Netflix’s Dahmer A Rude Reminder of an All-too-common Reality

Serial killers are seldom born, and most often raised

Pranshu "Maverick" Dwivedi
5 min readOct 7, 2022
Dahmer’s mugshot on July 23, 1991 by the Milwaukee Police Department.

Most of my initial success in writing came from true crime. As intriguing as it all may have been, it took an invisible toll on my mind and made me feel just that little more hollow inside after each story.

There is something about dark stories that fascinates the human mind — even more so when the stories aren’t fiction.

Netflix’s Dahmer is the latest such true crime story that has got the world hooked on it. It smashed the record for Netflix’s biggest-ever opening week for a new show. Nearly 200 million hours of viewership in the first week alone — and quickly rising in the charts of most-watched shows ever.

A colleague and friend of mine, like many others, couldn’t unwatch it after he’d binge-watched the whole series.

His words to describe the show summed it up quite well:

“I’ve seen many crime thrillers but don’t know what was it about this one…like the movie Exorcist in the horror genre, this one left a lasting negative and scarring effect in my mind. I couldn’t unsee the images for a few days after — and probably in some part of my mind, never will.”

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Pranshu "Maverick" Dwivedi

Stay-at-home-dad who "retired" from a 12-year career in finance at the age of 35. Curious thinker with an opinion on nearly everything and is here to share it.