Netflix’s hit show Monster: The Ed Gein Story is facing some fresh competition from a rival streaming service. The third installment of creators Ian Brennan and Ryan Murphy’s true crime series, depicting the story of infamous murderer and grave robber Ed Gein, arrived on the platform on October 3rd and has been dominating both the streaming charts and social media discussions. True crime fans who have already binge-watched their way through the controversial new season may want to jump over to a competing streamer for another serial killer-focused drama that is earning rave reviews.
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On October 16th, Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy premiered, Peacock’s answer to the Monster craze. The eight-episode series dramatizes the life and crimes of one of the most notorious serial killers, who murdered at least 33 teen boys and young men throughout the ‘70s. The series peels back the layers of Gacy’s life as it shines a light on his victims and the trauma that resulted from his horrific crimes. All episodes are now streaming.
How Does Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy Compare to Monster: The Ed Gein Story?
According to critics, a lot better! The third season of Ryan Murphy’s true crime series has been dominating the streaming charts, raking in another 20.7 million views for the most recent week of streaming, but it’s not getting much love from fans or critics. With just a 17% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, a stark drop from Season 2’s 45% and Season 1’s 57%, The Ed Gein Story has been slammed as being a gratuitously graphic and exploitative show packed with inaccuracies and fabricated elements, unfocused storytelling, and a poorly executed attempt to explore the psychology of his crimes.
In contrast, Devil in Disguise takes a more tasteful approach to examining and recounting the crimes of a prolific serial killer. The series never aims to garner sympathy for Gacy, even when showing his backstory, and instead presents him for exactly what he was: a monster. It stops short of the gratuitous violence of other true crime shows (with the exception of two longer sequences), never showing Gacy’s murders and instead focusing just as much on his victims and the fallout of their murders on their families and the community as it does on Gacy. In fact, every episode is named after a victim and spends time showing their lives before they ever crossed paths with Gacy. The series currently holds a 100% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes based on eight reviews.
Other True Crime Titles Streaming
The true crime genre has risen in popularity over the last few years, and streaming services are biking in big time. October saw several new true crime additions hit streaming alongside Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy and Monster: The Ed Gein Story. Fans of the genre can now stream titles like The Perfect Neighbor on Netflix, Murdaugh: Death in the Family on Hulu and Disney+, and The Friday the 13th Murders on HBO Max.
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