True-crime stories often make the weirdos come out, and they’re in full force following the premiere of Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” now streaming.
Evan Peters, 35, stars as the infamous serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, who murdered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991.
The new show has renewed interest in Dahmer, leading some viewers and “fans” to post disconcertingly loving sentiments about the serial killer, who also engaged in cannibalism and necrophilia.
“Jeffrey Dahmers mugshot definitely gives something i didn’t know or think it would give,” one person tweeted, to which another Twitter user replied, “You don’t, under any circumstances, gotta hand it to Jeffrey Dhamer.”
Another Twitter user wrote, “Oh you think jeffrey dahmer is hot? Ok well I am going to beat you with a stick,” to which someone replied, “Jeffrey dahmer is hot.”
One fan even tweeted a photo of the serial killer, bemoaning the fact that Peters was the first result to come up when they searched his photo online.
“We’ll get through this era king I promise,” they wrote next to a photo of the real-life Dahmer, seemingly referring to the deadly deviant as “king,” to which another Twitter user replied, “Are you seriously praising a murderer???”
Another Twitter user posted, “If you’re thirsting over jeffrey dahmer because he’s played by evan peters PLEASE block me.”
The Netflix series, which premiered Sept. 21, has been controversial. The cousin of Dahmer’s eleventh victim, Errol Lindsey, 19, who was murdered in 1991, expressed outrage about the show on Twitter.
“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 pissed about this show,” Lindsey’s cousin Eric Perry wrote. “It’s retraumatizing over and over again, and for what? How many movies/shows/documentaries do we need?”
Thirsting over a serial killer, while disturbing, isn’t new. Many women have expressed fascination with Ted Bundy, sending fan mail and attending his trial as “groupies,” and he’s been played by heartthrob actors such as Zac Efron or Chad Michael Murray.
Some on social media have condemned the thirst for Dahmer. “People stanning Jeffery Dahmer.. y’all realize he’s a serial killer pedophile necrophiliac and not Evan Peters right??” one viral tweet wrote.
Dahmer died in 1994, at age 34, after being beaten to death by a fellow inmate in prison.
