There Will Soon Be Five New Movies Based On Books By OG True Crime Author Ann Rule

Great news for true crime aficionados: Five books written by Ann Rule, one of the genre's OG authors, are going to be made into Lifetime movies. 

Rule worked as a police officer for the Seattle Police Department before writing for the true crime magazine “True Detective” under the pen name "Andy Stack,” the New Yorker reported in 2015. She then went on to write more than two dozen New York Times bestsellers, including the 1980 true crime book “The Stranger Beside Me: The True Crime Story of Ted Bundy.”

That book detailed her strange friendship with serial killer Ted Bundy, whose murder spree she was already writing about before the killer's identity was known to the public. She had actually signed a book contract to investigate the series of then-unsolved murders in the Seattle area while working alongside Bundy at a suicide crisis call center. The two bonded and Rule became his confidant — although he definitely didn't tell her everything.

Several of her books, including “The I-5 Killer” about serial killer Randall Woodfield, have been adapted into movies. Now, there are five coming adaptations to be added to that list. 

“Danger In The Dorm,” “Mortal Danger,“ “Practice To Deceive,” “Bitter Harvest” and “A Murder to Remember,” which is adapted from her book “Empty Promises” are being added to Lifetime’s “Ripped from the Headlines” franchise, Lifetime announced in a Thursday press release.

A college campus becomes paralyzed with fear of a serial killer after an honor student is murdered in “Danger in the Dorm,” based on a true story.

“Mortal Danger” follows a flight attendant who falls in love with a violent man, whom she brings to justice.

A couple’s anniversary camping trip turns deadly in“A Murder to Remember.”

In “Practice to Deceive,” an island community freaks out after a local businessman is found dead following Christmas celebrations.

In “Bitter Harvest,” a doctor’s seemingly perfect life takes a terrible turn, resulting in both marital and familial ruin.

Even though Rule died in 2015, her legendary storytelling lives on. In addition to Rule’s influence, “females rule the upcoming Ann Rule productions in key writing and directing roles,” Lifetime states in their release. Three of the five films announced were written by women.

Female directors make up 80% of these five titles, they note. Ashley Williams, who recently starred as Shanann Watts in Lifetime’s “Chris Watts: Confessions of a Killer”  will make her film directorial debut with "Practice to Deceive.”