Warning: This article discusses murder, sexual assault, cannibalism, and necrophilia.
Following the massive success of Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series, Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, the show has, expectedly, attracted a series of controversies ever since its release on September 21.
But how anyone thinks it’s perfectly okay to dress up as a notorious serial killer who traumatized countless people is beyond us. We don’t know what’s worse – that there are companies making Jeffrey Dahmer costumes or that there are people ACTUALLY buying them.
In light of the apparent surge in listings, eBay has announced that they’re banning the sale of costumes inspired by Dahmer because it violates the platform’s policy on violence and violent criminals.
There’s renewed interest in Jeffrey Dahmer because of the Netflix series.
Credit: Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
This isn’t the first time Jeffrey Dahmer’s story was adapted to the small screen, but somehow, Evan Peters’ performance piqued people’s curiosity and had them talking about his creepily accurate acting. However, it also received backlash.
The grieving families of the victims spoke up about what they thought of Monster, particularly Shirley Hughes – the mother of Tony Hughes.
She noted that the events depicted in the series “didn’t happen like that.”
“I don’t see how they can do that,” she said in an interview. “I don’t see how they can use our names and put stuff out like that out there.”
Another relative, Rita Isbell – the sister of another Dahmer victim, Errol Lindsey – shared her experience watching the show.
“The victims have children and grandchildren,” she wrote. “If the show benefited them in some way, it wouldn’t feel so harsh and careless. It’s sad that they’re just making money off of this tragedy. That’s just greed.”
Wearing Dahmer costumes is absolutely disrespectful to the victims and their families.
Between 1978 and 1991, Jeffrey Dahmer killed 17 boys and young men, most of whom were African Americans. He sought them out at gay bars, malls, and even bus stops, and lured them to his apartment with promises of money, sex, or both. He would then offer his victims alcohol, which he laced with drugs. He strangled them to death and engaged in sexual acts thereafter. He took photos and kept gruesome souvenirs, which were all hidden in his apartment.
He was careful in selecting his victims, making sure that their disappearances were less noticeable.
When police officers searched his place, they found Polaroid photos of dismembered bodies, heads in the refrigerator and freezer, two preserved skulls above his computer, jars containing genitalia, and a drum in the corner of the bedroom that contained bodies decomposing in chemicals. They also found enough evidence that Dahmer was eating some of his victims.
The authorities were alerted two months before when they received a call from Dahmer’s neighbor, Sandra Smith, about a 14-year-old boy who was naked, bleeding, and being chased down by Dahmer. He reasoned that the boy was his 19-year-old lover, so the responding officers ended up returning the heavily drugged boy to Dahmer’s apartment, where he was eventually killed.
Dahmer previously escaped a child molestation charge by pleading with the judge and saying that he was going to change his conduct.
His crime wasn’t just murder but also involved cannibalism and necrophilia. He was sentenced to life in prison and only escaped a death sentence because he was tried in Wisconsin, which doesn’t have capital punishment.
After he was convicted of the murders, Dahmer read a statement in court.
“I never wanted freedom,” he said calmly. “Frankly, I wanted death for myself. I knew I was sick or evil or both.”
“Doctors have told me about my sickness and now I have some peace,” he added. “I know how much harm I have caused. I feel so bad for what I did to those poor families.”
Credit: Inside Edition/YouTube
He adjusted well in prison. He became increasingly religious and was even baptized by a local pastor.
Dahmer survived one attempt on his life, but on November 28, 1994, he was killed by a fellow inmate, Christopher Scarver, who used a metal bar – taken from the prison weight room – to bludgeon Dahmer to death.
eBay is actively removing listings.
Some of the items that are prohibited include an orange jumpsuit with a mask and wire-rimmed glasses. These were all worn by actor Evan Peters in his portrayal of Dahmer.
Credit: Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
According to eBay’s policy, sellers are not allowed to list items that “promote or glorify violence” and “items closely associated with or that benefit violent felons, their acts, or crime scenes within the past 100 years.” A representative of the popular e-commerce website also clarified that this policy isn’t new.
As of this writing, any search for Dahmer costumes on Amazon and eBay yields no results.
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