DAHMER – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story on Netflix is fresh from the pen of producer Ryan Murphy, the award-winner who previously gave us Ratched, American Horror Story and a host of other creepy dramas. This one takes a look at the gruesome true story of mass murderer Jeffrey Dahmer.
Starring Evan Peters as the notorious American serial killer, the eight-part drama series looks at the story from Dahmer’s point of view and shows how he was almost caught at least 10 times but somehow always managed to get away with his crimes. This was largely due to his white privilege and police failings.
Ryan Murphy has once again teamed up with fellow writer and producer Ian Brennan, with whom he collaborated to make hits such as Glee, Scream Queens and The Politician. So be prepared for some truly horrific subject matter.
Here’s everything you need to know about the new Netflix miniseries DAHMER – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story including a first look at Evan Peters as Dahmer below…
Sneak peek of Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer in Ryan Murphy’s DAHMER for Netflix. pic.twitter.com/Fv5phT6BluAugust 25, 2022
DAHMER – Monster: the Jeffrey Dahmer Story release date
DAHMER – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is a ten-part box set, available worldwide on Netflix now.
Is there a trailer for DAHMER – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story?
Yes three trailers for DAHMER – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story have now been released by Netflix and American Horror Story actor Evan Peters is every bit as creepy as we expected. 'Excuse me Jeff, that smell is worse than ever!' says the voice in the background of one. Take a look at all the trailers below...
DAHMER – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story plot
DAHMER – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story gives a fresh take on the Jeffrey Dahmer story by looking at the events from Dahmer’s point of view and shows how he slipped through the authorities’ net countless times, as a result of their racial bias. The police failings were such that in 1991 a 14-year-old Laotian boy escaped from Dahmer’s apartment but the police returned the terrified child back to him after he claimed they were a couple who had had a fight. Dahmer then killed the boy and defiled his body. After his conviction he was given 16 consecutive life sentences and admitted, “I made my fantasy life more powerful than my real one.”
* Fact vs Fiction: How accurate is Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story?
DAHMER – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer story cast — Evan Peters on playing Jeffrey Dahmer
Jeffrey Dahmer is played by Evan Peters who says of the serial killer role: "We had one rule going into this from Ryan Murphy that it would never be told from Dahmer’s point of view. As an audience, you’re not really sympathizing with him. You’re not really getting into his plight. You’re more sort of watching it, you know, from the outside."
Evan Peters is a regular actor in the creepy American Horror Story series by Ryan Murphy, so he’s well versed at taking on unsavoury characters. He’s also starred in Ratched, X:Men: Apocalypse and X:Men Dark Phoenix, playing Quicksilver. Evan has also had roles in Invasion, One True Hill, Pose and Mare of Easttown, alongside Kate Winslet.
* Who plays Jeffrey Dahmer? Who's who in Netflix's Dahmer series
DAHMER – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer story cast — Michael Learned as Catherine Dahmer
Acting stalwart Michael Learned plays Jeffrey's grandmother Catherine Dahmer. She found fame as Olivia Walton in the hit 1970s TV show The Waltons. In the 1980s Michael starred in TV series such as Nurse, Hothouse and Living Dolls. More recently she’s had roles in The Young and the Restless, Scrubs and After Life.
Molly Ringwald as stepmother Shari Dahmer
Look out for Hollywood star Molly Ringwald, who's been cast to play Shari Dahmer, Jeffrey’s stepmother. Molly of course made her name in a number of so-called Hollywood 'Brat Pack' movies in the 1980s such as Pretty In Pink and The Breakfast Club.
Molly Ringwald has joined the cast of Ryan Murphy’s “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.” She portrays Shari Dahmer, Jeffrey’s stepmother. pic.twitter.com/KpgX5YBpxASeptember 15, 2022
Who else is starring in DAHMER – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story?
Mom and Better Things actress Karen Malina White is playing Shirley Hughes, mother of Dahmer's victim Tony. Niecy Nash (Clean House) plays Glenda Cleveland, Damher’s concerned neighbor who tries to notify the authorities of the killer’s strange and downright terrifying behavior.
Other cast members of Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story include Shaun J Brown (American Gigolo) as Tracy Edwards (see first look picture below) who was an intended victim of Dahmer's but escaped and brought the police to Dahmer's door.
Colin Ford (The Witcher) plays Chazz, while The Shape of Water star Richard Jenkins also appears as Jeffrey's dad Lionel Dahmer, alongside Penelope Ann Miller (Mistresses) as his mother Joyce Dahmer, David Barrera (The Bridge) plays Chief Arreola and Scott Michael Morgan (Hidden Figures) is Officer Balcerzak.
