Netflix’s latest true crime drama ‘Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’ has been the talk of the town ever since it was released on September 21. Co-created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan (who also produced the hit TV series ‘Glee’, ‘Scream Queens’, etc) this 10-part series explores the life and times of Jeffrey Dahmer, one of the most notorious serial killers in history.
Dahmer who murdered and dismembered 17 people over a span of 13 years, was also known for pedophilia, cannibalism, and necrophilia. The series trended multiple times on Twitter, with more than 918,000 engagements. Over the weekend, the show went on to top the streaming service’s ‘most watched series’ list in multiple countries around the world.
The show attempted to distinguish itself from other true crime thrillers by framing the narrative from the perspective of Dahmer’s victims, many of whom were boys from marginalised groups. The bone-chilling series has emerged as an undisputed hit among the viewers. The audience lauded the in-depth research and superb acting of the cast.
However, the series has also faced backlash.
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Family members of Dahmer’s victims called out the creators for not consulting them and capitalising on their trauma. Rita Isabell, sister of Dahmer’s victim Errol Lindsey, told the Insider that none of her family members were consulted by the creators and it was unsettling to see their trauma being re-created for entertainment purposes.
While the TV show has mixed fact and fiction, and underplayed many aspects of Dahmer’s life to make the content more palatable and escape the clutches of censorship, here’s a run-through of the true story behind the Dahmer series.
Who was Jeffrey Dahmer?
Some say he was the devil incarnate. Others attempt a sympathetic, more banal picture, that of a timid boy next door. However as Roger ‘’Verbal’’ Kint (one of the main characters from the 1995 movie ‘The Usual Suspects’) had once said, “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn’t exist.” Behind the placid and sympathetic facade, was a shrewd, calculating, and cold-blooded murderer who viewed his victims as prey and didn’t possess even an ounce of empathy.
The Transition
AgenciesDahmer posing with his father Lionel on his graduation day
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Before the birth of the Milwaukee Monster, there was just Jeffrey, a weird, small-town boy from Wisconsin. Dahmer was born on May 21, 1960, to Lionel and Joyce Dahmer. He reportedly exhibited sad*stic tendencies from childhood. In a 2004 interview with CNN, Dahmer’s father recalled how his son used to dissect animals for fun. “He cut them open to examine the insides of animals,” he was quoted as saying.
Fan Club In School
As inexplicable as that sounds, Dahmer attained a moderate level of popularity in school. He was the class clown and entertained his friends with some rather outrageous pranks. These included pretending to have seizures and fits. This gained him a cult following. Some of his classmates called themselves ‘The Dahmer Fan Club’. Years later when his gruesome crimes came to light, many of his former school friends were left dumbfounded. John Backderf, the author of the best-selling graphic novel ‘My Friend Dahmer’ who was one of his classmates, described the experience: “ “It’s like getting hit with a 2-by-4… Suddenly all the goofball antics and silly things we’d done became completely sinister and troubling.”
Committed His First Murder At 18
AgenciesDahmer at 18
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Some commemorate their 18th birthday by buying their first drink. Others party the night away. However, Dahmer didn’t want to celebrate his coming of age through such mundane activities. He went for the kill (in the literary sense) instead. On June 18, 1978, he invited a hitchhiker named Steven Hicks to his house, where he choked and bludgeoned him to death with a sledgehammer. Dahmer later told the police, “He wanted to leave, and I didn’t want him to leave.”
‘Zombifying’ His Victims
The macabre nature of Dahmer’s murders has become the stuff of urban legends. According to a 1992 report by AP, Dahmer performed lobotomies on some victims’ corpses-drilling holes in their heads and pouring in hydrochloric acid. While they were still alive, he reportedly injected muriatic acid to see if he could keep them under his control. He also engaged in cannibalism and confessed to preserving a man’s heart to eat.
A Peek Inside the ‘Fridge of Horrors’
AgenciesDahmer's polaroid collection
After murdering his victims he would often dismember the bodies and photograph them in various poses. He later explained that he wanted to ‘preserve’ them somehow. “If I couldn’t keep them there with me whole, at least I could keep their skeletons, “ he was quoted as saying. During an investigation of his apartment, a police officer came across his collection of disturbing polaroids. Upon further investigation, he came across a fridge containing jars that had male genitalia and other body parts inside.
In a satisfying twist of karma, Dahmer’s life ended violently through murder. He was sentenced to a life sentence on May 1, 1992. Upon sentencing, he was transferred to the Columbia Correctional Institution ( located at Portland, Wisconsin) . He was bludgeoned to death by one of the inmates, Christopher Scarver, during a scuffle.
