The following article contains descriptions of graphic violence.
Some of the best serial killer TV shows on Netflix are factual documentaries or dramatic fiction. Many deal with murder mysteries, but fans seem to be particularly fixated on serial killers, their stories, and their psychology. Because of the rising interest in true crime and cold cases, series inspired by or meant to document real-life killers are popular. Each story is more fascinating than the next, and the streaming service has worked to help satiate the appetites of viewers who love the true crime genre with a wide selection of programming that fits the serial killer interest.
Viewers’ intense fascination with serial killers continues, and that translates to an ever-growing list of serial killer shows. Whether it’s a story about a real-life killer like the highly documented Ted Bundy, inspired by one, or a completely fictional tale, many seek out the content with fervor, sitting on the edges of their seats. Serial killer TV shows are one of the most binge-able types of shows there are, so it’s no surprise that there are always new titles to make up the best serial killer TV shows on Netflix, with many fascinating options in the genre.
30 The Chestnut Man (2021)
6 Episodes
The dark and brutal Danish serial killer show The Chestnut Man is a gripping series, but one that is not for the faint of heart. The series begins in the 1980s with the murder of an entire family, then jumps decades with a new eerie murder to contend with. The show follows two detectives in Copenhagen investigating the murder of a young woman whose body was discovered with a small figurine made of chestnuts.
The show is a dark and twisting mystery that connects to the crime of the past in some shocking ways. The series highlights the grim and haunting Danish crime show trend that has found an international audience on Netflix in recent years. It carries a foreboding tone throughout while also being gruesome in its violence, to the point that it might actually be too much for even those fans seasoned in serial killer shows.
29 Marcella (2016-2021)
3 Seasons, 24 Episodes
Marcella is another excellent British crime series that is as much about the investigation into the murders as it is about the troubled detective at the center of the story. Anna Friel stars as a detective who has stepped away from the job following her husband leaving her. She comes back into the game when an unsolved serial killer case is reignited with new victims.
Friel is especially good in the main role, creating a captivating her while showing her many flaws as well.
The idea of a detective obsessively hunting a killer is a tale that has been told many times, but Marcella finds new and exciting approaches to the familiar story. Marcella dealing with her personal struggles, her violent reputation, and her inability to let go of one possible suspect all contribute to the intense and gripping police procedural. Friel is especially good in the main role, creating a captivating her while showing her many flaws as well.
28 Inside The Criminal Mind (2018)
4 Episodes
For Netflix subscribers interested in criminology or the psychology behind criminal acts at all, Inside the Criminal Mind is a pretty fascinating watch. Each episode of the series spotlights a different type of criminal whose life becomes defined by what they do: crime lords, cult leaders, serial killers, etc. Only the first episode of the series highlights serial killers, so audience members don’t have to watch further if that’s all they’re interested in. It’s a broader examination of serial killers compared to some of the more detailed series on Netflix.
The documentary series was originally produced in Germany and released there before Netflix picked it up worldwide. What makes this a unique experience for true crime fans is that it really doesn’t feature specific killers in each episode. Instead, each episode focuses on a specific kind of crime and has a laundry list of criminals that it uses to reveal these topics. Fascinating episodes include a look at people “born to kill” and a view of the people who are in prison on life sentences.
27 The Playing Card Killer (2023)
3 Episodes
In 2003, a playing card left at a crime scene connected a string of murders across Spain, and the country was left in terror. The Netflix true-crime documentary The Playing Card Killer recounts the investigation of the crimes and includes interviews with journalists, police officers, investigators, and forensic psychiatrists to paint a full picture of the crimes and the search for the killer. The real-life story behind this chilling serial killer series on Netflix is that of Alfredo Galán, who actually turned himself in on July 3, 2003.
What makes this case so intriguing is that it wasn’t over after Galán confessed.
What makes this case so intriguing is that it wasn’t over after Galán confessed. The country remained embroiled in this tale of terror because no one knew his motivations, and this Netflix series seeks to figure out why he killed the six people during his murder spree. The downside to this three-part docuseries is that the information is thrown at the viewer at a very fast pace, making it hard to digest the huge volume. However, it’s still incredibly informative and offers many different points of view.
