Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan built one of Netflix’s most-watched, most-argued-about franchises out of a simple, uncomfortable question: what turns an ordinary life into a true crime headline. Since 2022, Monster has spent one season at a time inside the mind of a different real killer, and every single installment has landed the same way, huge numbers on Netflix’s charts, and a critical mauling to match. With Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story now streaming, the anthology has told four stories across four different eras, from a 1950s Wisconsin farmhouse to Victorian Massachusetts. Here is where every season stands right now, and where the franchise is headed next.
How Many Seasons of Monster Are There?
Monster currently has four seasons, all streaming on Netflix, totaling 35 episodes. Each season is a self-contained story built around a different real-life case, so there is no need to watch them in order. Season 1 covered Jeffrey Dahmer, Season 2 covered Lyle and Erik Menendez, Season 3 covered Ed Gein, and Season 4, released this month, covers Lizzie Borden.
Season 1: DAHMER, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (2022)
The season that started it all is still, by the numbers, the biggest thing Monster has ever produced. Evan Peters stars as serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, with Niecy Nash as his neighbor Glenda Cleveland, alongside Richard Jenkins and Molly Ringwald. Rather than a straightforward killer’s-eye account, the season leans into the systemic failures around Dahmer’s crimes, particularly how police and neighbors repeatedly missed or dismissed warning signs.
- Released: September 21, 2022
- Episodes: 10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 57%
- Where it stands: Still the anthology’s most-watched entry and one of the biggest English-language series in Netflix history, though it drew sustained criticism from victims’ families over how their stories were used.
Season 2: Monsters, The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (2024)
Two years later, Murphy and Brennan turned to the Menendez brothers, convicted in 1996 for killing their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home. Javier Bardem and Chloe Sevigny play the parents, with Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez as Erik and Lyle. The nine-episode season leaned into the brothers’ claims of years of abuse as a defense for the killings, a choice that drew public pushback, including from Erik Menendez himself, over how the family’s history was portrayed on screen.
- Released: September 19, 2024
- Episodes: 9
- Rotten Tomatoes: 47%
- Where it stands: The season notably coincided with renewed real-world attention on the Menendez case; Netflix also released a companion documentary featuring the real Erik and Lyle Menendez.
Season 3: Monster, The Ed Gein Story (2025)
Season 3 marked a turning point behind the scenes as well as on screen. It was the first installment not helmed by Murphy, with Ian Brennan taking over as sole creator and writer. Charlie Hunnam stars as Ed Gein, the Wisconsin killer and grave robber whose crimes inspired Psycho, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs. Laurie Metcalf plays his mother Augusta, while Tom Hollander and Olivia Williams appear as Alfred and Alma Hitchcock, folding the story of Gein’s cultural influence directly into the season itself.
- Released: October 3, 2025
- Episodes: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes: 22%, the lowest score in the anthology so far
- Where it stands: Critics panned the season for sensationalism and factual liberties, but Hunnam’s performance still earned him an Emmy nomination.
Season 4: Monster, The Lizzie Borden Story (2026)
The newest season is also the anthology’s biggest structural departure. It is the first to center on a woman, the first to weave in other historical figures rather than staying with a single case, and the first to premiere as a complete eight-episode drop rather than any staggered release. Ella Beatty stars as Lizzie Borden, tried and acquitted of the 1892 axe murders of her father Andrew and stepmother Abby in Fall River, Massachusetts. Rebecca Hall plays Abby Borden, and Charlie Hunnam, returning to the franchise in a different role than Season 3, plays Lizzie’s father Andrew.
Vicky Krieps plays Bridget “Maggie” Sullivan, the Borden family’s live-in maid whose relationship with Lizzie drives much of the season, and, in a late production addition, also plays Countess Elizabeth Bathory in a set of separate fantasy sequences shot in Italy. Sarah Paulson recurs as serial killer Aileen Wuornos in scenes set decades later, part of the season’s broader framing around women branded “monstrous” across history. Billie Lourd plays Lizzie’s sister Emma, and Jessica Barden plays Nance O’Neil, the stage actress who became Borden’s companion years after the trial.
- Released: September 17, 2026
- Episodes: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes: 39%, based on 23 critic reviews
- Where it stands: The season became the third Monster installment to debut at number one on Netflix’s global weekly chart, drawing 12.1 million views in its first four days, according to Netflix viewership data reported by Variety.
Is There Going to Be a Monster Season 5?
Not yet, officially. Netflix has not announced a fifth season. But showrunner Ian Brennan has already discussed who might be next. In an interview with People published around the Season 4 premiere, Brennan named several killers he and Murphy have talked through as possibilities, including BTK killer Dennis Rader, Ted Bundy, the Green River Killer Gary Ridgway, and, more unexpectedly, Luigi Mangione. None of these are confirmed subjects, just names under discussion, so treat any specific Season 5 casting claim with caution until Netflix makes it official.
Monster Seasons, Ranked by Rotten Tomatoes Score
| Season | Subject | Released | Episodes | Rotten Tomatoes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | Jeffrey Dahmer | September 21, 2022 | 10 | 57% |
| Season 2 | Lyle and Erik Menendez | September 19, 2024 | 9 | 47% |
| Season 4 | Lizzie Borden | September 17, 2026 | 8 | 39% |
| Season 3 | Ed Gein | October 3, 2025 | 8 | 22% |
A pattern worth noticing: no season of Monster has ever been certified fresh with critics, yet each one has been a genuine ratings event for Netflix. That gap between critical reception and audience pull is arguably as much a part of the franchise’s identity as the true crime subject matter itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to watch Monster in order?
No. Each season is a standalone story with its own cast and setting. The only exception is Season 4, which pulls in Sarah Paulson’s Aileen Wuornos and Vicky Krieps’s Elizabeth Bathory as connective threads to earlier real-world “monster” narratives, but you still don’t need the earlier seasons to follow it.
Who created Monster?
Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan co-created the anthology. Murphy was the primary creative force on Seasons 1, 2, and 4; Season 3 (The Ed Gein Story) was written and helmed solely by Brennan.
Which Monster season is the highest-rated?
Season 1, DAHMER, The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, holds the franchise’s highest Rotten Tomatoes score at 57%, though it is still a “Rotten” rating overall.
Will there be a Monster Season 5?
Not officially. Netflix has not renewed the show for a fifth season as of this writing, though showrunner Ian Brennan has named several real-life killers under discussion for future installments.
If You’re Into Monster, Also Watch
Not part of the Monster anthology, but currently the biggest true-crime title on Netflix for the same reason Monster keeps getting renewed: audiences show up regardless of what critics say. Unabomber follows Ted Kaczynski across two timelines and hit number one on Netflix worldwide within a day of release, despite a Rotten Tomatoes score in the low 20s, a very familiar pattern for anyone following this genre.