Making a Murderer, Serial and the rise of the blood-boiling true crime story

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. HBO to a lesser extent had a similar hit with The Jinx, which centred on real estate heir Robert Durst’s alleged murders, and now Netflix has engrossed an audience bored over the festive season with Making a Murderer, the incredible, infuriating story of a man who spent nearly 20 years in prison only to be exonerated through DNA evidence. open image in gallery Adnan Syed, the focus of Serial season 1 The genre isn’t anything new of course - 1988’s The Thin Blue Line, 2001’s The Staircase and 2012’s West of Memphis all spring to mind as other stories riddled with conjecture, contradiction and corruption - but its transference into the mainstream, the 'Trending Now', 50,000 shares, 'Must Read' mainstream, definitely is. open image in gallery The 2014 podcast “Serial” re-examined the murder of a young woman, Hae Min Lee, for which her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, pictured, was convicted I think the main reason for their sudden success however is the way they can effect change, where perhaps others couldn’t pre-internet. People love justice and they love to see the truth out, and with it now being easier than ever for the masses to funnel their outrage at prosecutors and police departments online, listeners/viewers feel part of the story, as though they’re a million strong group of pro-bono lawyers standing behind the defendant in the courthouse.