Everyone loves a good, well-paced detective story that’s full of mystery, twists, and turns. Lately, however, more and more people opt for watching true crime shows and listening to podcasts, instead of picking up a classic slow-paced book about sleuths. True crime has actually become one of Netflix’s most popular genres and people are utterly obsessed with shows that detail the ins and outs of crimes committed by serial killers. Crimes, the gruesome details of which chill the viewers’ blood.
As such, internet users have been busy making meme after meme about people’s obsession with true crime media. One such place is the ‘True Crime Memes’ Instagram account, a page with over 22.4k amateur detective followers.
True crime is far from funny in and of itself. However, people’s reactions to the genre’s popularity and obsession with shows like HBO’s True Detective, Netflix’s Making a Murderer, and (yes, even) Tiger King certainly are witty.
While some folks explain that they watch shows like that to relax, others are entranced by just how much they’re glued to the screen and can’t stop bingeing episodes. Have a scroll down and take a look at the best true crime memes (don’t worry, they’re behind bars) and upvote the ones that you relate to the most. Are you a huge fan of the genre? Let us know what you love most about it in the comment section.
I was interested to learn more about our fascination with the true crime genre, so I reached out to Lyndsey Williams, the founder of the True Crime Memes Instagram project. I also got in touch with British environmental psychologist and well-being consultant Lee Chambers who told me all about why we're so drawn to true crime and explained the potential negative effects of binge-watching TV shows. You'll find Bored Panda's full in-depth interviews with Lyndsey and Lee below, dear Pandas! Now, let's dive deep into the world of true crime.
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My house has no backyard, cellar, or crawlspace, and I don't have a car. A career as a serial killer isn't on the cards for me
Lyndsey told Bored Panda all about how she founded the True Crime Memes page, why it's extremely popular among women, and why people find the genre so captivating. "One day, I was out with a friend getting pizza and I kept seeing funny memes about true crime. I honestly don’t even know what sparked the idea but I told her, 'I’m gonna make a true crime memes instagram page' and she encouraged the idea and we just rolled with it! I originally was just going to re-post memes I found online but I ended up getting more involved with the page and it has now become almost all original content," she said.
The True Crime Memes page saw a big jump in popularity after a famous true crime podcast posted one of Lyndsey's original memes and tagged her in the caption. However, not everyone is as friendly. " A very famous true crime youtuber shared one of my original memes on her story and I was extremely excited but she never credited me, so that was pretty disappointing!"
According to Lyndsey, true crime is far more popular among women. "My audience is 96% women which I find extremely interesting! I can't speak for everyone, but in my opinion, the reason I and so many other women are so drawn to the genre is that we can almost get into the mind of the perpetrator. How can I avoid people like the perp, and how did the victim get caught in a situation where such a heinous crime was committed and what can I do so that this never happens to me? It has honestly made me much more cautious and aware of my surroundings," she shared with Bored Panda.
"Also. I’m only a few months younger than JonBenét Ramsey and I’ve always felt a connection to her and her case. That’s all I remember seeing on TV and in the paper and magazines in the grocery store growing up. I think we connect so much with victims and we fight for justice and seek it when need be," she said.
"My page is also used to spread awareness on missing people, we share our theories in popular cases, play games together, and just all around have fun. I’m super interactive with my followers and have legit made lifetime friends because I decided to start this page."
Meanwhile, psychologist Lee from the UK was kind enough to give me a deeper glance into the reasons why some people are so entranced by true crime and analyzing the darker side of humanity.
"When considering why the darker side of humanity and entertainment are so compelling, we have to first look at our evolutionary journey as human beings. For the majority of our existence, we were prey and always hyperaware of threats to our safety, which created a negativity bias that we are drawn towards," Lee explained to Bored Panda.
