IN THE UNITED STATES a couple of years ago, a rumour spread on Facebook that a serial killer was on the loose. “Wrong,” said the police. The rumour was false and the photo of the “murderer” that was being passed around was of a man who had been jailed on unrelated charges. Somehow, though, versions of the same rumour popped up in California, Texas, Illinois, Louisiana and Tennessee.
I’m sure some of the people who passed along the rumours were genuinely scared. Others, though, were. From books, to Netflix documentaries, to podcast series, millions of us cannot get enough of reading, and watching, and listening to media about the worst of crimes and the worst of criminals. It’s nothing new. As Kate Summerscale wrote in , “detective fever” has been around since the 1800s. Our fascination with criminals is older still.
