A new Netflix series about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, called “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” has been attracting millions of viewers and become one of the streaming service’s most-watched shows.
The 10-episode series dropped on Netflix Sept. 21. By Oct. 4, it had already been viewed for 496.1 million hours, Variety reported.
Netflix’s numbers recorded that about 56 million households have watched all of the episodes, Variety added.
That makes “Monster” Netlifx’s ninth most popular English-language show ever.
“Monster” has had mixed reviews, but despite some reviewers giving it low scores, it has nonetheless captured a wide audience.
Richard Lawson wrote for Vanity Fair that not only is a narrative of Dahmer’s grisly crimes disturbing, but turning him into a widely watched icon for entertainment is troubling.
“While the series respectfully mourns and inveighs all the loss that surrounds him, it also turns Dahmer into a hideously immortal thing: an icon,” Lawson wrote.
However, Kayla Cobb, a reviewer for Decider, suggested it was worth a watch, since “Monster isn’t just well directed, written, and acted. It’s rewriting what a crime drama can look like if we stop glorifying murderers and start focusing more on systematic failures.”
Have you watched the new Netflix show ‘Monster’?
Dahmer, born in 1960, was one of the most notorious serial killers of all time as he murdered 17 males in the period of 1978 to 1991, Britannica reported.
Most of his victims were poor, Asian, Latino or black. His crimes included not just murder, but also cannibalism, dismemberment and necrophilia. He was sentenced to 16 consecutive life sentences in prison and was murdered by another inmate in 1994 in Wisconsin, Britannica reported.
‘Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’ is officially Netflix’s 9th most watched series of all time. pic.twitter.com/oHhOjTrpQI
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) October 4, 2022
Family members of some of his victims have spoken up about the Netflix show.
Rita Isbell, whose brother Errol Lindsey was killed by Dahmer when he was 19, told Insider that she was not informed that the show was being made and that some of the language from her victim-impact statement in court in 1992 was used in the script.
“When I saw some of the show, it bothered me, especially when I saw myself — when I saw my name come across the screen and this lady saying verbatim exactly what I said,” Isbell said. “If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought it was me. Her hair was like mine, she had on the same clothes. That’s why it felt like reliving it all over again. It brought back all the emotions I was feeling back then.”
“I was never contacted about the show. I feel like Netflix should’ve asked if we mind or how we felt about making it. They didn’t ask me anything. They just did it,” Isbell said.
“It’s sad that they’re just making money off of this tragedy. That’s just greed,” she added.
But audiences have seemingly been fascinated by the show.
Audiences have given the series an 85 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
