Despite tough competition from holdover hits such as Wayward and House of Guinness, Netflix’s Monster: The Ed Gein Story has replicated the performance of its predecessors on two fronts. The show has become an instant hit, but has also earned poor reviews. Both previous installments of television mogul Ryan Murphy‘s serial killer franchise, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and Monsters: The Erik and Lyle Menendez Story, were viewership juggernauts. But they were also controversial for their perceived exploitative nature.

According to FlixPatrol, The Ed Gein Story was the number one show on Netflix, both domestically and worldwide. It unseated the holdover hit Wayward, the spooky thriller starring Toni Collette, and the historical drama House of Guinness, from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight. Starring Charlie Hunnam as one of history’s most notorious serial killers, the eight-episode series also features a star-studded ensemble that includes Laurie Metcalf, Suzanna Son, Olivia Williams, Vicky Krieps, and Tom Hollander as Alfred Hitchcock. The great filmmaker directed the landmark horror film Psycho, which was based on a book inspired by Gein’s crimes. Williams plays Hitchcock’s wife, Alma Reville, while Joey Pollari plays Anthony Perkins, the star of the film. Gein’s crimes also inspired films such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Silence of the Lambs.

The Ed Gein Story currently holds a 42% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. In her review, Collider’s Therese Lacson described the show as a “sob story,” and wrote that it reduces the serial killer into “a soft-spoken, dopey, small-town boy who just didn’t know any better and was more a victim of his mother and mental illness than a cold-blooded killer.” Previously, The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story earned a 45% score on RT, while The Jeffrey Dahmer Story earned a 57% score.

Ryan Murphy’s Netflix Run Has Been Hit or Miss

As a part of his lucrative deal with Netflix, which began in 2019, Murphy has been involved in shows such as The Politician, Hollywood, Halston, Ratched, and The Watcher. He’s now working on a bunch of shows for Disney’s various platforms. While his Netflix run has been rather hit or miss, there’s no denying that the Monster franchise has been a massively successful, having broken several viewership records over the course of its two previous seasons. The Ed Gein Story seems set to continue the trend. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.