Ted Bundy is perhaps one of the most interesting minds of the 20th century. Having successfully escaped custody twice then represented himself in court, he was the modern anti-hero whom many would-be victims were enamoured by. But society’s obsession with the vicious killer continues.

The questionably titled Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile debuted at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday. However, Netflix documentary Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes has created a buzz the likes of which a Hollywood producer could only dream of. However, through Bundy’s narration, have we allowed him to posthumously romanticise or even rewrite history? To help you decide, here are 13 facts about Ted Bundy which the Netflix documentary neglected to tell us.

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13) He would engage in necrophilia with his victims’ corpses, often days after they were killed

The documentary brushes over Bundy’s obsession with his victims’ bodies. However, he would often return to the woods to violate them even after they had started to decompose. He would sleep next to them by night and watch them rot by day. He often removed the heads with a hacksaw so that he could admire them in the comfort of his own home, before throwing them back into the wilderness for animals to eat. He said he burned one of the heads in his then-girlfriend's fireplace.

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12) He did more than murder 12-year-old Kim Leach

Kim Leach, one of Bundy’s last victims, stands out as something of an anomaly. However, no matter how much meaning or methodology is ascribed to his murders, they were merely an outlet for his brutal hatred of women. Desperate for a sufficient thrill, he kidnapped, raped and murdered 12-year-old Kim Leach before leaving her body under a pig pen.

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11) Nobody knows the whereabouts of his child

Carole Ann Boone was Bundy’s old friend - who reappeared in his life after his capture. A vocal advocate of his cause, she protested his innocence and helped to support his case in any way she could. As the documentary shows, during his cross-examination of her as a character witness, he asks if she will marry him and she says she will. All seemingly pre-rehearsed and rather awkward, a round of applause was notably absent. However, having married Bundy while he was in custody, she then bore a child which was thought to have been conceived with Bundy, again while he was in custody. But when he finally admitted his guilt, she wanted nothing more to do with him. There were reports that Boone passed away in 2005 at the age of 58. However, these were unsubstantiated.

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10) It is rumoured that he would eat parts of his victims

Tired of rape, murder and necrophilia, it is rumoured that Bundy would also eat parts of his victims - so that they would be a part of him. These kinds of gruesome details led authorities to question whether such a civilised and well-spoken man could actually perpetrate such heinous crimes.

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9) He would often pretend to be injured to gain people’s trust

The documentary series briefly mentions plaster of Paris being found in Bundy’s car, but never explains why. He would use crutches, slings and - of course - plaster of Paris to appear to be injured and in need of help when carrying books. When a victim offered to help, he would lure them into his car, beat them and handcuff them to the car’s frame. They couldn’t even try to get out - as he had removed the interior passenger door handle.

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8) In the early 1970s, he worked for a suicide hotline

Bundy worked with author Ann Rule at a crisis call centre in Washington. Here, the man who would go on to take dozens of lives was in fact saving them - or perhaps just using this position of power to toy with people? Following a number of murders in Seattle, a photo fit appeared to show a man similar to Bundy. As his girlfriend Meg Anders would later do, Rule contacted police. Both his name and his car also matched the information police were publicising. In both cases, the authorities considered whether it could be Bundy but decided that the killer couldn’t possibly be such a clean-cut and upstanding citizen.

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7) The “Brides of Bundy” were all modelled on one woman...

Many experts believe Bundy never thought he was good enough for his college sweetheart, who he refers to as “Stephanie Brooks”. She came from a rich background and excelled at the University of Washington, where she met, went out with and later broke up with Bundy. It is widely held that this was due to his lack of ambition. Yet many of Bundy’s experiences were shaped by her and, in fact, he originally enrolled to study Chinese. Chillingly, his obsession manifested itself in his victims or so-called “Brides of Bundy”. Almost all of his victims were college-age, brown-haired women with a centre parting.

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6) ...And he joined Governor Daniel J. Evans' re-election campaign in order to humiliate her

Using his knowledge of law, Bundy spent years getting close to Republican politicians and eventually worked on Governor Daniel J. Evans' re-election campaign. However, this was all in an attempt to get back with Stephanie Brooks. Yet once Bundy had successfully rekindled their relationship, he promptly dumped her. Soon after, he began his first spate of killings.

