Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan have another new Netflix series on the way. The creators of Glee and American Horror Story are helming a new show called Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story that stars Evan Peters as the murderous lead.
The 34-year-old actor, perhaps best known for his long-running role in American Horror Story, will play one of the most notorious serial killers of all time in a show that aims to tell Dahmer’s story through the eyes of his victims. In addition to Peters, the series co-stars Niecy Nash as the female lead, Glenda Cleveland. Nash previously starred in Murphy and Brennan’s short-running 2015 series Scream Queens, but here she’ll play the role of Dahmer’s neighbor who repeatedly notified the authorities about his suspicious behavior only to be roundly dismissed.
Penelope Ann Miller (The Relic, Carlitos Way) has been cast as Dahmer’s mother, Joyce, while Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water, Step Brothers) will play the role of Dahmer’s father, Lionel. Colin Ford and Shaun Brown will also have supporting roles. Brown will play Tracy, a near-victim of Dahmer’s who narrowly escapes and leads the cops back to his apartment for Dahmer’s arrest, while Ford will play a character named Chazz.
According to Variety, a major element of the show will be examining Dahmer’s white privilege and the role racism played in keeping him legally unaccounted for. The series will depict at least 10 instances in which he was apprehended by the police but never charged, enabling him to carry out 17 brutal murders and dismemberments between 1978 and 1991.
Netflix’s order is for a 10-episiode limited series, and Carl Franklin is set to direct the pilot. Janet Mock is also set to write and direct a handful of episodes, and she and Franklin will executive produce alongside Murphy and Brennan. Murphy’s has exactly been on a hot streak with his recent projects, but this show’s talent pool and compelling story angle do sound like the makings for a rebound. Either way, his American Horror Story empire is set to run for at least another three seasons.