Episode guide
Episode 1: Dahmer
It's 1991 and strange noise and smells are being noticed coming from Jeff Dahmer's flat in Milwaukee. After throwing his neighbor Glenda Cleveland off the stench coming from his apartment, Jeff heads to a local Milwaukee bar, where a stranger takes him up on a tempting offer to have pictures taken for money. But Dahmer's failure to kill this pick-up Tracy Edwards, who escapes the flat, ultimately leads the police to the serial killer's door and his arrest when they discover body remains all over his apartement.
Episode 2: Please Don't Go
We go back in time to Jeffrey Dahmer's childhood, and his troubled home life and school days. His fascination with dead animals and roadkill grows. Meanwhile flash forwarding to in 1991, a disturbing incident with a 14-year-old Dahmer lured to his flat is witnessed outside Dahmer's apartment block by Glenda Cleveland and her daughter. The police are called, but they believe Dahmer when he shows up and explains that the guys us just his drunk 19-year-old boyfriend. The police then help them both back to Dahmer's flat, where the boy is later killed. Glenda is exasperated and feels the police haven't taken her worries seriously...
Episode 3: Doin' A Dahmer
We see more of Dahmer's school days He picks up an 18-year-old hitchhiker, who ends up becoming his first victim. Not wanting his visitor to leave after a drinking session, Dahmer strikes him with a dumb bell then strangles the guy to death. Dahmer keeps the body, cuts it up, keeps the head (which he kisses at one point). He eventually smashes up the bones with a sledgehammer and disposes of the remains near the house.
Episode 4: The Good Boy Box
Dahmer leaves high school and after a university failure his dad Lionel makes sure he joins the Us Army. Despite working as an army medic Jeff struggles to find stability and he is thrown out. He starts living in his grandmother's house and begins targeting young men at gay bars.
Episode 5: Blood On Their Hands
Jeff's list of victims grows longer without a full police investigation. An encounter with a teenager lands him in jail after a ridiculously lenient judge is more sympathetic than he should be. Later, Dahmer gets his own apartment in Milwaukee where he can pursue his dark passions more easily.
Episode 6: Slienced
Tony Hughes is profoundly deaf since he was a baby. He has a close family and a desire to be a model. Tony moves to Madison to pursue his dream but meets Dahmer at a bar when he returns to Milwaukee one weekend, and they begin a tentative relationship through handwritten notes. But things take a dark turn and Tony's family become frantic with worry as he appears to have gone missing.
Episode 7: Cassandra
We follow more of Glenda Cleveland's story and why her calls to the police about her neighbor Dahmer were brushed off. Prominent political activist Rev. Jesse Jackson meets with Glenda, who recounts her harrowing experiences living next door to Jeff and how her concerns went largely ignored.
Episode 8: Lionel
As Dahmer awaits trial, his father Lionel deals with his own demons, realising the enormity of his son's sick crimes. The Milwaukee police meanwhile try to save face and the victims' families share their stories.
Episode 9: The Bogeyman
Glenda Cleveland and the victims' families all do their best to move forward despite haunting memories, while Dahmer attracts fanfare from behind bars.
Episode 10: God of Forgiveness, God of Vengeance
While in prison, Dahmer's fame and notoriety make him a target. His parents seek closure and Glenda Cleveland pushes for a memorial to honor the victims.
The true story behind Jeffrey Dahmer's killing spree
Jeffrey Dahmer from Wisconsin was one of America’s worst criminals and his reign of terror spanned three decades. Between 1978 and 1991 he was responsible for murdering and dismembering 17 men and boys. His sick crimes included necrophilia, cannibalism and the permanent preservation of body parts and when the police raided his home they found severed heads in the kitchen and a human torso in his freezer. He had been in police custody numerous times during his killing spree but somehow always managed to evade justice. However, in 1992 he was sentenced to 15 counts of life imprisonment, and another life term was later added, but two years later in 1994 he was beaten to death by fellow inmate Christopher Scarver.
A brief guide to many of the hit Ryan Murphy dramas
Super-producer Ryan Murphy is best known for bringing us the extravaganza that was Glee (2009-2015). He then went on to produce Scream Queens and Feud: Bette and Joan, the miniseries documenting the relationship between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. He’s the creator of American Horror Story, Pose, 9-1-1, The Politician and Ratched and the man behind Hollywood and American Crime Story. This year he also has The Watcher and Mr. Harrigan’s Phone scheduled for release so watch out for another busy year for the producer.