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5) Bundy removed the passenger seat from his Volkswagen Beetle...

Remember all that 1970s stock footage of VW Beetles in the documentary series? Other than the fact that the cars were often the wrong colour, they also always had two front seats. In reality, Bundy actually removed the passenger seat so that it would be easier to hide bodies. This was one of the reasons he was pulled over, during a routine traffic stop, after his failed attack on Carol DaRonch.

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4) ...Which made its way into a museum

Decades after Bundy was put to death, the infamous VW bug appeared in a museum in the country’s capital. Despite the fact that a number of murders are thought to have taken place in the vehicle, the 1968 Volkswagen Beetle was unveiled as part of Washington D.C.'s National Museum of Crime & Punishment in 2010. Roped-off with a chain made of handcuffs, it was something of an errant move. Furthermore, its inclusion in the museum is thought to have significantly contributed to a “murderabilia” trend - with collectors spending thousands of dollars on objects related to famous murders. The museum closed in 2015 over a lease dispute. The car was moved to the Alcatraz East Crime Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, where it can still be viewed today.

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3) He practised for murder by picking up women then letting them go

Treating homicide like a sport, Bundy would train in his “off season” by charming women then luring them towards his car. It is only by practise that he became so confident speaking to attractive women and convincing them that he was harmless. Little did they know, on another day, his whimsical-looking VW bug would have been their tomb.

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2) He became a million-dollar brand

Dozens of people made millions of dollars off of Bundy, whether it was books, films, interviews or trading in his effects. Author and friend Carole Ann Rule released the bestseller The Stranger Beside Me and Rhonda Stapley, who claims that she too is a Bundy survivor, aggressively promoted her book I Survived Ted Bundy: The Attack, Escape & PTSD That Changed My Life. Meanwhile, the budget alone for Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile (starring High School Musical heartthrob Zac Efron) will be several dozen million. However, the one person who didn’t make money off the Ted Bundy brand was Bundy himself.

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1) He may have killed many more than 30 people

Thirty is the official number of Bundy’s murder victims but when FBI agents suggested a total tally of 36, Bundy told them: "Add one digit to that, and you'll have it." FBI profiler Robert Keppel wrote that "[Ted] and I both knew [the number] was much higher" while Reverend Fred Lawrence, the clergyman who administered Bundy's last rites, stated: “I don't think even he knew ... how many he killed, or why he killed them".

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Bundy is still widely considered a gentleman killer. However, this view appears to neglect what he did behind closed doors - and in secluded wooded areas. What must be remembered about Bundy is not that he was a superstar or a mastermind but that he was mentally ill.

He was, of course, also a great manipulator - and it’s here that there are lessons to be learned. “I’d have loved to have you practise in front of me, ” Judge Edward D Cowart told him during his trial. An unqualified lawyer accused of multiple murders, that Bundy was able to represent himself is plainly ridiculous. “I don’t have any animosity to you, I want you to know that,” Judge Coward told him in his parting statement. Clearly, that Bundy was able to continue to charm those around him shows just how blind the public were to the reality behind the smile.

Three decades ago, on January 24th, 1989, Ted Bundy was electrocuted at Florida State Prison at the age of 42. His death was ordered three times in two separate trials, and his loss was mourned by very few - least of all the families of the 30+ women and girls he murdered throughout the 1970s.

Since then, he has gone down in history as one of the most notorious serial killers of all time, and has subsequently been the subject of multiple films and television shows.

Now, in 2019 - 30 years to the day of his execution - Netflix are releasing a new documentary on the infamous man, and it looks positively terrifying.

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Titled, Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, the documentary interviews people who knew or had contact with Bundy, and attempts to delve into the psyche of a man who took the lives of so many innocent young women. At points, Bundy's own testimony and interviews are used, meaning that viewers can "Get inside the twisted mind of America's most notorious serial killer in his own words."

The series will only be four episodes long, but will give in-depth accounts of Bundy's crimes and subsequent trials. From the trailer, it is also clear that Conversations With a Killer will explore the ways in which Bundy came to be something of a pop culture sensation at the time he was on trial for murder, and the extent to which he was idolised by many women who believed he couldn't possibly have committed such heinous acts.

