Dahmer becomes third-ever series to surpass 1 billion hours streamed on Netflix

Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer in Netflix's Dahmer
(Image credit: Netflix)

Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story has officially surpassed 1 billion hours viewed, Netflix tweeted.

"The series — from Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan — is only the third Netflix series to reach this milestone," the streamer said. "Joining Stranger Things 4 and Squid Game."

Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer story is a ten-episode series that aims to "expose these unconscionable crimes, centered around the underserved victims and their communities impacted by the systemic racism and institutional failures of the police." The limited series is told from the point of view of each victim, with one episode dedicated to each. Evan Peters stars as the titular killer. Richard Jenkins, Molly Ringwald, Penelope Ann Miller, Michael Learned, Shaun J. Brown, Colin Ford, and Niecy Nash also star.

The series garnered 196.2 million streaming hours in its first five days, taking the number one spot on Netflix’s Top 10 in several countries and beating out Squid Game – which previously held the record for the most watched debut with 63.1 million streaming hours. 

Despite overall mixed reviews from various Netflix subscribers, Monster will continue as an anthology series focusing on a different serial killer each season. The real-life relatives of Dahmer's victims also spoke out against the show, claiming that they were not consulted by Murphy or Netflix. Netflix also later removed the show from the LGBTQ category, following viewer backlash, as Dahmer's victims were primarily young gay men of color.

For more, check out our list of the best Netflix shows to stream right now, or check out our round-up of true crime documentaries that put the victims first.

Lauren Milici
Senior Writer, Tv & Film

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ currently based in the Midwest. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.