Someone is Trying to Kill Me

I sleep with a kitchen knife by my bed. If I hear a noise in the night, I creep out of my bedroom in a low, crouched position, so if someone swings an ax or something, I’ll avoid it and strike first with the knife. I always check the backseat of my car for masked intruders who hope to cut my throat or choke me out with a guitar string. When I walk with my girlfriend, I make sure she’s on my left side so I can keep my right hand free to jab a key into the mugger’s eye. Am I paranoid? Um, yes. It all started with my love affair with the greatest shows on earth: Cold Case Files and Forensic Files.

Both shows retell the stories of how detectives and forensic experts worked together to solve or attempt to solve homicides through science. The topic sounds simple enough. What could be scary about science? You have some DNA, a murderer, and then you link it together—end of story. However, these shows keep viewers watching through a barrage of imagery, sound, and narration that leaves people paralyzed with fear (especially if you watch the shows alone and at night).

The imagery of Cold Case Files and Forensic Files are equally graphic. I have seen bloody feet sticking out of a bush, half of what looks to be a head that was smashed in by a rock, a dead woman’s mouth covered in maggots and other bugs (which later helped reveal the killer), a child’s bloody sock and nothing else left in a cornfield, and have even seen a man’s basement dungeon where some sick son of a bitch kidnapped and raped women for months at a time. Kids go out to play and never come back. Prostitutes turn up dead in the woods. Old people are beaten to death and robbed in their homes. Women sleep soundly only to wake up with a knife to their throat while a man with a flashlight in his mouth begins to viciously rape them.

The background music adds another thick layer of fear. Brilliantly composed, each musical score provides a menacing undercurrent while the views look at things like the Polaroid photo of a suspected serial killer or the van that was used in a kidnapping. Both shows also use what’s called a “sting”. Right as the scariest image pops up, a louder, more dissonant chord is played to cause the viewer to jump or tense up. This is done in every single horror movie. The Exorcist is filled with stings, especially when they show a close up of the demonized girl’s face. Forensic Files uses a few more stings than Cold Case Files, but Cold Case has probably the most effective way to crank up the tension of the show. During a scene transition, the viewer sees only a black screen for less than a second. Then, the white title appears. It fades in as a three-note, tense arpeggio is played. The viewer becomes conditioned to dread this sound. This is when they either find the body or discover that the killer has struck again…and this time, it’s a little closer to home (or something of that nature). Say they’re looking for the killer in St. Paul. Then that blank screen appears followed by that spooky noise. The title says “Rochester, MN”. It makes your stomach drop and anticipate the next scene. You’re thinking “oh no, now he’s in Rochester.” Very effective.

The icing on the cake is both shows narrators. Bill Curtis narrates Cold Case Files. He is the voice of authority knows the perfect spots where to pause for dramatic effect and when to lower his voice to indicate something like, “(high voice) But this time, the east side rapist broke into the wrong house…(low voice) the house of a police officer.” That’s damn good stuff.

While Bill Curtis delivers the goods, he seems to let the imagery and sound do most of the work. Peter Thomas, the narrator for Forensic Files, might be the scariest thing about that show. He is considered a legend in the voice talent community. He brings the show to a fevered pitch with his pacing. He starts out soft and slow and increases his speed and volume as the magnitude of the crime is described in greater detail. It is his voice I hear in my head as I creep through my house after hearing a noise in the basement. “Mike then went to check on the noise he heard in the basement. He thought it was just the dog, but when he found his pet’s throat slashed at the bottom of the stairs, he knew that he was in for more than he bargained for.”

Take a quick look at Forensic Files and pay special attention to what you hear.


Here is Cold Case Files. Again, pay special attention to what you hear.


The purpose of these shows is to create fear and cure that fear by the end of the show. The fear keeps people interested and the closure of solving the crime keeps people from being too scared to watch again. I’ve seen pretty much every episode of these shows and it has let my imagination run wild. Although I’d like to blame these shows for my hair trigger fight or flight response, I think what shows like these really do is bring it out more. If you’re a little bit on the jumpy side, Forensic Files and Cold Case Files will not help soothe you by any means. It will confirm your paranoia. However, I think crime shows like these do wear down my logic after a while. I know that the statistics are insanely low that I will be attacked in my home or car, or be raped in my bed by a masked stranger, but after watching enough of these shows at night, it is safe to say that I am more fearful than I would be if I never watched a single episode. But then again, I would be far less entertained.