Monster: The Ed Gein Story makes a strong debut with 12.2 million views in four days (but fails to beat The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story)

Monster: The Ed Gein Story NY Premiere - Source: Getty
Charlie Hunnam and Ryan Murphy at the Monster: The Ed Gein Story NY Premiere - Source: Getty

Monster: The Ed Gein Story, Netflix's latest true-crime drama has made quite a wave within the first few days of its release on the streaming site. The series has reached an impressive 12.2 million views in just four days, which is a solid debut and places the series at the 2nd position on Netflix's Top 10 list. This new addition has obviously attracted fans of chilling crime stories, who found the infamous murders of Ed Gein and the dramatic narrative of Monster Season 3 truly intriguing.

Although this is an impressive beginning, Monster: The Ed Gein Story has failed to dethrone the champion. Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is still on the top of the list, attracting viewers with its strong storyline and high-profile case. This demonstrates that although new true-crime series can generate a lot of attention within short period of time, some of them have a longer lasting effect on audiences, and greater longevity in terms of viewership.

Overall, Netflix viewers have reacted favorably to the Ed Gein series, which indicates that crime stories inspired from real life incidents are still high on demand. It is yet to be determined whether it will climb higher on the charts, but its initial performance is certainly a sign that it has already left a significant impression on audiences.


Monster: The Ed Gein Story viewership

Monster: The Ed Gein Story premiered on October 3, and the documentary immediately caught the interest of viewers with its creepy approach to the biography of the infamous Wisconsin killer. Charlie Hunnam plays the role of Ed Gein in the series that delves into the gruesome real life events that inspired classics like Psycho or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Within four days, it attracted 12.2 million views, securing the position of the second in the Netflix Top 10 list.

It is an impressive first step. The statistics and figures of Monster: The Ed Gein Story indicate that viewers continue to be attracted to dark and psychological narratives. But it remains open to doubt whether the show will maintain its pace and retain viewers in the coming weeks.


The enduring popularity of Monster: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story

Even though Monster: The Ed Gein Story started out strong, it still lags behind Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story in terms of overall viewership. The series on Menendez brothers made a huge debut as the total number of minutes viewed during the first week was 2.7 billion minutes.

Despite the fact that they dropped down to a lower level with time, the series remained miles ahead. It received 19.5 million additional views during its second week, followed by 13.1 million and 8.7 million additional views in the third and fourth week respectively.

The consistent success of the Menendez Story demonstrates the extent to which people are still interested in well-known criminal cases. Its elevated ratings also pose a stiff competition to the new true-crime programs, such as Monster: The Ed Gein Story.


Critical reception

Though Monster: The Ed Gein Story has attracted an enormous fanbase, the response towards the series by critics has been divided. Many hailed the series because of its spooky nature and the chilling performance of Charlie Hunnam. But it seemed to be too graphic to others and that it lost focus. Few entertainment outlets stated that Monster: The Ed Gein Story lacks the narrative clarity and emotional depth of the previous Monster installments. All we can do is wait and see whether the show will be able to retain its audience and attract more critics in the next few weeks.


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Edited by Sarah Nazamuddin Harniswala