10 True Stories Behind Famous Horror Movies
6. Zodiac
For reasons many psychologists and criminal experts have theorised about, America saw a shocking rise in serial killers from the late 1960s and through to the 1980s. This is the time when you get your Bundys, Dahmers and Gacys. Why are those names more well-known than the Zodiac? Well, aside from how gruesome their crimes were, that’s largely a result of the fact that Zodiac outlasted all of them. In fact, to this day, we have no idea who the Zodiac Killer was.
Operating from the late '60s to the early '70s, Zodiac has five confirmed victims to his name but claimed to have killed a total of 37. The Zodiac also varies his MO; shooting some victims whilst stabbing others. He had a tendency to murder young couples, although not all of his victims were couples. For example, he claims to have been behind the killing of a lone cab driver.
Most notably, the killer sent a series of boastful letters to the press in the local area, often threatening to kill more if they didn’t run the letters in the papers. He also sent a series of cryptographic ciphers, only one of which has ever actually been definitively solved.
The movie version was directed by David Fincher and tells the story from the point of view of the press who received the letters. The film helped bring more attention to the crime but, after all this time, the likelihood is that the Zodiac Killer will never be caught.