26 The Serpent (2021)
8 Episodes
A joint production between Netflix and BBCOne, The Serpent is inspired by real events but is a fictional account of the French serial killer Charles Sobhraj. Sobhraj murdered tourists in Thailand, particularly backpackers, in the 1970s. The eight-part miniseries chronicles the escalation of Sobhraj’s crimes from thieves and scam artists to serial murderer. It is also told in a nonlinear fashion with the audience seeing his crimes play out in the 1970s while also seeing an investigation taking place after the fact.
Though the pacing of the series is a little slow, it’s still one of the best serial killer shows on Netflix because of the stellar acting from Tahar Rahim in the leading role and Jenna Coleman as his accomplice. This series received mostly positive reviews, sitting at 70% on Rotten Tomatoes and Netflix picked it up for streaming in 2021.
25 Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer (2021)
3 Episodes
There are multiple series on Netflix that fall under the “Crime Scene” umbrella. 2021’s Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer highlights the killings that plagued Times Square in the 1970s. Specifically, the documentary series kicks off by explaining the finding of bodies in a motel room in Times Square in December 1979 and then unravels the circumstances behind the discovery, as well as the aftermath.
Those who participated in club events or worked the Square give their unique perspectives on what it was like when the deaths of sex workers at the hands of a potential serial killer became public knowledge.
The Crime Scene series stands out among true-crime shows that focus on serial killer investigations because they examine how a location and culture can actually help the perpetrators to hide their actions. Few documentaries take the same approach. There was a booming sex industry in Times Square in the 1970s, and those who participated in club events or worked the Square give their unique perspectives on what it was like when the deaths of sex workers at the hands of a potential serial killer became public knowledge.
24 Indian Predator: The Diary Of A Serial Killer (2022)
3 Episodes
While most serial killer documentaries focus on those in Europe or the United States, and the majority also investigate the same handful of serial killers, Indian Predator: The Diary Of A Serial Killer stands out both due to its location and subject — a modern-day killer in India. The documentary is framed around the disappearance of Dhirendra Singh, a journalist in India. The journalist’s death is the jumping-off point for the story of Raja Kolander, who is responsible for the deaths of at least 15 people and is suspected of cannibalism.
Where this Netflix serial killer show is unique is that it features an interview with Kolander himself. It remains incredibly rare to have a true-crime series speaking to the serial killer, although there are many series where common criminals will explain their side of the story. This different perspective helps to make this specific serial killer series on Netflix a darker look at the crimes, because it takes viewers inside the mind of a very dangerous and deadly man, and forces viewers to see things from his point of view.
23 Somebody (2022)
8 Episodes
Somebody is a fictional South Korean drama series that examines the possibility of a serial killer using modern technology to find his victims. In the series, a killer uses a social app to find his victims and ends up connecting with the app developer. The creator of the app just happens to be friends with a police detective investigating the case. A lot of modern crime stories have devoted at least one episode to how social media can play a role in criminal activity.
Somebody goes a step further by devoting the entire series to that idea, allowing it to be a much more detailed (though theoretical) approach to how technology can assist serial killers. This comes across as a series dedicated to the ideas that Black Mirror presented, as it shows the dangers of technology and the idea that someone can use information that people leave freely online to seek them out and kill them. While Somebody is a fictional South Korean drama, it is still a solid look at a very dangerous situation that could happen to anyone in the real world.
22 Slasher (2016- )
8 Episodes Per Season
The Netflix anthology series Slasher centers on a different story each season. While it originally premiered on Chiller, the first three seasons are available on Netflix, with the fourth available on Shudder. By allowing each season to focus on a different story it manages to cover many more bases than most serial killer shows on Netflix.
Each season takes the stereotypical setting and tropes of a slasher movie and brings a fresh story to it. The first is a small town with copycat killings from the main character’s past. The second is former camp counselors picked off after hiding a secret death. Season 3 features a killer taking revenge on those complicit in the death of a man the year before. Each season is an extended horror movie with a different kind of slasher serial killer.
21 Conversations With A Killer: Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes (2022)
3 Episodes
The Conversations With A Killer series, like the Crime Scene series, seeks to offer those interested in some of the most famous serial killer cases another look at historical cases they are already familiar with. The catch is that the series all use previously unreleased to the public audio files of interviews with the killers. Of course, the series doesn’t solely use audio files from Jeffrey Dahmer. It also features interviews with family members of victims and investigators, giving a complete picture of the cases.
Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes
goes deeper into the frightening mind of Dahmer than any other movie or documentary about the controversial figure.
This is a three-part series that goes through the arrest and confession and breaks down why this specific serial killer was not only one of the most infamous but one of the scariest in the nation’s history. Joe Berlinger, who also made the Conversation installments about Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy, leaves no stone unturned and Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes goes deeper into the frightening mind of Dahmer than any other movie or documentary about the controversial figure.
20 Conversations With A Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes (2022)
3 Episodes
Like The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes, this series features audio from interviews with John Wayne Gacy never released before. It allows the audience a window into who Gacy was beyond the true crime reports they might have read. The difference here is that Gacy is known by attorneys and investigators as a notorious liar, which means the audience has to go into his particular series with the understanding that a lot of the information in Gacy’s interviews is likely lies that investigators had to parse through.
The audience has to do the same, as much of the information that Gacy offers is clearly stories that he has made up to either misdirect the investigators or just to amuse himself. This is also one of the more disturbing and graphic of the Conversations series, as Gacy’s crimes were deplorable. However, it is also another success story for Netflix when bringing viewers into the head of serial killers to attempt to understand why they even exist.
19 Somewhere Between (2017)
10 Episodes
Somewhere Between is actually a remake of the Korean series God’s Gift: 14 Days. The series is more science fiction than true crime, but its mystery surrounds that of a serial killer. It’s a great concept for a series that involves a timeline reset for people who have knowledge of the future. A news producer’s daughter is the victim of a serial killer she’s been reporting on, and when her grief turns to tragedy, she finds her timeline reset to the week before her daughter’s death.
It provided a unique trip through a mystery where certain pieces were already known by the audience.
One of her only allies is a detective who experienced a similar reset. Though Netflix canceled the series after 10 episodes, it provided a unique trip through a mystery where certain pieces were already known by the audience. This serial killer series on Netflix also has some recognizable faces in the cast, with Paula Patton (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol) and Decon Sawa (Final Destination) as the two leads.
18 Dig Deeper: The Disappearance Of Birgit Meier (2021)
4 Episodes
This German documentary follows one very specific murder case. It’s interesting because the documentary focuses largely on the mistakes made in the initial investigation. When Birgit Meier disappears, the possibility exists that she might simply have vanished on her own, that her death is an isolated incident, or that she’s the victim of a serial killer.
Because the documentary reexamines all of those different avenues and the areas of the investigation in which mistakes were made, it allows the audience to see just how violent criminals can get away with their actions for a serious length of time. It’s a window into a different part of a serial killer investigation instead of strictly the path to cracking the case. In the real-life case, Birgit Meier disappeared in 1989 and the suspect, Kurt-Werner Wichmann, died by suicide after his arrest. It wasn’t until 2017 that Meier’s remains were found at a home where Wichmann lived.
17 Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields (2022)
3 Episodes
The Crime Scene series has become one of the best additions to Netflix’s serial killer shows. Another documentary, this particular series examines an area of Texas in which several bodies have been found. It’s an area that colloquially has become known as “the killing fields” because of the number of murder victims that have been hidden there.
The documentary doesn’t just follow one of those cases, but multiple cases of victims found in the fields. Each case, and where they go cold, or where they link up, is examined. Interviews occur with both investigators and those connected to the victims to give the audience a complete picture of the cases, making for a very thorough watch. This was also one of the best serial killer series on Netflix when it came to viewing hours, as it ended up as the number one docuseries of 2022 for the streaming giant with 23.88 million hours viewed (via Netflix).
16 The Confession Killer (2019)
5 Episodes
One of the best serial killer TV shows on Netflix is The Confession Killer, but it’s technically not even about a real serial killer. Back in the ’80s, Henry Lee Lucas confessed to murdering more than 200 people across the U.S. However, in a strange twist, it was determined that he was lying and was not, in fact, responsible for any of them. Another of Netflix’s many true-crime series, The Confession Killer looks at the events that led up to Lucas’ false confessions and examines the reasoning behind his actions.
It also includes interviews with a number of people in law enforcement and the media who worked on the case. The Texas Rangers investigating the case defended their work, but there were several instances where it was actually impossible for him to have committed several of the murders. He eventually said that all his confessions were a lie, except for killing his mother. The most horrifying thing about this documentary is that his confessions mean that many killers remained on the loose.
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15 The Raincoat Killer: Chasing A Predator In Korea (2021)
3 Episodes
Back in 2004, Yoo Young-chul was convicted of heinous crimes, including not only multiple murders, consisting mainly of sex workers and elderly wealthy women, but he also burned, mutilated, and even ate the livers of some. It is one of the most horrendous cases ever in South Korea, so it’s no surprise it got worldwide attention. Woo killed his first victim in 2003 and then killed 20 more before the authorities finally stopped him and put an end to his reign of terror.
Netflix’s The Raincoat Killer is a docu-series that runs through the story of Young-chul’s wrath throughout Seoul as well as the authorities and the hunt for the horrific killer. One of the best serial killer TV shows on Netflix, this case is particularly chilling as Young-chul’s methods are elaborately brutal. If anything holds this series back, it’s that the documentary spends too much time on psychological analysis and rushes through the actual investigations.
14 YOU (2018 – )
10 Episodes Per Season
What makes YOU’s Joe Goldberg so captivating is that, despite having killed and kidnapped multiple people, he believes that he is inherently good and that the person drove him to do what he did. Definitely one of the best fictional serial killer TV shows on Netflix, YOU makes this clear by giving viewers a glimpse into Joe’s inner thoughts via an ongoing internal monologue of him justifying his moves to himself.
Joe has an obsessive personality, and, when he finds the object of his affection and desire, it can make him do just about anything. As the show progresses, he gets worse and worse, and, even though Joe is a very disturbed individual, he manages to come across as charming and likable to others. In fact, YOU even manages to present thought-provoking quotes about love and life, both from Joe and other supporting characters.
13 The Ripper (2020)
4 Episodes
One of the best serial killer TV shows on Netflix is The Ripper, which covers the winding case of the Yorkshire Ripper in Britain, whose crimes are highly reminiscent of the infamous Jack the Ripper. Through the use of never-before-seen footage and a massive number of police interviews, The Ripper educates the audience on the serial killer case piece by piece, leaving not a crumb of information behind.
The docuseries covers everything about the Yorkshire Ripper case and its similarities to Jack the Ripper in exhaustive detail, including exactly how much manpower went into solving one of the most iconic cases in U.K. history. That being said, the four-part docuseries does move at an alarming pace, and some viewers can get lost along the way because of this and the sheer amount of information that’s being presented.
12 Memories Of A Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes (2021)
1 Episode
The gripping series Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes covers the infamous case of Scottish serial murderer Dennis Nilsen. Nilsen is a particularly gruesome figure, as he’s responsible for killing over 12 men and boys and attempting seven other murders. In addition to this, he was also a necrophile who would perform a bizarre ritual and then dispose of his victims’ remains by burning them or flushing them down the toilet.
The Nilsen Tapes is unique in that it combines interviews, archive footage, and accounts from people who actually knew Nilsen (who was played by David Tennant in Des) to paint an accurate picture of the serial killer’s psychology. Also, much like the Confessions series, this includes several audiotapes that Nilsen recorded from his prison cell, taking viewers into the mind of a serial killer.
11 The Sons Of Sam: A Descent Into Darkness (2021)
4 Episodes
Anyone familiar with the David Berkowitz case knows that he called himself the Son of Sam, confessing after capture to being a member of a satanic cult and calling the murders rituals. He pled guilty to at least eight shootings and killing six people in New York, qualifying him for serial killer status. His eerie defense is just one of the aspects of his crimes that have turned his killing spree into a captivating American crime moment.
In The Sons Of Sam: A Descent Into Darkness, movie star Paul Giamatti narrates as the voice of Maury Terry, a journalist who worked on the case for 40 years. But there’s an interesting angle to The Sons of Sam: Terry was convinced that Berkowitz did not act alone. This series explores his theories. Interestingly, director Joshua Zeman listed Terry himself as a victim of the Son of Sam because the case consumed his life.
Dubbed one of the best films and TV shows based on the Son of Sam murders.
