Ryan Murphy’s latest true crime series, Monster: The Ed Gein Story, has claimed the No. 1 spot on Netflix’s weekly TV rankings. The series raked in 20.7 million views from October 13-19, marking a strong first full week for the show. This follows its first four days on the platform, where it recorded 12.2 million views.
While the series performed similarly to Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, which had 19.5 million views during its first full week, there are signs of declining traction. The average daily views for The Ed Gein Story dropped from 4.1 million per day during its opening weekend to 2.9 million in the last week.
Here’s how it compares to previous seasons
The series initially showed performance patterns similar to The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, which became a Netflix sensation. Dahmer achieved roughly 4.4 million views per day during its opening weekend and maintained a similar pace throughout the first full week. By comparison, The Ed Gein Story now aligns more closely with the Menendez series, which averaged 2.8 million views per day in its opening week.
While The Ed Gein Story remains popular, it is unlikely to reach the same level of success as Dahmer. Currently, Dahmer sits at No. 4 on Netflix’s most popular list. Unless there is a sudden surge in interest, Ed Gein’s story is not expected to break into the streamer’s top overall titles.
Other Netflix hits this week
Seasonal viewing preferences may be affecting the show’s traction. Lighter, holiday-themed content is drawing viewers. Netflix’s Is It Cake? Halloween ranked second for the week with 5.7 million views. In third place was the celebrity docuseries Victoria Beckham, which attracted 5.6 million viewers.
Meanwhile, the dramedy Boots, based on Greg Cope White’s memoir The Pink Marine, had a slower start. The series, which tells the story of a gay teenager joining the U.S. Marine Corps in 1990 while hiding his sexuality, debuted with 4.7 million views.
In films, The Woman in Cabin 10 led the weekly charts with 21.2 million views following its Friday debut. Animated K-pop feature Demon Hunters remained strong in its 17th week, drawing 17.8 million viewers despite a 30% decline from August. True crime documentary My Father the BTK Killer came in third with 5.7 million views.
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