There are few things that get our pulses racing quite like a good horror movie, full of things that go bump in the night and a bad guy who will seemingly never die. But the only thing scarier than a made-up monster is a real one, as true crime documentaries have shown us again and again.
And if you're a lover of the true crime genre, we've got good news: Peacock is home to countless bone-chilling docuseries and non-fiction thrillers. But if you need help narrowing that sinister selection, that's where Tom's Guide comes in: We've selected a trio of terrifyingly true and carefully researched accounts of some of America's most notorious killers, documentaries that will leave you shocked, appalled and, yes, hooked.
Here are three true crime docs on Peacock to watch if you never want to sleep again. We warned you!
'Making Manson'
He's arguably America's most mythologized murderer, but in this three-part docuseries by Billie Mintz ("Selena & Yolanda: The Secrets Between Them"), the psyche of infamous criminal and cult leader Charles Manson is frightfully deconstructed via over 100 hours of previously unreleased recorded interviews and conversations with the man himself.
In these jailhouse tapes, Manson — who died at 83 years old at a Kern County hospital in 2017 whilst serving multiple life sentences for orchestrating the brutal 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders — details the childhood trauma and schoolboy cruelty he experienced as a youth, as well as the early crimes and psychological motivations that would lead to that late-'60s murder spree. The doc also sees former members of the so-called Manson Family listen to Manson's testimony and grapple with their own roles in the group's dark legacy.
Stream "Making Manson" on Peacock now
'The Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets'
Chilling in its recency, "The Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets" recounts the horrific crimes and conviction of Long Island architect Rex Heuermann, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole in June 2026 for strangling and killing eight women between 1993 and 2010, disposing of their remains along the coast of eastern New York.
The case alone is haunting enough, but the three-part Peacock Original docuseries adds an extra layer of horror by including exclusive commentary from Heuermann's own kin, including his estranged wife Asa Ellerup, their daughter Victoria and stepson Christopher, who were all allegedly unaware of the dark double life the family patriarch was leading, as well as the fact that many of those killings happened directly inside their Massapequa Park home.
Stream "The Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets" on Peacock now
'The Idaho Student Murders'
Based on the true crime podcast "The Idaho Massacre," this gripping 90-minute documentary focuses on the pre-trial case of Bryan Kohberger, a twentysomething criminology student accused of brutally stabbing to death four University of Idaho coeds — Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin — in their off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, in November 2022.
With Kohberger facing four first-degree murder charges as well as the death penalty for the heinous crimes, the Catherine Park-directed doc delves into Kohberger’s past and possible motivations and also features emotional and unprecedented interviews with Kaylee Goncalves’ brother and friends of the victims.
Stream "The Idaho Student Murders" on Peacock now
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