In fact, it is fairly well-known that Bundy got married to Carole Ann Boone while he was on trial, and she testified on his behalf when he was accused of multiple murders.

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The series was directed by Emmy-winning documentarian Joe Berlinger, who also recently directed Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. This feature-length film is also about Bundy, but focuses more on the killer's relationship with his  girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer, a divorcée from Utah.

Kloepfer and Bundy met in 1969, and dated before the serial killer struck for the first time. Kloepfer always maintained that she thought Bundy was normal at first (and, indeed, the new docuseries shows that many women fawned over him and seriously believed he was innocent), but she eventually discovered his secret. Nevertheless, she stayed with him during his killing spree, and remained loyal to him during the first part of his imprisonment.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile stars Zac Efron as the killer.

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It is not confirmed yet, but the title of the new Netflix series suggests that the subscription service might be planning on investigating other serial killers or criminals using the same format - if this Ted Bundy feature is a success, of course.

Check out the series when it airs on the 24th... but maybe consider sleeping with the hallway light on afterwards.

Thirty years after his execution via electric chair, serial killer Ted Bundy has captured the country's attention once again, thanks to a riveting documentary on Netflix. In the four-part series Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, viewers learn how the American Jack The Ripper killed thirty young women (at least), engineered two dramatic prison escapes and turned his criminal trial into a must-see daily spectacle.

Bundy was a successful killer partially because of the time. Between '74 and '78, DNA evidence wasn't a thing and the FBI had no national database. As his murder spree spread across seven states, local police departments weren't in the habit of comparing information. Then, when they finally did notice connections in the cases, communication was glacially slow, due to the lack of internet and cell phones. It's hard to see how a Ted Bundy would thrive in the modern era.

In addition, Bundy was successful because of his charm and good looks. As a conventionally attractive young man, he persuaded many of his victims to accompany him to secluded locations. At Lake Sammamish State Park, he spun a story about needing help unloading a sailboat; at a Utah shopping mall he pretended to be a police officer; people believed him, and trusted him despite being a complete stranger.

Then, at his televised Florida murder trial, Bundy represented himself, creating reality TV before reality TV. To make the event even more bizarre, infatuated young women flocked to the courtroom, trying to catch the charismatic serial killer's eye. They even attempted to pass him love notes through his defense attorney. (She declined, much to their disappointment.) We've all heard the cliché that women love bad boys, but how could anyone love an unrepentant rapist, kidnapper and serial killer?

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Well, the more things change, the more things stay the same. After watching Conversations with a Killer, a new generation has discovered Ted Bundy, and is commenting on his hotness. In response, Netflix begged viewers to stop thirsting after such an awful human being.

"I've seen a lot of talk about Ted Bundy’s alleged hotness and would like to gently remind everyone that there are literally THOUSANDS of hot men on the service — almost all of whom are not convicted serial murderers," the streaming service tweeted.

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"But he's hot though," one Twitter user argued, to which Netflix replied "where," and he answered, "He was hot in that electric chair." Okay, so that was pretty funny, but you don't have to dive deep on Twitter to find people legitimately lusting after Ted Bundy. (And it probably doesn't help that Hollywood hottie Zac Efron is playing him in an upcoming biopic.)

Well, Ted Bundy stans, let Netflix's tweet be a splash of cold water on your loins. You know that just before his execution, this dude confessed to killing thirty young women, mutilating their corpses and committing necrophilia, right? If you're going to thirst after a Bundy, let it be Al Bundy from Married With Children. He once scored four touchdowns in one high school football game - now that's sexy!

For true crime fans around the world, there's never been so much interest in Ted Bundy. Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, a documentary series examining a number of never-before-heard interviews, is currently airing on Netflix, and a biopic entitled Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, starring Zac Efron, is due to hit the big screen soon.

The infamous serial killer, whose full body count has never been fully established, has never quite managed to leave the public consciousness, and much of that is down to Bundy's powers of charm and manipulation.

He was capable of making young and vulnerable women trust him implicitly, drawing them in and cutting off their escape, before viciously butchering them. However, not all of Bundy's victims are dead. There are women out there who are a different kind of victim; people who escaped his clutches but were left traumatised by the experience.

