Forensics and Fairy Tales: Murderous Motifs and Mythic Patterns in Jungian and Forensic Psychology with Depth Psychologist and Death Investigator Melissa Kim Corter, Ph.D., Begins January 13
Five Week Class Taught Online Via Zoom
Wednesdays, January 13 -February 10, 2026
7:00 - 8:30pm ET (NYC Time)
$125 Paid Patreon Members / $175 General Admission
PLEASE NOTE: Classes will be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time
Every forensic case tells two stories: what happened, and the cultural shadow moving beneath the facts.
In this five-week course, depth psychologist, author, and medicolegal death investigator Dr. Melissa Kim Corter will guide us through the meeting point of forensic investigation, Jungian psychology, and the symbolic world of myth and fairy tale. Together we will look at the recurring archetypal patterns that show up in both folklore and forensics, and what they reveal about us.
Across our sessions, we will look closely at psychological and investigative transference, public projections, and collective blind spots—how they shape our ideas about crime, innocence, victimhood, predation, and evil. Drawing from depth psychology, mythology, and forensic science, we will work with both analytical and imaginal tools to approach the recurring themes and symbolic forces associated with the human shadow. Using real forensic cases—including JonBenét Ramsey, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and the Menendez brothers—we will explore the mythic motifs behind our collective fascinations and fears. Along the way, we will use Carl Jung’s ideas of projection, denial, transference, and the shadow to consider how investigators, journalists, and audiences unconsciously help create meaning around criminal events. We will also look at Locard’s “Exchange Principle”—the idea that every contact leaves a trace—not only as a core forensic method but also as a psychological metaphor: just as every physical encounter leaves evidence, every emotional encounter leaves symbolic traces in the psyche.
Over the course of five weeks, will examine what gets pushed into the shadow, and follow those traces into the darker side of human behavior. By tracking symbolic patterns across fairy tales, myths, and forensic cases, we will explore how the psyche preserves “evidence” through story in much the same way a crime scene preserves evidence through matter. Moving fro the premise that every crime scene holds a unique DNA profile—and very psyche carries its own emotional signature, a pattern of projections, complexes, wounds, defenses, and desires that tells the story of its encounters—we will learn how to read these traces; this is the shared work of both the forensic investigator and the depth psychologist.
Blending forensic science, Jungian analysis, and folklore, this course descends into the underworld of story, forensic inquiry, and the mythic imagination. Designed for those drawn to the darker, more macabre dimensions of human behavior—not just as voyeurs of tragedy, but as observers seeking patterns, symbolism, and deeper meaning—this class requires no prior experience in forensic science, mythology, or Jungian theory.
Melissa Kim Corter—a curious and intuitive child—was fascinated with other people’s basements. Dark, unexplored spaces enthralled her, and her insatiable curiosity toward the hidden dimensions of the mind led to decades of exploring the shadow aspects of the psyche. Melissa is the author of Apothecary for the Afflicted: Shadow Work for Invisible Wounds, a book that offers a creative approach to shadow work through the analysis of dark fairytales. Melissa’s writing, research, and podcast The Shadow Psychologist™ draws on the macabre and misunderstood dimensions of personality while blending the mythic and psychological patterns within fairy tales and forensics.
Melissa furthered her interdisciplinary studies in journalism through New York University and became a certified medicolegal death investigator in 2025, expanding her work into forensic psychology, investigative analysis, and the study of human behavior through both symbolic and evidentiary lenses. She has a PhD in Depth Psychology and Jungian Archetypal studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute and intends to begin training as a Jungian analyst in 2027.
Images:
Five Week Class Taught Online Via Zoom
Wednesdays, January 13 -February 10, 2026
7:00 - 8:30pm ET (NYC Time)
$125 Paid Patreon Members / $175 General Admission
PLEASE NOTE: Classes will be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time
Every forensic case tells two stories: what happened, and the cultural shadow moving beneath the facts.
In this five-week course, depth psychologist, author, and medicolegal death investigator Dr. Melissa Kim Corter will guide us through the meeting point of forensic investigation, Jungian psychology, and the symbolic world of myth and fairy tale. Together we will look at the recurring archetypal patterns that show up in both folklore and forensics, and what they reveal about us.
Across our sessions, we will look closely at psychological and investigative transference, public projections, and collective blind spots—how they shape our ideas about crime, innocence, victimhood, predation, and evil. Drawing from depth psychology, mythology, and forensic science, we will work with both analytical and imaginal tools to approach the recurring themes and symbolic forces associated with the human shadow. Using real forensic cases—including JonBenét Ramsey, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and the Menendez brothers—we will explore the mythic motifs behind our collective fascinations and fears. Along the way, we will use Carl Jung’s ideas of projection, denial, transference, and the shadow to consider how investigators, journalists, and audiences unconsciously help create meaning around criminal events. We will also look at Locard’s “Exchange Principle”—the idea that every contact leaves a trace—not only as a core forensic method but also as a psychological metaphor: just as every physical encounter leaves evidence, every emotional encounter leaves symbolic traces in the psyche.
Over the course of five weeks, will examine what gets pushed into the shadow, and follow those traces into the darker side of human behavior. By tracking symbolic patterns across fairy tales, myths, and forensic cases, we will explore how the psyche preserves “evidence” through story in much the same way a crime scene preserves evidence through matter. Moving fro the premise that every crime scene holds a unique DNA profile—and very psyche carries its own emotional signature, a pattern of projections, complexes, wounds, defenses, and desires that tells the story of its encounters—we will learn how to read these traces; this is the shared work of both the forensic investigator and the depth psychologist.
Blending forensic science, Jungian analysis, and folklore, this course descends into the underworld of story, forensic inquiry, and the mythic imagination. Designed for those drawn to the darker, more macabre dimensions of human behavior—not just as voyeurs of tragedy, but as observers seeking patterns, symbolism, and deeper meaning—this class requires no prior experience in forensic science, mythology, or Jungian theory.
Melissa Kim Corter—a curious and intuitive child—was fascinated with other people’s basements. Dark, unexplored spaces enthralled her, and her insatiable curiosity toward the hidden dimensions of the mind led to decades of exploring the shadow aspects of the psyche. Melissa is the author of Apothecary for the Afflicted: Shadow Work for Invisible Wounds, a book that offers a creative approach to shadow work through the analysis of dark fairytales. Melissa’s writing, research, and podcast The Shadow Psychologist™ draws on the macabre and misunderstood dimensions of personality while blending the mythic and psychological patterns within fairy tales and forensics.
Melissa furthered her interdisciplinary studies in journalism through New York University and became a certified medicolegal death investigator in 2025, expanding her work into forensic psychology, investigative analysis, and the study of human behavior through both symbolic and evidentiary lenses. She has a PhD in Depth Psychology and Jungian Archetypal studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute and intends to begin training as a Jungian analyst in 2027.
Images: