Ryan Murphy's scripted true-crime series about the serial killer has captivated viewers.
Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Ryan Murphy’s scripted true-crime series starring Evan Peters and Niecy Nash, is now one of Netflix’s most successful series of all time. The news comes just almost two weeks after it first debuted on Sept. 21, quickly garnering over 196 million hours of viewership within its first week.
Now, according to the streaming platform, The Jeffrey Dahmer Story has logged in nearly 300 million hours – 299.8 million to be exact – in its second week online, making it the second most watched English-language series in a week behind Stranger Things 4.
Additionally, the series accumulated 496 million hours viewed in just 12 days, with Netflix estimating that at least 56 million households have streamed the series.
Unfolding over 10 episodes, the limited series chronicles the life and crimes of Dahmer, who became known as the Milwaukee Cannibal after murdering (and sometimes doing other gruesome things to the bodies) of 17 men and teenage boys from 1978 to 1991. Peters portrays the serial killer while Nash plays one of his suspecting neighbors, Glenda Cleveland. Richard Jenkins and Molly Ringwald round out the cast as Dahmer’s father and stepmother, Lionel and Shari.
While both Peters and Nash have garnered praise for their layered performances, Murphy’s dramatization of events has also drawn backlash from relatives of the victims, who say that they’ve been retraumatized by what’s been recreated on screen.
However, the attention surrounding Dahmer is not expected to subside anytime soon, with Conversations With a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes set to debut on Friday. The three-part documentary from director Joe Berlinger features previously unheard audio interviews with the killer and his lawyer.
“He’s a horrible, evil person clearly,” Berlinger told ET, while acknowledging just how popular Dahmer has become over 30 years after his arrest.
“We have to remember that Netflix is serving a global audience and that has changed the game for viewing numbers and, in particular, changed the game for documentaries,” he said. “And so, you know, there is a fascination with these things because we all wonder why people go off the deep end.” And in the case of Dahmer, “how is that he was able to do these things is endlessly fascinating.”
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