Recently there has been a surge in (public) popularity for true crime - probably stemming from the infamous Serial podcast where millions got hooked on the did he/didn't he story of Adnan Syed. I think that's what started it for me too. These days at any silent interval - be it walking to the post office, cooking dinner or sat down designing - you'll find me listening with two ears or one eye to the story of an unsolved disappearance or a solved and fucking mental murder. Podcasts, books, Youtube & Nextflix - I'm over it all! In this post I'm going to share a few of the Youtube channels that I think are killing it at true crime.
I've always been fascinated by the inner workings of people. It's not the grizzly gore of true crime that intrigues me - I really could not listen to The Generation Why's episode on Jeffrey Dahmer, but I watched the movie My Friend Dahmer which told the story of his teen years and the warning signs of who he later became. I think I've always wanted to study people - if I'm left alone with someone past 9pm we always end up having deep chats (sometimes I worry I'm too intense tbh but I'm just interested in you!! pls!!).
Absorbing all these stories over the last year and a half has completely changed how I view criminals. Absolutely every single person has a story behind acting the way they do. When you look into the childhood of some of the worst serial killers you often find they were horribly abused, and the rest suffered some kind of head injury. We go through life with little switches written in our DNA, predisposing us to certain behaviour if - and only if - we come across the relevant trigger. So I'm very interested in why people do what they do, and what stops us from turning out the same.
I think another allure is story telling - it's crazy how real life often rivals horror movies. I used to fall asleep listening to Harry Potter audio tapes... now... okay it sounds creepy but I usually watch one of these. But it's not edgy to like the true crime genre, I think everyone should be aware of the worst that can happen in the world and be able to spot red flags before a 6ft able bodied man asks you to help them lift a box into their boot in a deserted car park - they don't need your help.
So lets get into them!
Danelle Hallan posts lengthy cases every week, and they're always unsolved mysteries. She has a heartfelt approach, asking her viewers to empathise with the victim and their family and always encouraging people to come forward if they know something. I've been watching her for about a year, from when she had 40k. Its now jumped to almost 200k, so she's doing something right! She's professional, thorough and victim's families even reach out to her to either aid her research or thank her for spreading their case.
Eleanor Neal is a young & funny northern gal who thoroughly researches cases and keeps a good mix of professionalism and humour when cases just get a bit weird. "Today's video is going to be another true crime video" is music to my ears. With the rate she churns out great content, she's almost always in one ear at any given moment. I particularly like her mini series, although she's given them up for now there are still playlists on her channel such as Momicide week and Valencrimes.
If you want to go in at the deep end, she just released a really intense video "The Case of Becky Watts" which might have been a bit much to introduce my little sister to this genre with - but wow.
Georgia Marie keeps it professional with a considerate tone and a well researched, facts only approach. I find it really easy to follow her videos and her theories at the end are always interesting. Her videos are often shorter at around 18-25 minutes, so I usually end up watching several! Her Midweek Mysteries come out weekly, again only covering unsolved cases.
This video discussing the disappearance of Tammy Kingery was really good!
Bella Fiori made actually the first murder mystery video I watched, although it's only one element to her lifestyle/beauty channel. She studied criminology at college, and you can tell she really enjoys researching into cases and the psychology behind what happens. She has an empathetic way of story telling, describing the victims as if we knew them to really bring reality back to the surface. Her videos are always full of personality and I love the theories section at the end of each video!
Kendall Raye
Kendall Raye is a long term favourite. As well as true crime she covers conspiracy theories and definitely has an element of the suspicious-of-the-government-what-are-they-hiding-from-us-American about her. She's such a great personality, her videos are always fun and engaging and she's never shy to put forward her own theory. Kendall wanted to go into teaching but found she could speak to more people through what she does on youtube, and it's clear she loves researching and spreading theories with each video! She is fab.
And that's the lot! I've come across other channels, but these are the ones that keep me clicking. Notice they're all female - I wonder why that is? Several of the podcasts I listen to are run by guys, and I'll definitely write a blog post on them if you're interested, but I haven't found any on Youtube. There was something initially uncomfortable about the wave of beauty Youtubers making videos about real missing and murdered people - but then I thought... why? I can appreciate a good face of makeup, and these are the girls who would study criminology at uni, talking about something they're passionate in and actually making a difference by spreading the word about unsolved cases. They all keep things very professional and don't point the finger or spread details that can't be fact checked - probably because it's a suing minefield genre if ever there was one. They do a great job, and I hope you enjoy watching!
Please let me know who your favourites are! Youtube, podcasts, everything! Also I hope you like the little graphics I made to go alongside the post. I think it'll be a good way to keep me experimenting while I blog for fun!
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