Is Dahmer on Netflix? Release date of Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

A glimpse into the devastation caused by one of the world’s most notorious serial killers - and the incompetence that allowed him to go unchecked

Netflix continues to go in hard on the true-crime content that is bringing in the audiences. This time they’re not delivering a documentary, but a limited dramatisation of the life of notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Primarily looking at events through the lens of his victims - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story depicts events surrounding his murders of 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991. The show has been co-created by American Horror Story collaborators Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, and is also expected to cover the police failings which led to Jeffrey Dahmer getting caught only decades later. Here's when the series will be landing on Netflix, and everything else we know about the show so far. 

With true-crime dominating the Netflix charts, head over there for more chilling tales of real-life depravity. With inconsistencies in her story and many protesting her innocence, the whereabouts of Victoria Smith now from I Am A Killer might surprise you. The streamer offers a look inside the World’s Toughest Prisons, with season 6 of the original docu-series offering unprecedented behind bars access to notorious penitentiaries.

Is Dahmer on Netflix? 

Yes, Dahmer will be on Netflix. The dramatisation of the crimes of Jeffrey Dahmer will take the title of Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.

The official synopsis reads “Between 1978 and 1991, Jeffrey Dahmer gruesomely took the lives of seventeen innocent victims. Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is a series that exposes these unconscionable crimes, centered around the underserved victims and their communities impacted by the systemic racism and institutional failures of the police that allowed one of America’s most notorious serial killers to continue his murderous spree in plain sight for over a decade”.

To view the series, a Netflix subscription will be required. There are 3 Netflix packages available for those wanting to subscribe. The cheapest package costs £6.99 per month, and this basic starting price includes unlimited access to the Netflix catalogue. With this, subscribers can only stream from one device at a time. 

At £10.99 per month, the standard package also includes the entire Netflix catalogue. However, simultaneous streaming from 2 devices is allowed. This package also has shows in HD, and allows downloads to mobile devices. The final premium package costs £15.99 per month, and features bonuses including allowing streaming across 4 devices, and contains most of the catalogue in Ultra HD. 

Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: Release date 

Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story will be released on Netflix at 8am on September 21, 2022. 

Speaking to Variety, series creator Ryan Murphy said he went into production of the show with one major rule. This rule was that the story would never be told from Jeffrey Dahmer’s viewpoint - he insisted the perspective of the victims be portrayed instead. This would play into Dahmer’s duplicitous nature, and maintain focus on the devastation he caused his victims and their families.  

It’s said that police failings in the case were compounded by Dahmer’s privilege of being a white male, which assisted in his continuous unchecked murdering. A 14-year-old boy kidnapped by Dahmer managed to escape, and was speaking to police when Dahmer caught up with him. Dahmer managed to convince the police the boy was his 19-year-old lover, and they’d had a fight. The police did nothing, instead assisting him get the victim back to his apartment, where he was later brutally murdered.

Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story trailer 

Who is in the cast of Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story?

• Evan Peters (American Horror Story, Pose) as Jeffrey Dahmer
• Niecy Nash (Clean House, Reno 911!) as Glenda Cleveland
• Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water, The Humans) as Lionel Dahmer
• Penelope Ann Miller (Carlito's Way, The Artist) as Joyce Dahmer
• Molly Ringwald (The Breakfast Club, Riverdale) as Shari Dahmer
• Michael Learned (The Waltons, Nurse) as Catherine Dahmer
• Shaun J. Brown (Heart, Baby, Wilson) as Tracy Edwards
• Colin Ford (Supernatural, We Bought a Zoo) as Chazz

Speaking to Variety about taking on the role of Jeffrey Dahmer, Evan Peters said "I've read so much, I've watched so much, I've seen so much, and at a certain point, you've got to say, 'All right, that's enough.'" 

He continued "There are beautifully written scripts. You can have all the backstory you want, but at the end of the day we're not making a documentary. It's more about maintaining the idea and the through line of why you're telling the story and always having that as your guiding light".

How many episodes of Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story will there be?

There will be 10 episodes of Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. All episodes will arrive on Netflix at the same time, meaning they can be watched in quick succession from September 21.

The series is billed as a limited series, meaning there's unlikely to be a follow up. It's more likely the series will conclude with Dahmer being caught and incarcerated for his crimes, meaning another season would not be necessary. 

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