Spooks

10 Documentaries About Serial Killers You Should Never Watch at Night

2019-07-13 , 1:00 pm

Serial killers engaged our minds like no others. They can be anyone; from the odd-looking guy at the corner of the bar to the cheerful salesman living next door. You will never know until they are in your face with a weapon.

We source out 10 of such documentaries for your viewing pleasure, but you might want to avoid watching them at night in order to ensure a good sleep.

1. Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer

This documentary follows Aileen Wuornos, who was convicted as a serial killer in 2001. It essentially talks about the exploitation of Wuornos by those around her, including her own lawyer.

It questions the fairness of the trial and explores the vested interest of those around her in convicting her.

2. Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer

This documentary is a follow up to no. 1. It explores the death sentence of Aileen Wuornos and the controversy around it.

Wuornos was pronounced to be “of a sound mind” during her trial but the fact that she claimed that an alien mothership was coming for her one day before her execution said pretty much about her mental state.

3. The Act of Killing

This is not a common documentary as it explores the killing in Indonesia back in 1965 and 1966.

During that time, about 500,000 to one million communists and their sympathisers were murdered by various armed groups done under the encouragement of the Indonesian government.

It features some of the death squad leaders who have personally committed and ordered murder during the purge. In fact, one of them admitted to killing more than 1000 people.

4. Cropsey

This is a documentary about a man named Andre Rand, a boogeyman who kidnapped children and brought them to an abandoned house across Staten Island to kill them.

He was allegedly responsible for the killing of five children but was only convicted of two.

5. The Iceman Tapes: Conversation with a killer

This is the true story of a “successful criminal”. He was a serial killer turned mafia hitman turned criminal boss.

For 30 years, he hid his crimes successfully and put up a façade of a loving family man with a wife and three children.

He was convicted of 5 murders but in his own words, he admitted to having killed between 100 to 250 people in total.

6. H. H. Holmes: America’s First Serial Killer

Dr Henry Howard Holmes was probably the worst serial killer in history. He was convicted in 1895 where he admitted to 27 murders, with only 9 confirmed.

However, it was suspected that he killed about 200 people in total. All killings were done in his hotel, which was designed for the purpose of killing people. He even has torture chambers in the hotel.

7. IceCold: Levi King

In 2005, Levi King went to the house of the Conrad family in Texas with an AK-47 assault rifle and shot the family.

All of the family died except the daughter who played dead when King fired and missed. Before that, he murdered 2 other people.

He was only stopped after he was arrested by the police one day after his killing spree started.

8. Mad Maks: Maksim Gelman

In February 2011, Maksim Gelman had enough and decided to take matters into his own hands. His first victim was his stepfather, whom he stabbed 55 times.

Next, he targeted the woman who had rejected him previously and her mother, who was with her.

While on the run, he knocked down a pedestrian and killed him too. His final victim was a martial arts fan Joseph Lozlto, whom he slashed several times with a knife before he was overpowered.

9. Albert Fish: In Sin He Found Salvation

Albert Fish was nicknamed the Werewolf of Wysteria and the Brooklyn Vampire.

He was a serial killer, a cannibal and a child rapist. He was active from 1924 to 1932 and killed and raped many victims. He was caught in 1932 and executed in 1936.

10. Payback: Earl Forrest

Earl Forrest killed his neighbour and her friend in 2002 over a deal gone wrong.

When a police patrol came to investigate, he ambushed and killed a deputy while wounding the sheriff. He was executed in May 2016.