| True Crime (genre) |
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The modern genre is usually traced to Truman Capote 's "non-fiction novel" '' In Cold Blood '', published in 1966, although Jack Webb's 1958 ''The Badge'' certainly resonates with later works and has been republished with an introduction by James Ellroy . Many works in this genre explore and sometimes exploit high-profile, sensational crimes by such Serial Killer s as Ted Bundy , the JonBenét Ramsey killing, the O. J. Simpson case, and the Pamela Smart murder, while others are devoted to more obscure slayings. Later prominent true crime accounts include '' Helter Skelter '' by lead Manson family prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry; Ann Rule 's The Stranger Beside Me and Joe McGuiness 's Fatal Vision . The modern genre, which usually focuses on murders, is frequently marked by biographical treatment of the criminals and victims, attempts to explain criminal psychology, and descriptions of police investigations and trial procedures. Although true crime books center on sensational, shocking, or strange events, a secondary part of their appeal is that they often contain elements of social realism that are often too risque or deviant for other non-fiction media, such as detailed descriptions of working-class or socially marginal people and their lifestyles. Many of these books, such as '' The Badge '', adopt a snide, superior and moralistic tone toward their subjects or sensationalize blood and gore such as the '' Hollywood Babylon '' series. After the success of the movie '' The Silence Of The Lambs '', a subgenre of true crime has focused on methods of "profiling" of unidentified criminals, especially serial killers. FURTHER READING
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