"But in today's safe and often sanitized world, we are rarely threatened significantly, and the ability to explore evil, frightening and gruesome entertainment is one of the few ways we can visit this part of humanity while remaining safe and comfortable. There is a level of novelty to it, it removes boredom quickly, and it helps us to discover our emotional limits while understanding the minds of those who go beyond social norms and potentially gaining knowledge of how we might avoid being victims ourselves. They also offer closure, with many stories ending with the mystery being solved, and the criminal being brought to a level of justice," the psychologist said.
I realized not too long ago, that if someone in my family died in a suspicious manner, I'd be the first suspect if the police apply all their idiotic assumptions and pseudoscience. "Her browser history had serial killer biographies, unresolved murders and other disturbing stuff..." 🤣
According to Lee, there's even a "comforting element" that all the evil things portrayed on the screen are happening to someone else, instead of to us. "It can take us on an emotional rollercoaster, have us trying to solve the puzzle and test our fear in a controlled way. The permission to explore evil is powerful, as we so rarely get the chance elsewhere, and in itself, it is healthy and normal in moderation," he said.
However, there are downsides to exposing ourselves to too much violence in the media. We have to learn how to moderate our consumption of such shows. "The challenge we face is the fact that consuming too much of this can desensitize us, and cause us to become less empathetic to the suffering of others, more fearful of our own environment, and potentially be more likely to use aggression ourselves. It can also cause us to be triggered by our own previous adverse experiences, make it harder to manage our own emotional balance, and increase our stress levels, so moderating our consumption is something we should have front of mind, even when we get embroiled in the latest series that is pulling us in."
I was also interested to find out at what point we should be getting worried about the time we spend watching TV shows of any genre. "Modern TV has a range of psychological hooks built in to keep us watching, from episode endings that leave you wanting more, to autoplay of the next episode unless canceled. I often talk to my clients about 3 hours of TV a day ending up at around 11 years of our lifespan sat staring at a screen," psychologist Lee told Bored Panda this shocking piece of information.
The ability to make a room light up when you walk in apparently makes you more likely to be the victim of an unsolved murder, especially if you wear big glasses
Glad it’s not just me. Either that or googling lists of rampage killings etc
"Watching the latest shows isn't a bad thing, entertainment can be a great way to relax, often starts great conversations and helps us to explore ourselves in the context of others. It is worth remembering that some TV as an addition to a modern well-lived life is a net positive, but as soon as it starts to invade your sleep, impact what you eat, and how much you move your body, it starts subtracting from the fundamentals that keep us in an optimal place as human beings," Lee pointed out at what point we should become concerned about the time we spend sitting in front of the screen.
Chief among the negative effects of being unable to control the time we spend in front of the screen is the lack of sleep which affects nearly every facet of our lives. "A lack of sleep compounds in a variety of negative ways, and we are well aware of the challenges we face as a society around eating and movement. We also need to consider the mental and psychological benefits of watching some TV and taking ownership; being in control of what you watch is a great place to be, so ensure you are the master of the TV and don't let the TV become the master of you," he said.
Once I’ve started an episode I have to finish out of respect, unless I’ve seen it before. If my murder was “boring” I’d be devastated (in ghost form)
"If you notice yourself starting to delay your sleep, take shortcuts socializing, eating, or keeping fit to keep your TV company, or feel like it's in control of you, it's time to take a step back and build a routine that you can control while still enjoying your favorite shows in moderation. It can even be a lot of fun to take it more slowly and build up excitement and anticipation for the next episode!"
You sometimes have to wonder if criminals ever bother to watch crime documentaries
The genre’s popularity, while thrilling for the creators of the shows and podcasts themselves, is a potential source of concern. The Washington Post writes that the increase of rampant violence in media is making some experts very worried.
“I’m concerned about the trajectory we’re on. If I worked at Netflix I might say, ‘Well, this is what people want.' But that doesn’t mean it should be provided. The research shows that escalating violence on-screen can make us more tolerant of it in real life; it can leave ‘lingering fear’ that can cause sleep disturbances and other problems,” Professor Glenn Sparks from Purdue University told WaPo. “There is an issue of social responsibility here.”
