9 Serial Killers Stories Based On Reality

Although crimes, murdering, in particular, are capable of letting fear seep into the hearts of the public, people still enjoy watching thrilling movies that are all about murder and torture. Those scenes full of cruelty have always been electrifying to watch. And, we all know such stories get scarier as soon as we know that they are based on true stories, but we still enjoy them anyway. Probably, the reason behind our enjoyment is the fact that we feel safe, for we are tucked away behind the screen, but what if we are not as far as we believe we are? In the end, the story shown on the big screen has once taken place! So maybe we are not that far after all.

Let’s take a look at this list that features some of the real-life serial killers whose stories made it to the big screen. Read and enjoy that quirky shiver being sent down your spine.

Ivan Milet

You probably have not heard of the name Ivan Milet, but if you are aware of the movie “Wolf Creek,” you definitely know who Mick Taylor was. Well, Mick Taylor was the name of the character depicted by John Jarratt in the movie; however, the real-life murderer’s name is Ivan Milet.

Milet’s crimes lasted for five years, from 1989 to 1993. He used to set camps up in the wild where he used to invite his victims and roast marshmallows with them. Right after that light picnic, he would send them to their graves by stabbing and shooting them in their heads for various times. Before he got arrested, he managed to kill 7 people. The police actually found their bodies and some of them were headless! However, all the bodies were found with their hands tied behind their backs and facing the ground.

Thank goodness, the criminal is still in jail. Above and beyond, he is probably going to rot in jail, for he is not expected to be released anytime soon, or ever. He is serving seven consecutive sentences in an all-out security jail besides eighteen years without a conditional release.

Richard Speck

Remember Richard Speck from the movie Chicago Massacre? Yes, unfortunately, that terrible guy had once existed on this planet. In the movie, Corin Nemec starred as a perverted criminal. In 1966, Speck managed to murder 8 young women in their college dorm right after raping and torturing them. Such unmerciful people seem to be destined to a not-so-happy ending, and so was Richard Speck’s ending. Not only was he locked up in jail for as long as he lived, but he also died there of a heart attack.

Jeffery Dahmer

Doesn't that last name ring a bell? Yup, he is that guy from the movie Dahmer. The ghastly Jeffery Dahmer was a real-life serial killer. The role in the movie was played by Jeremy Renner. Dahmer was a rapist, murderer, and a guy with cannibalistic features. That is why he was known as the Milwaukee Cannibal, for he admitted to having eaten the hearts and livers of some of his victims. He was responsible for the disfigurement of 17 boys and men. His prey were always gays that he used to stalk them either in gay nightclubs or around town; he had his own ways in enticing them to go home with him and, sadly, they usually went, unaware of the trap that was waiting for them. The gruesome Cannibal was known for performing merciless sexual experimentations on his victims, for he used to mutilate their organs right after having sex with them. The police also found body parts and skulls present in his apartment and, after being captured, he revealed the cannibalistic behaviors that were performed on his victims.

Needless to say, someone with such attitudes and behaviors is surely expected to be mentally ill and; in fact, Dahmer was found to have been diagnosed with psychotic disorders during his early life; on the other hand, the opposite was surprisingly proven during his trial.

Christian Longo

The story of the dreadful serial killer, Christian Longo, made it to the big screen through the movie entitled “True Story”.

The role was played by the star James Franco. Longo’s series of murders reached four people and, shockingly, they were all members of his own family. Christian Longo’s first crime was murdering his own wife. He strangled her along with their 2-year-old daughter, placed them into suitcases before he deserted them into a marina near Newport. His other two victims were also his own children, Sadie and Zach. He filled pillowcases with heavy rocks, tied them to their ankles, and he threw them into Alsea Bay, leaving them to drown to death. Currently, he is convicted on a death row, waiting for his inevitable fate to take place.

The Zodiac Killer

We have left the title just resembling the name of the movie “Zodiac”, for no one knows, until now, the real name of this serial killer. In point of fact, no one is even aware of his, or her, identity. What had actually indicated the existence of a serial killer was the fact that there were 7 women and men were, every so often, found killed in the San Francisco Bay and the surrounding areas during the late ’60s and the early ’70s. Above and beyond, the mysterious criminal used to send puzzling notes in order to perplex the police.

There was a novel called Zodiac, written by Robert Graysmith and it was later adapted into a movie with the same title. The actors who starred in this movie were Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr, and Mark Ruffalo. Definitely, none of them played the role of the specified serial killer; the movie only records the crimes that had taken place as well as the cryptic notes that were sent. Until this very day, this poignant tale remains an unsolved mystery.

