Goodbye Sleep! 5 Creepy Crime Documentaries On Netflix To Keep You Awake All Night

There's something special about crime documentaries, that draws us to them, despite knowing that we will end up questioning our sanity and the definition of humanity in the end. With the rise of the OTT platforms, access to crime documentaries has become easier. What's more, digital platforms are commissioning exclusive documentaries across the globe, giving filmmakers a chance to tell stories that no one would have paid much attention to, except the local population.

Now there are two types of crime documentaries - based on dealing with solved and unsolved crimes. The documentaries can either focus on the killings or the killer - as is usually seen in the case of mass murderers and serial killers. One of the things that also draws many viewers to crime documentaries is the catharsis that comes when a killer is caught after months or years of hard work by detectives. To see them labour over clues, go through endless suspects and interview them, deal with heartbreak when another body is found and overcome all the challenges presented by the system and the killer to finally crack the case is exhilarating.

But, we are not here to talk about crime documentaries with successful endings - the kind that leaves you relieved that the killer/ criminal was caught and punished. We are here to talk about those that will leave you creeped out big time.

The documentary films that leave you feeling haunted usually revolve around an unsolved bizarre crime or a killing that makes no sense - in such cases while the criminal is caught, there is no clarity over what provoked them to commit the crime. Then there are those that involve crimes so gory and disturbing, that their descriptions make your stomach turn and while the killer is caught, the faces of their victims and details of what they did to them simply don't leave you.

So, here are five creepy crime documentaries that you can watch on Netflix:

House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths

This blood curdling three-part documentary directed by Leena Yadav revolves around the mysterious deaths of 11 members of a Delhi-based family. While the 2018 incident was itself bizarre, Yadav's narrative and the use of a booming voice to narrate letters from a deceased family member give this documentary an eerie feel that is hard to shake off. Numerous people have said they were left feeling restless after watching the series despite the fact that there is no gore, mutilation or even blood involved in the incident or how it is covered here.

Suggested Reading: House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths- Going Beyond Unsettling Details

Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer

This 2019 crime documentary narrates how a band of internet sleuths came together to catch a man who started filming himself suffocating kittens and then went on to brutally kill a person. Any incident involving harm to animals makes for difficult viewing. But what makes this documentary even more disturbing is the fact that the killer used the Internet - something that is part of our daily lives, to play psychological games with people and taunt those who were trying to chase him.

Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel

Instead of focussing on the killer or the motive, the Crime Scene series actually puts the spotlight on locations that gained notoriety from their association with a heinous crime. One such place being the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles, which has time and again found itself associated with crime and death over decades.

This documentary focuses on the disappearance of a young female student named Elisa Lam in 2013, whose body was later found in a water tank on the hotel's roof. What happened to Elisa, how did she die and who all were involved in her death remain a mystery to this date. Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel makes for a creepy viewing as it tells the story of Lam's disappearance through grainy surveillance footage, which gives it a paranormal feel.

Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes

Okay, so this documentary is on the list of "most creepy ever" of many people. Sourced mostly from original interviews of kidnapper, rapist and murderer Ted Bundy, the crime series offers an insight into the (very) twisted mind of one of the most notorious and popular serial killers in our history.

Suggested Reading: He Used Women Against Women; Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich On Netflix Is Brutally Honest

The insight, however, may not sit right with all viewers and may leave you feeling enraged, considering the fact that Bundy actually amassed a cult following among women in the 70s, thanks to his charismatic personality.

Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich

This 2020 documentary will haunt you because of the scale of the crime and what a rich man with numerous powerful connections was able to get away with for a long time. Based on the infamous American financier Jeffery Epstein, the documentary starts off with visuals of a sunny and exotic house in Palm Beach, Florida. Your perception of the space immediately changes when numerous survivors, who were sexually abused as a minor, recount their ordeal.

Another colleague of mine who watched the crime documentary agreed that the site of a massage table became nauseating after viewing the series. Epstein may be dead, but many other perpetrators associated with him, remain on loose - a fact that is enough to give you sleepless nights.

Views expressed are the author's own.