesome elements of society. That’s why real crime is a whole literary genre and what makes these books all the more chilling is, the events in them actually happened.
If you’re looking for a story to creep you out and get you checking under the bed then we have some fantastic suggestions for you, all from the real crime genre. Be warned some of these books are violent and disturbing, but that’s the point isn’t it?
In Cold Blood – Truman Capote
In Cold Blood is considered to be the first ‘non-fiction’ novel and is possibly the most famous ‘true-crime’ book ever written. Truman Capote investigated a quadruple murder, along with Harper Lee (who collaborated on the book), and In Cold Blood is the story of those murders. Guaranteed to send a chill down your spine!
Out of the Shadows – Anne Marie West
Fred and Rose West were possibly the most sadistic serial killers in British history, murdering a string of girls over a timeline of more than two decades. Anne Marie West is the West’s daughter and this is her story. Be warned, this is deeply disturbing with harrowing descriptions of abuse.
The Stranger Beside Me – Ann Rule
Ted Bundy is a name known to most as one of the most infamous serial killers of all time. Before his execution, Bundy confessed to murdering thirty people during the 1970s, Ann Rule knew Bundy personally and this is a chilling and well written account of his life.
Helter Skelter – Vincent Bugliosi
Vincent Bugliosi was a prosecutor in the 1970 trial of killer Charles Manson ad Helter Skelter offers an in depth account to the crimes, the case, and the evidence and witnesses that were called. The retelling of the murders themselves at the start of the book is particular hard reading and guaranteed to send chills down your spine.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil – John Berendt
Berendt’s account of killer Jim Williams in a crime that rocked Savannah, Georgia during the 1980s is considered to be one of the finest true crime ‘novels’ ever written and was the finalist for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize. It’s harrowing but beautifully written and a worthy read.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil US
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil UK
Cries Unheard – Gitta Sereny
There can’t be any adult in the UK who hasn’t heard of Mary Bell, the 11-year-old who was in 1968 convicted of murdering two boys ages 3 and 4. Bell spent 12 years in prison and was released in 1980, living under a pseudonym. She collaborated with Gitta Sereny in the late 90s, producing this harrowing and disturbing read.
Make sure you lock the doors tonight!
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