Real-life criminals and crime fictions: adapting the serial killer as Gothic monster in TV drama

This chapter considers the fictionalised representations of real-life serial killers and spree murderers in the television dramas Mindhunter (2017–2019), Aquarius (2015–2016), I Am the Night (2019), and American Horror Story (2011–2019). It sets out an account of the ways in which non-fiction accoun...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Cherry, Brigid 1957- (Author)
Format: Print Article
Language:English
Published: 2021
In: Critiquing violent crime in the media
Year: 2021, Pages: 255-278
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
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Summary:This chapter considers the fictionalised representations of real-life serial killers and spree murderers in the television dramas Mindhunter (2017–2019), Aquarius (2015–2016), I Am the Night (2019), and American Horror Story (2011–2019). It sets out an account of the ways in which non-fiction accounts of serial killers operate as antecedent texts in the fictional narrative. In remediating non-fiction accounts for the medium of TV crime and horror series, these dramas overtly draw on a range of intertexts to form a metatextual commentary on the real-life killers. The chapter discusses the Gothic genre as a key intertext in these series, both in relation to the crime genre and in the way the monstrosity of the serial killers is encoded. Issues around identity are discussed, particularly in relation to race, as they are embodied in the representation, remediation, and adaptation of real-life serial killers as monsters in the American Gothic tradition.
Item Description:Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 277-278
ISBN:9783030837570