What Are the Origins of the True Crime Genre?

Reflecting on the nature of truth in fiction, true asserts that fiction (rather than journalism) is ‘the best way of telling the truth; it’s a process of producing grand, beautiful, well-ordered lies that tell more truth than any assemblage of facts.’ This suggests that there are universal, implied truths that exist in the crafting of literature that elevate the form beyond journalism. The enduring popularity of the ‘true crime’ literary genre seems to demonstrate this claim that readers are compelled to understand the ‘truth’ of appalling crimes through the literature rather than news journalism.

Even before the printing press made printed pamphlets more widely available, murderous tales were shared via the oral tradition of ballads. These were popular as a way of sharing details of notorious crimes. They are also psychologically interesting as the tales often focus on the criminals and the victims: often inventing motives and detailed inner lives. This was in stark contrast to the facts of the cases. The nature of the oral tradition meant that the facts often changed when repeated and reformed often changing names and locations altogether, but the central themes would often be recognizable. One notable example, ‘The Gosport Tragedy’ is recorded as having versions set all over mainland Europe, England and North America.

Execution Sermons & Morality (1600 – 1700s)

Another early example of the oral tradition of true crime making its way into print is that of execution sermons. Although still filled with lurid details, the purpose of an execution sermon was for the gathered crowd (predominantly in Puritan communities) to consider the moral implications of the crime. These developed alongside the emerging justice system. Their detailed titles explicitly link morality and legality: ‘The Declaration, Dying Warning and Advice of Rebekah Chamblit… Aged Near Twenty-Seven Years, Executed [for murder]’ (1733) However, the most successful writers of execution sermons understood that public interest was best held by including morbid details and fictionalized dialogue to create vivid character portraits of the condemned. 

Witch Trials (1600 -1700s)

Though execution sermons were widespread at the time, they are now mostly remembered as a primary source of information pertaining to the infamous Salem witch trials. With around 200 men and women accused of Witchcraft in one small Massachusetts town, it is unsurprising that public interest encouraged true crime writing of the events. The most famous of these was Cotton Mather’s ‘The Wonders of the Invisible World’. Mather’s approach can be seen as a blueprint for true crime writing that has come since, as he adopted a more objective, journalistic tone purporting to state merely the facts of court proceedings.

This approach can also be traced in with trials that took place across mainland Europe, where reporting in a scientific, legal tone was a style writers chose to enhance their credibility. Even while describing incredible crimes. 

As the name suggests, these pamphlets were cheap and gruesome entertainment. Blending fantastical tales including vampires and headless horsemen with real crimes (the bloodier the better), Penny Dreadfuls truly presented crime as entertainment. Developed from the tradition of crime broadsides being produced to accompany public executions, increasing literacy rates as well as mass production made the cheaply printed ‘Penny Dreadfuls’ a publishing sensation.

The most famous character to endure from these is Sweeney Todd. Although purportedly based on a true crime, the retelling is so distorted that it has gained legendary status. The style of the Penny Dreadfuls also influenced contemporary reporting and may be part of the reason that the true crime sub-genre around Jack the Ripper holds such appeal for fans of the genre. 

Truman Capote: The ‘Non-Fiction Novel’ (1966)

Capote took a radical approach to true crime as he began his research while the killers were still at large. Having read of the murder of the Klutter family in 1959, he travelled to Kansas to interview local residents. Experimenting with what he believed to be a new form of writing, he dubbed his work a ‘non-fiction novel’.  Furthermore, Capote wrote ‘in reporting, one is occupied with literalness and surfaces, with implication without comment – one can’t achieve immediate depths the way one may in fiction’. 

Capote exemplifies this by making editorial choices, focusing the reader with judgements such as ‘and that, really is all’. One of the hallmarks of modern true crime is the omnipotent presence of the writer capable of capturing (or fabricating) dialogue. In terms of chronology and narrative codes. This is surprising considering that the novel was being drafted as the case was being worked on hence, he approached the reality of the crime as a writerly reader, following threads and befriending ‘characters’ in a way which would influence the outcome of his writing process. The most chilling example being the realization that ‘for his book to have its best possible ending, Smith and Hickock [the killers], who had become his friends, would have to hang’. 

Published in 1981, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, is a pseudo-journalistic novel which uses many literary techniques to tell the true crime story of a murder that captivated Marquez. 

Similarly to Capote, Marquez’s work invents the rich inner lives of his subjects to imbue his narratives with an emotional truth. Marquez (seemingly echoing the early moralisers of execution sermons) explained: ‘What interested me was no longer the crime itself but the literary theme of collective responsibility’. While writing Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Marquez made the decision to create new names for real people he was portraying. One of whom later tried to sue the writer. Marquez’s victory in court exemplifies the prevailing attitude to truth in fiction.

Marquez’s writing credentials as a journalist gives him a perceived credibility. He takes this responsibility seriously, saying: ‘I had a very confused memory before I decided to rescue it piece by piece from the memory of others.’ It could be argued that although the novel is a work of fiction, it conveys an emotional truth earning its place in the true crime genre.