It was also shown in Greek cinemas last week. “Last night of masks”The final installment in Joseph Gordon Green’s contemporary trilogy, inspired by the classic 1978 horror film Halloween.

In our country, 16,505 tickets were sold for the first week of the film’s screening, and its worldwide box office is currently estimated at more than $63 million. Not bad for Michael Myers, the legendary faceless assassin created over four decades ago by John Carpenter who revolutionized the genre.

However, at a time when the new “Halloween” is in cinemas, on small screens and, in particular, on Netflix, the presence of another killer “haunts”. “Dahmer Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”, as it’s fully titled, became the second most watched English-language series in the platform’s history, behind only the fourth season of Stranger Things. For those – probably a few – who don’t know, this is the true story of cannibal killer Jeffrey Dahmer, who sowed terror in Milwaukee between 1978 and 1991, taking advantage of the tragic oligarchy of power.

The series fictionalizes Dahmer’s murder spree, mostly through the stories of his victims, starting with his childhood and moving on to… the dark side. The audience is mesmerized. Netflix’s special metrics, which refer to the length of time each program is watched in minutes, shows how “addictive” a particular series and, by extension, a particular story. A few days ago, it was reported that eBay, a popular online retailer, banned the sale of “Jeffrey Dahmer” costumes because they “promote or glorify violence,” and related orders exploded ahead of the Halloween celebration.

But it’s not just about Dahmer. More recently, the Disney+ platform has appeared. “Candies”· Jessica Biel plays Candy Montgomery, a Texas housewife who executed her neighbor Betty Gore with an ax in 1980. Disney+ has Under the Banner of Heaven with Andrew Garfield, which is about a heinous murder involving a Mormon family.

There are dozens of examples on Netflix, from the exotic “Reptile” with Tahar Rahim to the serial killer… an anthology in David Fincher’s excellent Mindhunter. All of this is just in terms of fact-based fiction, not to mention the countless documentaries and even more true crime podcasts that are especially popular in America.

In 2022, Carpenter’s old ghost (and his ilk) is now more like an iconic anti-hero and less like someone who can actually shock with his actions, even through the screen. At a time when real crimes are analyzed in detail and ad nauseam by both affiliated and non-affiliated media – we have seen this in our country with the recent incidents in Patras and Sepolia – only a realistic killer can truly capture public attention. Even if his own crimes are more heinous and unimaginable than what a screenwriter on TV or in a movie can imagine.