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Less than four months after Nancy Kerrigan was attacked by a man after coming off the ice, NBC debuted the made-for-TV movie Tonya & Nancy: The Inside Story (1994). The self-aware film acknowledges its intent to capitalize on the lurid sensationalism of the crime, but also explores the class and gender issues that contributed to the hype. Plus: A Greek Chorus of talking heads, breaking the fourth wall, and Heather Langenkamp?! Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on social media @murdermfiction (BlueSky & Instagram) or send us an email: [email protected] > Jenn: @jennferatu > Joe: @bstolemyremote / @joelipsett (BlueSky) Wanna support the show? Join us on Patreon (patreon.com/murdermadefiction) for a pair of bear attack films (Grizzly Night and Cocaine Bear), plus discussions on true crime documentaries like The Perfect Neighbor, Predators, and Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the Winter Olympics just around the corner, we’re exploring some of sport’s most notorious crimes, beginning with the 1994 attack on Nancy Kerrigan. This episode of the ESPN docuseries 30 for 30 begins with Tonya Harding’s troubled childhood then follows her rocky figure skating career and controversial quest for Olympic gold.  Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on social media @murdermfiction (Twitter & Instagram) or send us an email: [email protected] > Jenn: @jennferatu > Joe: @bstolemyremote Wanna support the show? Join us on Patreon: patreon.com/murdermadefiction for more than 125 hours of content including episodes on the animal attack films Grizzly Night and Cocaine Bear and an exploration of the documentaries Predators and The Perfect Neighbor.   Theme Music: Murder on the Artlist Express Like the show? Please rate, review and subscribe! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're checking out director Burke Doeren and writers Katrina Mathewson & Tanner Bean's Grizzly Night (2026) based on the August 13, 1967 bear attacks in Granite National Park. If you want to hear more , including our spoilery discussion, join the Patreon (⁠patreon.com/murdermadefiction⁠) where we're also tackling Cocaine Bear, as well as 2025 documentaries like Predators, The Perfect Neighbor and Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on social media @murdermfiction (BlueSky & Instagram) or send us an email: [email protected] > Jenn: @jennferatu > Joe: @bstolemyremote / @joelipsett (BlueSky) Show art: IBTrav Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re wrapping up our patreon coverage of Mindhunter season 1 with a chat about our favorite characters, story arcs, and episodes. What do we long for in season 2 and how does David Fincher’s masterful show subvert a well-trodden subgenre? Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on social media @murdermfiction (Twitter & Instagram) or send us an email: [email protected] > Jenn: @jennferatu > Joe: @bstolemyremote Wanna support the show? Join us on Patreon: patreon.com/murdermadefiction for more than 125 hours of content including episode by episode coverage of the Netflix series Mindhunter.  Theme Music: Murder on the Artlist Express Like the show? Please rate, review and subscribe! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For our second week of Richard Speck adaptations, we're checking out director Denis Héroux's Born For Hell (1976), which is sometimes also known as Naked Massacre. This international co-production relocates the narrative to Belfast and weaves in Speck's story with the Troubles and the Vietnam War. Plus: comparisons to Violated Angels; and why this is such a hard watch, even if we can't just dismiss it. Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on social media @murdermfiction (Twitter & Instagram) or send us an email: [email protected] > Jenn: @jennferatu > Joe: @bstolemyremote Wanna support the show? Join us on Patreon: patreon.com/murdermadefiction for more than 128 hours of content including episode by episode coverage of the Netflix series Mindhunter.  Theme Music: Murder on the Artlist Express Like the show? Please rate, review and subscribe! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As we continue our coverage of Mindhunter season 1, we’re traveling across the world to discuss Kôji Wakamatsu’s Violated Angels.  Inspired by the crimes of Richard Speck, this controversial Pink Film is a powerful and disturbing blend of true crime and political commentary.  Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on social media @murdermfiction (Twitter & Instagram) or send us an email: [email protected] > Jenn: @jennferatu > Joe: @bstolemyremote Wanna support the show? Join us on Patreon: patreon.com/murdermadefiction for more than 125 hours of content including episode by episode coverage of the Netflix series Mindhunter.  Theme Music: Murder on the Artlist Express Like the show? Please rate, review and subscribe! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To tie into our coverage of Mindhunter on Patreon, we're discussing fictional adaptations of the killers interviewed on the series. First up: director Chad Ferrin's Ed Kemper (2025) which shares a screenwriter with 2000's Ed Gein in Stephen Johnston. Sadly this plays like a lazy, salacious cash-grab. Despite a committed performance by lead Brandon Kirk, there's not much to recommend here. Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on social media @murdermfiction (BlueSky & Instagram) or send us an email: [email protected] > Jenn: @jennferatu > Joe: @bstolemyremote / @joelipsett (BlueSky) Wanna support the show? Join us on Patreon (patreon.com/murdermadefiction) for a full-length primer on profiler John Douglas and individual episode by episode discussion of S01 of Netflix's Mindhunter. Watching ahead? Look for the Japanese Richard Speck film Violated Angels on the Internet Archive (link) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When John Douglas first joined the FBI in 1970, criminal investigation was ineffective at best. Over the next quarter century, he would pioneer the art of criminal profiling and create the Bureau's Behavioral Analysis Unit alongside colleagues Robert Ressler and Dr. Ann Burgess.  Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on social media @murdermfiction (Twitter & Instagram) or send us an email: [email protected] > Jenn: @jennferatu > Joe: @bstolemyremote Wanna support the show? Join us on Patreon: patreon.com/murdermadefiction for a episode by episode coverage of the Netflix series Mindhunter.  Theme Music: Murder on the Artlist Express Like the show? Please rate, review and subscribe! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jenn and Joe celebrate a year of fictionalized true crime in a number of different categories (thanks to Patron Kelly for a few suggestions!) Here's what we're discussing: Fave 2025 Fictionalized Text Most Accurate to Real Life Fave 2025 True Crime Title We Didn't Cover Best Conversation Starter Best Use of Music Best Performance Best Individual Episode of a Series; and Most Anticipated (2026 and Beyond) Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on social media @murdermfiction (BlueSky & Instagram) or send us an email: [email protected] > Jenn: @jennferatu > Joe: @bstolemyremote / @joelipsett (BlueSky) Wanna support the show? Join us on Patreon (patreon.com/murdermadefiction) for episode by episode coverage of The Staircase docuseries, and S01 of Netflix's Mindhunter in January Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Antonio Campos' fictionalized take on The Staircase comes to a close with episodes 7 & 8. Expect plenty of overlapping and blurring of timelines as Kathleen Peterson lives out her final days in 2001; Michael is released from prison in 2011; and his relationship with editor Sophie implodes in 2017. It's a perfect opportunity to compare/contrast with Lestrade's docuseries and wrap up our thoughts on what the HBO miniseries is doing. Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on social media @murdermfiction (BlueSky & Instagram) or send us an email: [email protected] > Jenn: @jennferatu > Joe: @bstolemyremote / @joelipsett (BlueSky) Wanna support the show? Join us on Patreon (patreon.com/murdermadefiction) for episode by episode coverage of the docuseries, as well as Netflix's Mindhunter S01 starting in January. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Antonio Campos’ fictionalized adaptation of The Staircase continues with an exploration of bias behind the scenes of the original docuseries. The Petersons suffer through a stressful Thanksgiving while Kathleen’s neighbor comes up with a surprising explanation for her mysterious death.  Topics include: Alford pleas, film scoring, and the owl finally makes an appearance.  Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on social media @murdermfiction (Twitter & Instagram) or send us an email: [email protected] > Jenn: @jennferatu > Joe: @bstolemyremote Wanna support the show? Join us on Patreon: patreon.com/murdermadefiction for episode by episode coverage of the 2004 docuseries The Staircase. Theme Music: Murder on the Artlist Express Like the show? Please rate, review and subscribe! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Antonio Campos’ fictionalized adaptation of The Staircase continues with an alternative theory for how Kathleen Peterson may have died.  Topics include: rapid pacing, homophobia, and a bombshell revelation about Michael’s third wife.  Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on social media @murdermfiction (Twitter & Instagram) or send us an email: [email protected] > Jenn: @jennferatu > Joe: @bstolemyremote Wanna support the show? Join us on Patreon: patreon.com/murdermadefiction for episode by episode coverage of the 2004 docuseries The Staircase. Theme Music: Murder on the Artlist Express Like the show? Please rate, review and subscribe! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Dec 9, 2001, Michael Peterson made a frantic 911 call to report the accidental death of his wife, Kathleen. What followed is one of the most sensational true crime cases of all time: did Kathleen die in a fall down the stairs...or was she murdered by her husband? In 2022, showrunner Antonio Campos debuted his 8 episode HBO limited series, starring Colin Firth & Toni Collette and based on the 2004 docuseries. Here's our take on episodes 1-2. Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on social media @murdermfiction (BlueSky & Instagram) or send us an email: [email protected] > Jenn: @jennferatu > Joe: @bstolemyremote / @joelipsett (BlueSky) Wanna support the show? Join us on Patreon (patreon.com/murdermadefiction) for episode by episode coverage of the the entire The Staircase docuseries (13 episodes between 2004 & 2013) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ron Howard’s emotional film chronicles the risky and controversial mission to save twelve young soccer players and their coach from the rapidly flooding Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand. Topics include: claustrophobia, star power, and white savior narratives. Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on social media @murdermfiction (Twitter & Instagram) or send us an email: [email protected] > Jenn: @jennferatu > Joe: @bstolemyremote Wanna support the show? Join us on Patreon: patreon.com/murdermadefiction for episode by episode coverage of Netflix’s The Monster of Florence and Hulu’s Murdaugh: Death in the Family.  Theme Music: Murder on the Artlist Express Like the show? Please rate, review and subscribe! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Director Charlie Shackleton makes lemonade out of lemons after losing the rights to adapt Lyndon Lafferty’s 2012 true crime novel The Zodiac Killer Cover-up AKA The Silenced Badge. From the ashes of his abandoned documentary rises a fascinating exploration of the genre itself. Against the backdrop of gorgeous cinematography from Xenia Patricia, Shackleton talks us through his original plans, revealing deft commentary on true crime storytelling. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices