Crime fiction and psychological thrillers are the best sellers nowadays. Why do we read crime and psychological thrillers?
Crime fiction and psychological thrillers are the best sellers nowadays.
Why do we read crime and psychological thrillers?
36 Answers
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It’s psychological. .. all about the anticipation of the plot unravelling and the twists and turns ☺
because I love it!
Because they make my life seem not so bad ?
Because readers like to feel clever and predict the plot or motives
Because people get dead. 🙂
Lordy, I don’t know why I do it, but I am hooked! Long gone are the days when I could enjoy a Danielle Steel. I worry that I may have a deep, dark, twisted character, but in real life I am an animal lover who just wants a quiet life, and it will be written on my gravestone “she didn’t do spontaneous!”
I have always loved mystery novels. I have read different genres over the years, but crime and especially psychological thrillers are my favourite.
I did start a blog discussion this – particularly inviting discussion with ladies of the genre.
https://medium.com/in-as-many-words/do-women-want-more-violence-and-gore-e480ec43eaf3
I just love guessing and wondering in the hope that I have got it right. I’m super proud of myself when I get the baddie right though. Just call me Sherlock ??
And the other times you think,why did I not see that coming?
@Susan yup!
I guess it is immersing into that parralel universe
I just like being immersed in the whole thing. I would have loved to have been a detective doing exactly what I am reading about!
Not sure I could have coped with being a detective in some scenarios
I agree, I’d need to be a Private Detective so I could choose which cases to take!
As Betsy said – injustice is normally put right in these novels. I think people feel powerless when they look at all the misery in the world. In the psychological suspense, the baddie gets his/her comeuppance – well they do in mine anyway. The reader then feels a sense of satisfaction.
I did read that the injustices in the real world where bad people get escape justice for bad things whereas crime fiction, justice is usually seen to be done. One way or another
In case I’m ever tempted to murder someone , at the moment I’ve got some good ideas ?
I love a mystery or psychological thrillers, they can be so exciting.
Because, in reality, I have a dark, twisted, depraved mind?! X
What Heather said ?
Because it is our nature to be curious and observe. Plus we feed off the emotions of other’s bad fortune. See “reality tv” or public hangings. They used to sell souvenirs and food at public executions as it was free public entertainment.
Crime thrillers give us that hit of sating our curiousity while giving us that voyeuristic sensation of witnessing the misfortunes of others.
But I am a cynical old cow! ???
I find it kind of fascinating, how devious and twisted people are.?
Entertainment in a warped sense. We know we will never do these things that happen in the book but it intrigues us and the thrill of catching the bad guy is always wonderful
There’s an 18th century Gothic short story entitled ‘On the Pleasure Derived from Objects of Terror’ and also look at the horror and cruelty of folk and fairy tales. They fulfilled that basic human need to experience the worst without really experiencing it. Modern crime and thriller books do the same.
I think psych thriller is such a broad range of topics all in one book. I love to people watch and enjoy the warped dynamics of family, friends, neighbours and work mates add in a little romance, a missing person and a dead body, sounds perfect ??
I love people watching and trying to work people out and this way I get to do it without staring too much at people and being a weirdo in the real world, or less of one!
And maybe to see how easy it is to be what is seen as ‘normal’ by some and then actually doing the most depraved acts on others.
In a safe environment and some days maybe I am just jealous that characters get to live out what I feel at times…
To understand the human condition and feel less alone with our problems or make them pale into insignificance.
To read and try to get a grasp on social conditions of the day, to delve into the mind and gain insight into behaviors, get insight into our own issues.
Because I hate to read soppy, slushy books x
To be shocked, surprised and intrigued. To identify bits of ourselves in the perpetrators and those who catch them?
It’s reassuring that someone, somewhere is solving problems.
Physiological books have more twists and turns. I only used to read crime. But have learnt you don’t have to have a murder to make a good book.
I actually wrote an entire blog post about this! It’s fascinating thinking about how ‘normal ‘ people like us enjoy reading about such horrible stuff…
https://angelomarcos.wordpress.com/2017/08/18/psychological-thriller-and-crime-fiction-lovers-investigation/
Like the mystery of it. Trying to work out why the victim was murdered and who did it
We love to know about strange and bizarre things pertaining to behavior, mind and all other things. <3