I was cycling beside the highway once when I found a human sized garbage bag which was giving off a faint smell and, when prodded, was cold and had a soft, fleshy feel. Tempting fate, I opened it. It turned out to be a bag of individually wrapped fresh meat that had probably fallen off the back of a truck. Steaks, chicken legs, that sort of thing.
Were you wearing gloves? Did you leave fingerprints or DNA? Amateur!
Load More Replies...When you're out in the middle of nowhere, do think this would be a great place to dispose of a body?
Well our cat dragged home something black and rotten when i was a kid, i freaked and was convinced it was a body part and ran for my parents because our cat was eating the evidence! It turns out it was a rotten fish, and even though my parents took it straight off him, the poor kitty was rather sick that day (yes he went to the vet 😀)
Once I was walking towards a bunched up duvet in a corner outside and my brain went "omg there might be a body rolled up in there!" Then I realised it's my duvet. In my yard. And I literally just saw the wind blow it off the washing line and into the corner.
I was at the beach a few years ago in San Diego when I spotted what was 100% a human bone of some kind. I had JUST finished up an anatomy class for my graduate school program and when I alerted a cop patrolling the beach he grabbed it and said “We get bones wash up from ocean creatures all the time” as he threw it back into the water. I was like what the FFFFFf??!!!? I still wonder about that bone.
Apparently normal people always think it's a mannequin. Who the f**k do they think is wandering around dumping all these mannequins in lonely places miles from anywhere? I think I prefer the serial killer to a mannequin posing creep lol
Like the Elizabeth Short murder. The mom who found her thought she was a mannequin.
Load More Replies...I was walking in the woods near our house and I saw something that looked like a body bag. I was a young kid and soooo scared. I ran home crying. I never found out what it was and never told anyone because I wasn’t supposed to be in the woods. Once I was walking in the woods behind our house, saw what to me looked like a body bag. I was 10 though with an overactive imagination, so I basically freaked myself out and ran away. I still don’t know if it was or not.
Or luggage? A few years ago a guy found a pair of legs in a duffle bag on the side of the road just passed my house. They never figured out whose they were, and what happened. So creepy.
When Lacy Peterson disappeared, I used to walk my dogs in a park on SF bay, in Berkeley CA where they were searching for her. One day, I was walking along a jetty, and this big, long yellow duffle-type bag had washed up on the edge. I started shaking, and then my dumb ass climbed down and slowly opened the zipper. She wasn’t in there. Less than a month later, she and her baby were found on washed up on a little beach, less than a 1/4 mile to the left of the jetty. No words for how I felt.
At a workplace in a not very safe area years back. Had just finished evening shift handover so it was late at night. The night staff came out with me to my vehicle. We were chatting and something caught my eye just beyond my co-worker's shoulder. I looked beyond the property line into the grassed area in the next door vacant lot and saw what I thought was a body wrapped in a sheet with a ligature cord tied at the neck and ankle areas. I said to them "I really hope that is not what it looks like" and the others turned and we all pretty much thought yup it's a body because of the area. We decided we should go for a closer look before we called the police and were glad we did. Ended up being a carpet that had been dumped and obviously slumped somewhat creating the illusion of head and foot area. Never so glad to see a "dead carpet" in our lives as we were not looking forward to the paperwork or publicity that would accompany the real thing
I saw some fabric in some bushes that looked heavy. I went to look , I moved the fabric with a stick and saw a large garbage bag under it... I called the police. Turned out it was just large trash bags with curtains draped over the bags. I felt a bit dumb but the police said "better safe then sorry. You never know. It could have been a dead animal. " I didn't tell her I thought it could have been a human body. I watch and listen to too many true crime stories. Lol
Found a grocery sack with three puppies on the side of the road. So, yeah, I look at all bags with suspicion.
All the time. Last week I saw a suitcase on the roadside and pushed down on the throttle.