Edward Gein

Most probably, Edward Gein is the most famous serial killer in the world and that is because his brutal story had inspired many movie makers. His story has made it to Hollywood more than once and he became the world’s prominent serial killer of all times. What a bizarre way to stand in the hall of fame!

He was commonly known as Ed. His story is the reason that the big screen had offered us movies as great as Helter Skelter Fame, Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Psycho, and Silence of the Lambs. All the killers portrayed in those movies were profoundly inspired by Gein’s implausible crimes. Quite many stories for one person, right? And not a regular person too, he was a SERIAL KILLER.

Ed Gein started his bloody career from a very young age. His psychopath attitude was revealed in his obsession with collecting body parts of women that he had, personally, killed. Bizarrely, Ed found joy in robbing graves during his teenage years. It was expected that such an incongruous monster has had ordinary teenage years. And worse, he usually mutilated the bodies of his victims after their death. All of those hideous crimes had sent Ed into a lifetime sentence in the state mental hospital. It is said that, in 1984, he died of cancer at the age of 78.

John Wayne Gacy

Clowns are related to happiness and genuine laughs. It is true, but that was exactly how people got fooled. In the tale of John Wayne Gacy, clowns were as scary as ghosts could be. Gacy was actually one of the United States’ most horrendous serial killers; he was known as the Killer Clown. Not only was he a murderer, but he was also a pedophile; he sexually molested young boys and children. During the ’70s, 33 boys in Chicago went missing, but most of them were found buried beneath and around Gacy’s place; some of them were flung into a river.

What was actually scarier than the fact that Gacy was a merciless murderer is the fact that he was perceived in his town as an ideal inhabitant; he was loved by those who knew him as well. Gacy used to voluntarily work at a children’s hospital, disguised as a clown. And why would you think badly of someone who devoted himself to making children happy? Well, that is the most disturbing part; he was actually hiding in plain sight.

That electrifying tale of John Wayne Gacy was one of those who made it to Hollywood. The movie is titled Gacy and Mark Holton was the chosen star to play this role.

Aileen Carol Wuornos

With no means of stereotypes, most of the brutal crimes were, or are, performed by males. However, history had proven that women can be perps too; thanks to Aileen Carol Wuornos. She was a disturbed prostitute who turned into a serial killer, murdering seven men between 1989 and 1990. It was said that Aileen was traumatized by her mother’s abandonment of her during her childhood. She got inappropriately involved in sexual acts from a very young age. When the convicted murderer was caught, she claimed that the men she killed were only some attempts to defend herself against their sexual assaults; on the other hand, there was enough evidence to get her convicted and executed by lethal injection.

Wuornos’ story made it to the big screen through a movie entitled Monster. The role was played by the amazing actress, Charlize Theron. Not only was Aileen’s story captivating enough to make a thrilling movie, but it also the fact that the criminal was actually a woman was too shocking to believe for most people.

John Bunting

He has been called the leader of the pack of Australia’s ghastly criminals; John Bunting. That guy found joy in imposing the worst methods of torture on his victims; he strangled, shoot, and cuffed them. He used hammers, throttles, and thumb cuffs as tools for his gruesome killings along with cannibalism. Bunting believed that he was doing the world a favor by killing people, claiming that he was purging the world from its wastes; he actually considered human beings wastes. His killing extended for seven or eight years during the ’90s; he was able to take away the lives of 11 people during all of those years. Bunting managed to allure his victims into their traps. He was assisted by a younger guy who regarded Bunting as a father; the guy’s name is James Vlassakis.

When Bunting and Vlassakis were arrested, Vlassakis confessed that he had killed 4 people himself, including 2 of his own family members; stepbrother and half-brother. Later, eight of Bunting’s victims were found; their bodies were mutilated and soaked in acid containers that were hidden in a bank dome. Currently, Bunting is serving 11 consecutive sentences without the likelihood of any conditional release while Vlassakis is serving 4 consecutive sentences.

Be Careful Who You Put Your Trust Into…

Movies that ever depicted a serial killer have proven that those people are results of either a mental illness or a social trauma. However, hazardously, some of those people managed to convince everyone around that they were safe to be around when they actually never were.

Serial killers are not recognized immediately; they could be anyone. Who knows? One of them could possibly be your best friend in disguise, just waiting for the right moment to take you down.