Aug 21, 2026 · 4 min listen · Last updated August 21, 2026
From storyflo. This is your daily audio brief. Here are today's top 6 true crime stories. Let's get into it. First, from CrimeReads (Literary Hub). Jess Lourey on Paul Michael Stephani and Writing a Novel Inspired by a Serial Killer.
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Daily True Crime Brief · August 21st
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Jess Lourey on Paul Michael Stephani and Writing a Novel Inspired by a Serial Killer
Serial killings have an outsize grip on the American imagination despite accounting for only one percent of homicides. Millions of us tune into podcasts like Crime Junkie and Morbid, binge documentaries like Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, devour books like Michelle McNamara’s I’ll Be Gone in the Dark. I think there’s an element of self-protection to the obsession. If we learn how the predators hunt, we might be able to keep ourselves safe. Plus, there’s the timeless appeal of hearing a scary story while you yourself are safe.
The Best Crimey Short Story Collections in Recent Years
I love a short story! And as a new mom, short stories are kind of all I can read right now. I love Jonathan Ames, and I just moved through The Double Life Is Twice as Good. And now I’m ready for more short crimey morsels that I can read in between feedings or with the baby in my arms. I’ve assembled a lot of newer short story collections, here, because we haven’t done a roundup of that kind of thing in a while. Some of the entries on this list are stone-cold crime collections, very classic.
Liv Constantine on Marriage Thrillers and Crafting Dangerous Relationships in Art
We’ve all heard the phrase “It’s always the husband” but in crime fiction it could just as easily be the wife. Dangerous marriages have long been fertile ground for thriller writers. Why? Because almost everyone can relate to domestic life in one way or another, making it easy to empathize with characters when the danger comes from inside the house. The motives are endless: greed, lust, jealousy, revenge, resentment. As Paul Simon put it, there are fifty ways to leave your lover and crime writers have found even more.
5 Page-Turning Wilderness Thrillers and Nature Novels
I’ve spent much of my career writing and editing nonfiction articles about people who venture into untamed terrain, so I’m drawn to bold and original descriptions of wild places. But the truth is that most nature writing fails to excite me, even the adventurous stuff, because it too often lacks the crackle of human conflict. Hero climbs menacing mountain, gets battered by storm, loses fingers to frostbite: No thanks. Hero climbs menacing mountain, gets stalked by maniac, loses fingers in knife fight: I’m in.
A mystery lover’s guide to what’s new to streaming this weekend. Yes, this is a superhero show, from DC Comics, featuring the Green Lantern, but really it’s a detective show, with two mismatched investigators at the center of the story, one a veteran, one a rookie, and there’s a small-town murder that points towards a much larger (in this case, world-threatening) conspiracy. Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler star, and the writing team that created the show is pretty damn impressive, too: Chris Mundy (Ozark), Damon Lindelof (The Leftovers), and Tom King.
Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. On Putting Together An Anthology of Indigenous Horror While the World Burns
MO: What’s one essential lesson for editors to know before putting together an anthology? TVA: Have a vision but be prepared to change it. The stories, like stories we write, sometimes change the ending on their own. SH: Trust your open call. With Never Whistle at Night and its successor, we’ve proven that some of the strongest fiction today is coming from open calls wherein emerging writers put everything they’ve got into a piece. Most Big Five anthologies rely on the same familiar names—and for good reason—with maybe a slot or two for newcomers.