Between 1978 and 1983, Dennis Nilsen, a British serial killer, murdered at least 12 young men in London, often luring them to his home. Nilsen's gruesome methods included keeping the bodies of his victims for extended periods, which he later confessed to in chilling detail. His crimes shocked the nation and raised significant discussions about mental health, societal neglect, and the vulnerabilities of marginalized individuals in urban settings.

The Dennis Nilsen murders of 1978 prompted a wave of confessional urban poetry that delved into themes of isolation and necrophilia. Poets such as Simon Armitage and Carol Ann Duffy grappled with the psychological complexities of violence and alienation in their works.