I found a pile of blankets in the woods. I immediately thought there might be a body in there. I checked but it was just blankets.
One day me and my friend were walking through some old abandoned train tracks that were underground and we saw a body bag and she started screaming while there's a dead body and we're going to get arrested and me being my dumb self walks up to the body bag and decides to open the bag and it was just a bag full of leaves with some spray paint around it and a note that said haha got you
Yes!! First thought is hmmm could that be a bag of money? 🤔Or BODY PARTS 😲
I don't worry too much, I'm not a jogger or dog walker, I'll never find anything.
Once saw a dude in the middle of our neighborhood street late at night. Wasn't sure if he was dead or passed out drunk. Drove up next to him and honked. Nothing. Called the police because I was too scared to get out and touch or soft kick him. They came and were able to rouse him a bit. Then he looked like he was the real walking dead as he was getting up and trying to wander off. Police said he was extremely drunk, so they put him in their car and drove him home. (At least that's what they said they were going to do.)
grew up rural. They contained puppies and kittens and cats. That was way worse than body parts, IMHO. And, frankly, growing up on a farm, body parts happened. He wasn't one-armed Mo for no reason.
I'll have to assume that they contain body parts because we use bins.
I have to admit that when I saw an old sleeping bag abandoned in the bushes that was the first thing that sprang to mind
Can we pretend taht airplains in the night sky are shooting stars (i know i spelled it incorrectly, DON'T CORRECT ME)
This obsession with the true crime genre could, at least in part, be explained by the change in how we tend to view shows now. There has been a shift from watching TV shows with your family and friends to viewing shows more privately now.
“If you look at television history, there’s often a mirror effect,” Thompson said. “In the early days of TV, in the days of ‘I Love Lucy’ and ‘Leave it To Beaver,’ families would gather in the living rooms to watch shows about people who gather in their living rooms. And now we’re people who sit huddled alone, looking a little creepy, watching people who are huddled alone looking a little creepy,” Professor Robert Thompson from Syracuse University told The Washington Post.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean someone isn't out to get you.
Speaking as someone whose family lived within a few miles of the Yorkshire Ripper, I'd just like to say that the USA didn't have a monopoly on serial killers
Almost as bad as taking your phone with you when you commit a murder and dump a body. They can trace your movements numb nuts!
"Thank God his dad, grandparents, two brothers and little sister didn't live to see him in court"
"Would I be so dumb to not have an alibi for the time I hacked her body in pieces and fed it to stray dogs and hungry kittens?"
Actually a lot of serial killers were very charming people who were able to win the trust of their victims very quickly.
I'm not ashamed to admit that I watch these shows and learn how not to deal with a serial killer encounter. I consider this educational television.
"Actors! Are you young, attractive, and capable of looking concerned whilst doing a DNA analysis? A career as a 'Forensic Files' lab tech could be yours! We are also casting police officers and anxious neighbors"
Don't be the overly helpful witness, hinting and "discovering evidence" and trying to manipulate detectives.
Note: this post originally had 68 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
If there's one conclusion I've drawn from all the true crime videos I've watched, it's that if you're going to do away with someone you know, get some acting lessons ASAP. So many of these people put all this effort into making sure they have an alibi, only to end up making the police suspicious as hell when they can't even pretend to be upset about their dead loved one/s. Like, dude, your wife and kids were cut to pieces with an axe! Shouldn't you be shedding a few tears? Trembling with shock? Anything other than nonchalantly smoking a cigarette and claiming you were at the library the whole time?
And don't run right off to Vegas with the life insurance and your 'new' girlfriend .
Load More Replies...My hubby watches true crime shows, reads books, etc., and doesn't get why they upset me. Well, my dad almost killed me once, on purpose, so, yeah, kinda already met the "he's a great guy (till he is'nt)" and have the scars, so let's just go watch a cooking show, please?
All I'll say is I've watched enough of these to know to shut my mouth until a lawyer is present.
