Ryan Murphy’s Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story has clocked almost 300 million hours of views, officially becoming one of Netflix’s most streamed shows.
Just 12 days after its release, the series that follows the notorious Milwaukee cannibal has garnered 299.84 million hours viewed.
That makes it the ninth most watched English television series of all time, as per Indie Wire.
According to the outlet, the series is also the second most-watched English-language series within a week of its release, falling right behind season four of Stranger Things, which clocked 335.01 million hours from May 30 to June 5.
In week two, the show was miles ahead of the streaming platform’s second most-watched series, Dynasty: Season 5, which earned over 44.61 million hours viewed from September 26 to October 2.
Advert
Dahmer dives into the life and crime spree of the notorious serial killer, who murdered more than a dozen people over the course of 13 years.
Shortly after the series debuted, Netflix issued a warning urging viewers to look after their mental health as some could not make it past the first episode.
One person tweeted: “Y’all actually sat through the whole Jeffrey Dahmer series? I watched the first 3-5 minutes of the first episode and immediately NO.”
Another commented: “Can’t even get past the first episode of Jeffrey Dahmer, how have people watched the full season.”
Advert
While another shared: “I’ve listened to so many crime podcasts, heard 911 phone calls, seen so many crime documentaries, and for some reason I just can’t get past the first episode of Jeffrey Dahmer on Netflix. it makes me so uncomfortable.”
The series also received widespread controversy, as many have accused it of profiting off families of the victims.
Rita Isbell, sister of Errol Lindsey, one of Dahmer’s victims, wrote an essay for Business Insider slamming Netflix and the production.
She wrote: “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. I could even understand it if they gave some of the money to the victims’ children. … The victims have children and grandchildren.
"If the show benefited them in some way, it wouldn’t feel so harsh and careless. It’s sad that they’re just making money off of this tragedy. That’s just greed.”
Advert
Errol’s cousin, Eric Perry, also spoke of how the show had negatively impacted his family.
He tweeted: “I’m not telling anyone what to watch, I know true crime media is huge rn, but if you’re actually curious about the victims, my family (the Isbell’s) are p***ed about this show.
“It’s retraumatising over and over again, and for what? How many movies/shows/documentaries do we need?”
Topics: News, Crime, TV and Film, True Crime, Netflix
Charisa Bossinakis