Two Milwaukee area LGBTQ+ bars have banned customers from dressing in costumes inspired by Netflix’s new Jeffrey Dahmer series on Halloween.
“Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” has become a bonafide hit for the streaming platform with more than 700 million hours viewed by true crime fanatics. Halloween retailers have been capitalizing on the craze by selling wired frame glasses, blonde wigs, and tools similar to the ones the serial killer used to dismember his 17 victims.
Last week, online retailer Ebay announced that they would no longer allow “listings that promote or glorify violence or violent acts,” which also prohibits the sale of any items related violent criminals.
Two Milwaukee gay bars, the area where Dahmer hunted many of the young men and boys he cannibalized between the late 1970s and early 1990’s, banned patrons from wearing the “disrespectful costumes” onto their premises.
“We understand there’s a generation out there that did not live this situation, they may not understand the severity of how it affected the community,” a manager at D.I.X Milwaukee told WISN 12 News. “We don’t want to put patrons in the situation where they would have to see or relive something that they had to truly experience. That’s not a costume. It’s not a costume.”
This is It, the oldest LGBTQ+ bar in Milwaukee, said that they have been getting calls about the series since it began airing in September, even though Dahmer was never a customer.
“This, coupled with the popularity of the series and people on social media toying with the idea that somehow dressing up like this evil person would be a good idea, led the bar to make a statement that such hateful and disrespectful costumes will not be allowed in our space,” their management posted on social media.
Shirley Hughes, the mother of 17-year-old Dahmer victim Tony Hughes, who he murdered after they met at a Milwaukee gay bar, told TMZ that the series and costumes are triggering for the families who lost loved ones, and the profits from both should be donated to them.
Social media users have also expressed their outrage over the costumes, which have even included child sized versions that horrified Twitter users.
“Do NOT dress up as Dahmer. Do NOT dress your kids as Dahmer,” one person cautioned. “He was a serial killer who murdered innocent people. The victims had names, dreams & loved ones. Being him for Halloween is not a cool costume. It’s inappropriate & traumatizing. Stop romanticizing serial killers.”
“Why is this damn Halloween costume thing so difficult?” Someone questioned. “Like, nothing racist, rule out harmful stereotypes, AND DON’T DRESS YER KID UP AS JEFFREY DAHMER. Wtf…”
“If I see any kids in dahmer costumes tomorrow night, I will egg,” another warned.
“ANYBODY that shows up to my home in a Jeffery Dahmer costume is getting a bucket of cold water to the grill,” concurred singer Jill Scott.
“[I’m] just gon [sic] go head and say it, put the Jeffrey Dahmer costumes back in the closet,” wrote Olympian Simone Biles. “We ain’t having it!!!!!!”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if someone dressed up as DAHMER this Halloween….. And got their ass beat. Just sayin,” said “Law & Order: SVU” star Ice-T.
“Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” star Michael Learned, who plays the killer’s grandmother, told Fox News that the nation’s “fascination” with serial killers is “terrifying.
“Truthfully, I question our country,” learned said. “We’re so fascinated with serial killers. There’s something terrifying about it. Maybe it’s about survival, like, ‘Thank God it didn’t happen to me.’ I don’t know what it is, but there seems to be a fascination with Jeffrey Dahmer.”