Crime Library: A Website for True Crime Buffs

If you find yourself drawn to television shows like Criminal Minds, CSI (Las Vegas, New York and Miami), Close to Home, Forensic Files and Cold Case, you are bound to appreciate the Crime Library website. Crime Library is chock-full of thrilling true crime stories of today and yesteryear. This site is an excellent resource for old hat and aspiring writers of crime fiction as well. The true crime stories featured on this site are bound to get everyone's imagination rolling.

The Crime Library website is broken into categories such as serial killers, notorious murder cases, gangsters, outlaws, terrorists, spies and assassins. Each category is further broken up into subcategories. For example, under serial killers, there are categories such as most notorious, sexual predators, truly weird and shocking and partners in crime. The website features more recent unsolved crimes such as the Natalie Holloway case and older cases such as the Ted Bundy murders from the 1970's and even earlier cases from around the world. The latest criminal news is updated on the site daily.

Be forewarned, you may not get a good night's sleep for a few days after reading some of the truly horrific crime stories featured on this site. In fact, the site includes a warning stating, "Certain material on this site is graphic. It may disturb or offend some viewers." The cases that you watch on Criminal Minds and Close to Home do not compare to the gruesome reality of prolific and terrifying serial killers such as Richard Ramirez a.k.a. the Night Stalker (His nickname sounds like something straight out of a B movie, but the acts he committed are truly heinous and shocking). Once you read a story or two, you'll be double-checking the locks on your doors and windows before going to bed.

For each criminal featured, there are twelve to twenty pages devoted to the crimes committed by the perpetrator. Included in the stories are the backgrounds of the criminal's victims and the actual crimes committed against the victims. Pictures of the victims and perpetrators are included in the articles as well. What I find most fascinating is the biography from the criminal's early years. What circumstances from their youth led them down such a gruesome and demented path in life?

There is, also, a section on Crime Library devoted to criminal profiling and criminal psychology. Weren't those psychology classes some of the most absorbing classes in college? Now, I find myself profiling criminals on television and on the big screen. If there is a male criminal who is a sadistic, sexual deviant preying on young females, I boil it down to deep-rooted issues with some matriarchal figure in his life. Remember Norman in Alfred Hitchcock's classic movie Psycho?

At the very least, you will walk away from these scintillating stories of crime with more than a few safety tips. Along with its warning, the site also includes the following statement, "The Crime Library does not intend in any way to glorify crime or criminals. Rather, the site seeks to inform and educate the public." I have certainly learned a few things:

1. Never hitch hike
2. Don't help old men looking for lost puppies
3. Be wary of handsome men or young women with some physical ailment (wearing a cast or using crutches) asking for help
4. Not all people in uniform are real police officers
5. Stay away from people soliciting your help from a van.

While walking around a college campus, a good friend of mine practically jerked me away from what I thought to be just another innocuous looking vehicle on the campus parking lot. She said to me, "Didn't anyone ever teach you not to walk beside a van with its doors open… especially at night?" No, no one had ever taught me that. However, after reading a few stories from the Crime Library webiste, I am much more observant and aware of my surroundings and the steps that I need to take to prevent crime from happening to me.