I don't like when there are two narrators in a true-crime podcast, and one just tells the story while another gives exaggerated reactions. "...and he killed her" and another narrator is like "WHAAAT". You are hosting a podcast about murders, what did you expect?
I have to admit that when I use my nailbrush I often think about how now if someone kills me at least I'll get lots of their DNA under my nails 🤔 I try not to think that every day of course, but I can't really help it 😆
Unless they spike your drink and do you like David Parker Ray.
Load More Replies...Same here. They could have been talking about me lolol
Load More Replies...The comments on this thread are the best ever. Everyone's finishing each other's ideas and we all know the tropes. Kudos pandas, you're awesome!
These shows teach you how not to get caught. People still do the same dumbass stuff though. Gee, I think I'll look up stuff that pertains to the crime I'm about to commit on my computer or I think I'll take my phone with me. Forensic files is a great one to learn on. It's amazing what they can do now and they let you know. So pay attention. lol
My takeaway that keeps me up at night and sometimes paranoid around people. 1. These are stories about crimes they know were committed but sometimes not until DNA testing of bones many years later. 2. These are usually about those that have been caught but often not until many victims and many years later. 3. What percentage of murders committed around the world does this add up to?. Can't sleep either now? You're welcome.
These aren't even remotely funny. Arseholes pouting and joking about people who have lost their lives and the families left behind. Badly done, Bored Panda.
Just because you are offended by something doesn't mean it isn't funny, or that you're right to be offended. Why did you keep reading them if they were so abhorrent?
Load More Replies...If there's one conclusion I've drawn from all the true crime videos I've watched, it's that if you're going to do away with someone you know, get some acting lessons ASAP. So many of these people put all this effort into making sure they have an alibi, only to end up making the police suspicious as hell when they can't even pretend to be upset about their dead loved one/s. Like, dude, your wife and kids were cut to pieces with an axe! Shouldn't you be shedding a few tears? Trembling with shock? Anything other than nonchalantly smoking a cigarette and claiming you were at the library the whole time?
And don't run right off to Vegas with the life insurance and your 'new' girlfriend .
Load More Replies...My hubby watches true crime shows, reads books, etc., and doesn't get why they upset me. Well, my dad almost killed me once, on purpose, so, yeah, kinda already met the "he's a great guy (till he is'nt)" and have the scars, so let's just go watch a cooking show, please?
All I'll say is I've watched enough of these to know to shut my mouth until a lawyer is present.
I don't like when there are two narrators in a true-crime podcast, and one just tells the story while another gives exaggerated reactions. "...and he killed her" and another narrator is like "WHAAAT". You are hosting a podcast about murders, what did you expect?
I have to admit that when I use my nailbrush I often think about how now if someone kills me at least I'll get lots of their DNA under my nails 🤔 I try not to think that every day of course, but I can't really help it 😆
Unless they spike your drink and do you like David Parker Ray.
Load More Replies...Same here. They could have been talking about me lolol
Load More Replies...The comments on this thread are the best ever. Everyone's finishing each other's ideas and we all know the tropes. Kudos pandas, you're awesome!
These shows teach you how not to get caught. People still do the same dumbass stuff though. Gee, I think I'll look up stuff that pertains to the crime I'm about to commit on my computer or I think I'll take my phone with me. Forensic files is a great one to learn on. It's amazing what they can do now and they let you know. So pay attention. lol
My takeaway that keeps me up at night and sometimes paranoid around people. 1. These are stories about crimes they know were committed but sometimes not until DNA testing of bones many years later. 2. These are usually about those that have been caught but often not until many victims and many years later. 3. What percentage of murders committed around the world does this add up to?. Can't sleep either now? You're welcome.
These aren't even remotely funny. Arseholes pouting and joking about people who have lost their lives and the families left behind. Badly done, Bored Panda.
Just because you are offended by something doesn't mean it isn't funny, or that you're right to be offended. Why did you keep reading them if they were so abhorrent?
Load More Replies...