Everything We Know About ‘Monster’ on Netflix

Ryan Murphy is diving into another story about reviled monsters, and if you thought American Horror Story and Ratched were gut-churning, they’re nothing compared to what the super-producer is preparing next. This March Netflix announced the miniseries Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.

Dahmer’s reign of terror ran from the 1970s to his arrest in the early 1990s. His case is one of those that is so horrific, even the most bare bones descriptions of his murders, decapitations, and cannibalism are capable of causing nightmares. Here’s everything we currently know about this upcoming series, from Monster’s cast to its premiere date.

What Is Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story on Netflix?

Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan are collaborating on another project. But this one is going to be less fabulous and more horrific. The longtime team will be partnering to create Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, a limited series about the American serial killer told through Dahmer’s point of view. There’s a reason for this focus. The series will focus on at least 10 different times when Dahmer was almost captured by authorities before ultimately being allowed to walk free and continue his reign of terror. This limited series seeks to tell the story of this case as much as it portrays the white privilege and  police incompetence that led this monster to get away with killing so many for so long. The 10-episode series will span the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s before ending with Dahmer’s arrest in the early ’90s.

Murphy and Brennan have worked together on several high-profile projects over the years. Their most famous collaboration has undoubtably been Glee. But the duo have also co-created Scream Queens, The Politician, and Hollywood. Brennan also served as a writer for Ratched. With those credits, we’re in for a wild and deeply horrifying ride.

Additionally, Carl Franklin will be directing the first episode and Janet Mock is set to direct and write multiple episodes. Both will executive produce alongside Murphy, Brennan, Alexis Martin Woodall, and Eric Kovtun. David McMillan will also write and serve as a supervising producer. Rashad Robinson of Color of Change, a racial justice project, will also serve as supervising producer.

What Is the Jeffrey Dahmer Story?

There’s a reason why Dahmer’s name always comes up in discussions about American’s worst criminals. Known also as the Milwaukee Monster or the Milwaukee Cannibal, Dahmer was a convicted serial killer and sex offender. Between 1978 and 1991 he was responsible for the murder and dismemberment of 17 men and boys. As his crime spree continued, it evolved to necrophilia, cannibalism and permanent preservation of body parts.

During Dahmer’s trial he was diagnosed with a number of mental disorders including  necrophilia, borderline personality disorder, schizotypal personality disorder, and a psychotic disorder. Despite these diagnoses Dahmer was ruled to be sane and not suffering from a mental disorder while he was committing the 15 murders for which he was tried. In 1992 Dahmer was sentenced to 15 counts of life imprisonment. But he didn’t stay alive for long. Two years later Dahmer was beaten to death by Christopher Scarver, a fellow inmate. Scarver’s explanation for the murder changed several times from claiming that “God told me to do it” to his personal disgust over Dahmer’s crimes.

What makes Dahmer’s case so deeply shocking isn’t just how brutally he dismembered his victims. Police found four severed heads in Dahmer’s kitchen as well as an entire human torso in his freezer just to name a few of his horrors. It’s how often Dahmer was taken into police custody during his murder spree yet allowed get away. When one of his victims, Konerak Sinthasomphone, managed to escape Dahmer’s torture, three officers actually escorted Sinthasomphone back to Dahmer’s apartment. That truly chilling yet often unexplored element of this case is what Monster will cover.

Who’s in the Cast of Monster on Netflix?

We already know who Murphy’s Dahmer is, and he picked a good one. American Horror Story favorite Evan Peters will be playing the notorious serial killer.

Additionally, Penelope Ann Miller will be playing Dahmer’s mother Joyce and Richard Jenkins will be playing Dahmer’s father Lionel. Michael Learned will play Catherine Dahmer, the killer’s grandmother. Colin Ford will be playing a character only known as Chazz. Shaun J. Brown will portray Tracy Edwards, Dahmer’s last intended victim whose escape managed to lead to his arrest. And Niecy Nash looks as if she’s set to star as the hero of this depressingly true story. Nash will play Glenda Cleveland, one of Dahmer’s neighbors who repeatedly called police and the FBI to alert them of Dahmer’s disturbing behavior. The real Cleveland’s complaints were ignored several times.

Is There a Trailer for Monster on Netflix?

Not yet. Hopefully one will come sooner rather than later.

When Is Monster‘s Netflix Release Date?

We also don’t have an answer to that. But we do have two Netflix miniseries from Ryan Murphy that we can point to as a guide to this new project: Hollywood and Ratched. Netflix announced that Hollywood was getting a straight-to-series order in February of 2019. By May of 2020 the Emmy-winning miniseries premiered. Ratched had a more tumultuous road to television. Though the project was announced by Netflix and given two seasons in 2017, it didn’t start filming until early 2019. This likely had to do with Netflix and Murphy’s team ironing out the details of Murphy’s exclusivity deal with the streamer. We were finally able to see Season 1 of Ratched in September of 2020, roughly a year and a half after filming began.

Conversely, Monster was announced in October of 2020. Based on these timelines, it seems to take Murphy and his team about a year and a half from filming to make a new series if they’re firing on all cylinders. We can likely expect Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story to premiere sometime in 2022.