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Now, more than 40 years after his conviction, an ex-girlfriend of Bundy's is speaking out about how she narrowly avoided being killed by him. In a recent interview with Daily Mail TV, a 71-year-old woman, (who wishes to remain anonymous), discussed how she met Bundy when he moved to Utah in 1974 and how they dated for "several months" while living in the same building.

The woman stated:

"I'll never forget one night I stayed overnight and I woke up in the middle of the night and I said, 'Ted, where are you? What are you doing?' And he was through in the kitchen and he said, 'Oh just looking at my knives.' I thought about that later and I thought, 'Wow, I just escaped being killed. Except that he knew better than to do it in his own apartment.'"

She added:

"There was a girl who disappeared on Halloween night and was killed. And on Halloween night he came to my apartment when I was asleep because my door was partially opened because the rug was preventing it from closing. I was in bed and he came in and said, 'I want to tell you that your door is opened and unlocked.' He woke me up. And I said, 'Oh thanks Ted,' you know. He did a good deed and he also killed someone that night and I didn't notice a thing."

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"Who would have thought I'd be reading about Ted in the news again after all these years? All of a sudden I'll hear the name and it seems so weird to realize just how long ago it all was because it seems to have not gone away ...  It had an impact. For a couple of years. I found it hard to trust people, if I was out I would be fearful, I'd have another drink to deal with it. I was very naïve when I met him. But once you've lost that innocence, once it's gone, you can never get it back."

Ted Bundy was executed by electric chair at 7.16 am EST on January 24, 1989. He was 42 years old.

While it seems like forever ago we heard that Zac Efron's Ted Bundy film, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, was coming to Netflix, it's come around pretty fast, as it's dropping tonight!

So if you've finished bingeing all of Netflix's other treats, May 3rd is the day to get excited all over again.

Get a sneak preview of Zac Efron's chilling portrayal right here:

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Last January, Netflix released Conversations With A Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, a documentary that ignited new interest in one of America's most notorious serial killers. During the 70's, Bundy killed at least thirty women in seven states, mostly college students between the ages of 25 and 15. The police eventually caught Bundy, although he proved hard to contain, escaping from prison twice. His nationally televised trial captured the world's attention, and a raucous crowd cheered outside prison while he was executed by electric chair in 1989.

Bundy was a monster who raped and murdered his victims, then mutilated their bodies and committed necrophilia. However, he broke the stereotype of villains looking ugly, as he was an attractive, charming young man. Young women trusted him, believing his deceitful stories about needing help to move, and willingly accompanied him to a secluded location where they were killed. Even during his trial, young women mobbed the courtroom, wrote him love letters and confessed to big crushes.

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Now, Netflix is doubling down on Ted Bundy projects with the release of the film 'Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.' (The title comes from the judge's remarks about Ted Bundy's murders while sentencing him to death.) In the biopic, Zac Efron plays Ted Bundy, which is a departure for a heartthrob actor normally known for comedies and musicals. But in the chilling trailer, which just dropped today, you can see that it's perfect casting.

Both the documentary and the biopic have sparked criticism about romanticizing Ted Bundy. In fact, in the wake of  Conversations With A Killer's release, Netflix warned viewers not to thirst after a despicable serial killer. "I've seen a lot of talk about Ted Bundy’s alleged hotness and would like to gently remind everyone that there are literally THOUSANDS of hot men on the service — almost all of whom are not convicted serial murderers," tweeted the company.

And here's the dramatic teaser:

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Similar concerns grew following the release of the teaser trailer for Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile. During an interview with Variety, Efron responded to the backlash, saying, "Ted had this thing about him, this magic Ted Bundy facade. He has charm... It wasn't until after he fully admitted to everything that most of the world really believed Ted was even capable of these things. He pulled the wool over a lot of people's eyes."

"Initially, I had reservations about playing a serial killer," he continued.  I've seen people make horror films like this before... But] This movie was really about a human being, somebody that perhaps I would have been friends with - and a love story from a very unique perspective. I’ve never seen that before. It’s intriguing to me. I think it’s more psychological and even more kind of a mindf**k."