I don’t know what’s happening, but ever since summer hit, so has news about new serial killer documentaries. Specifically, Myth of the Zodiac Killer, Sharksploitation, and Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein.
Let’s dive in and get our feet wet exploring these original documentaries. Just be sure to watch your toes, your back, and even your skin in general…
Summer 2023’s Serial Killer Documentaries
Myth of the Zodiac Killer
Premieres on Peacock on July 11
To this day, the so-called Zodiac Killer’s identity remains a mystery. The case has been “kept warm,” as USA Today so perfectly put it, by a public still fascinated with his crimes. In large part, his seemingly uncrackable messages played a big part in the interest, as does his hidden identity. As USA Today also reported, “a whole cottage industry has been birthed out of unearthing it.”
But was the Zodiac Killer even real? Or a myth? That’s what this two-part Peacock Original docuseries will explore. Here’s the synopsis from Peacock:
The identity of the serial killer known as ‘The Zodiac’ has been confounding investigators for nearly fifty years, but an unlikely and unconventional theorist may have finally shed light to America’s most famous cold case by asking a question that no one else has ever dared ask: what if the reason the Zodiac has never been caught…is because he never existed in the first place?
Sharksploitation
Premieres on Shudder on July 21
Some might argue the shark that inspired the movie Jaws doesn’t count as a serial killer. I beg to differ. The animal kingdom has produced beasts that have preyed on humans, just like human serial killers.
The Jersey Shore Shark attacks of 1916 didn’t result in an astounding number of fatalities. (Thankfully.) But four of the five victims didn’t survive. (Unlike in the cases of a tiger, a leopard, and a crocodile, in that order, each of whose victims numbered in the hundreds.)
But that single shark attack is often credited with inspiring Peter Benchley to write Jaws. Although, History vs. Hollywood disputes that. It was actually inspired by a fisherman named Frank Mundus, as they quoted Benchley explaining:
…in 1964, I read an item in a newspaper about a fisherman who harpooned a 4,500-pound great white shark off Long Island. I remember thinking at the time, Lord! What would happen if one of those monsters came into a resort community and wouldn’t go away?
Well, we all know what happened. Or, as Bloody Disgusting put it, “In the wake of blockbuster classic Jaws, a new subgenre was born.”
The Shudder Original documentary, Sharksploitation, “explores the weird, wild cinematic legacy of sharks on film and the world’s undying fascination.”
Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein
Premiers on MGM+ on September 17
The last entry makes it on our list of serial killer documentaries for summer 2023 by the skin of its teeth. (A pun I couldn’t resist making.)
Grave robber and serial killer Ed Gein was also known by other colorful monikers like “The Plainfield Ghoul” and “The Mad Butcher.” His crimes inspired iconic films like Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs. He’s also been the subject of other documentaries, like the Shocks Docs Ed Gein: The Real Psycho.
So what angle will the four-part MGM+ original docuseries examine? Here’s the description from MGM+:
For years, filmmakers, journalists, and scholars have tried to unravel the mind of this notorious killer, and with new reveals and never-before-heard recordings, viewers will be transported to late-1950s Middle America and submerged in Gein’s perverse mind. The series explores Gein’s upbringing and twisted relationship with his mother (which famously inspired Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho), his early grave robbing, the murders leading up to his arrest, and the police’s discovery of his terrifying house of horrors—all accompanied by the brand-new revelations revealed in the recordings.
This post was updated on July 13, 2023, to fix the premiere date of Sharksploitation from July 11 to July 21.
Check-In
Which of these serial killer documentaries are you most looking forward to? (And, yes. “All” is a perfectly acceptable answer.)
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, as well as obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of healing, to learn how she channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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I would like to see Sharksploitation because it seems there are more shark attacks now than there used to be… or are we swimming more in the ocean? The documentary would probably answer that question!
I’m still so distraught about the whole ghost show/TCM debacle, I’m having a hard time concentrating on anything else! Sorry, Courtney. 🙁 Could you possibly make a list of other ghost shows on other stations so we have them all in one place? I can’t keep track of what is where, and I have to try to find a streaming service that covers the majority of them. I’m certainly not going to subscribe to all of them, and I WON’T subscribe to MAX after cancelling my Discovery+ subscription because of what they all did!
P.S. I can’t WAIT to see if there is a Ghostober this year or not! It just doesn’t seem like they have the material to do it anymore! I imagine their complaint box will be overflowing with angry letters if they don’t! Most paranormal show watchers are HARD CORE! I am middle-core, and I am still feeling personally attacked and affected!
Ooo! I’m SO excited about Sharksploitation! I love a good shark horror movie. And now I’m super curious to see if it will answer your question, Vera. It’s a good one!
That’s a really good idea for a post, Troy! I’m sure others have that same dilemma and that would be useful info. I’ll set about pulling something together.