The enduring fascination with true crime and the creative engine of Ryan Murphy have once again converged to deliver a massive hit for Netflix. According to the latest viewership data released by the streaming giant, the newest installment of the acclaimed anthology series, “Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story,” has officially claimed the No. 1 spot on the Netflix Top 10 charts. In its first four days of availability, the series garnered a staggering 12.2 million views, marking a triumphant return for a franchise that has become a cornerstone of Netflix’s original programming strategy.
The debut of the Lizzie Borden narrative marks the fourth major iteration of the "Monster" brand, which first captivated global audiences in 2022. The 12.2 million views recorded between its premiere and the close of the tracking window represent a significant achievement, particularly given the increasingly crowded landscape of premium streaming content. This performance cements the series’ status as a "must-watch" cultural event, drawing in both long-time fans of the anthology and those intrigued by the historical notoriety of the Borden case.
Consistency Across the Anthology
When analyzing the trajectory of the "Monster" franchise, the performance of "The Lizzie Borden Story" highlights a remarkable level of consistency in audience engagement. The 12.2 million views achieved by the Borden installment place it almost exactly on par with its immediate predecessors. In 2025, the anthology explored the macabre history of "The Ed Gein Story," which also opened to 12.2 million views during its initial four-day window. Similarly, the 2024 release of "The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story" saw a nearly identical opening, securing 12.3 million views in its first four days of streaming.
This pattern suggests that the "Monster" franchise has established a loyal and reliable "floor" for its viewership. Regardless of the specific historical figure being profiled, the brand itself—built on the aesthetic and narrative sensibilities of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan—carries enough weight to guarantee a massive global audience. The parity between the Menendez, Gein, and Borden installments indicates that Netflix has successfully cultivated a recurring viewership that views the "Monster" series as a premier destination for high-production, dramatized true crime.
The Shadow of the Dahmer Phenomenon
While the recent installments have shown impressive stability, they continue to operate in the shadow of the franchise’s inaugural season. "The Jeffrey Dahmer Story," which premiered in late 2022, remains the undisputed heavyweight champion of the anthology. At the time of its release, Netflix had not yet transitioned to its current "views" metric, which calculates viewership by dividing total hours watched by the runtime of the project. Instead, the platform primarily reported success through raw hours watched.
In its first four days, the Dahmer series logged a breathtaking 196.2 million hours watched. When translated into the modern "views" metric, that figure equates to approximately 22.3 million views—nearly double the opening figures of the subsequent seasons. The Dahmer installment did more than just top the weekly charts; it became a genuine social phenomenon, eventually securing its place as the No. 7 most popular English-language TV series in the history of the platform.
The disparity between the Dahmer debut and the subsequent seasons can be attributed to several factors, including the sheer shock value of the original release and the specific cultural moment in 2022. However, the fact that the franchise has maintained a steady 12-million-view opening for three consecutive years thereafter is, in many ways, a more significant testament to the brand’s long-term viability than a single viral hit.
A Cumulative Milestone for the Franchise
The success of the Lizzie Borden installment has pushed the "Monster" franchise into rare territory regarding cumulative reach. Netflix reports that the anthology as a whole has now surpassed nearly 170 million views across all four seasons. This aggregate figure reflects the "long tail" of the series; while new seasons drive immediate spikes in traffic, older installments continue to attract new viewers and returning fans, creating a compounding effect that benefits the platform’s overall engagement metrics.
The 170 million view milestone is a key indicator of the franchise’s value to Netflix’s library. Unlike limited series that may fade from the public consciousness shortly after their debut, the "Monster" seasons function as a cohesive body of work that subscribers can revisit. This cumulative success justifies the significant investment Netflix has placed in Murphy’s vision, demonstrating that true crime, when handled with high-tier talent and production value, remains one of the most bankable genres in the streaming era.
Contextualizing the Historical Narrative
The choice of Lizzie Borden as the subject for the latest season follows the franchise’s tradition of focusing on figures who have left an indelible, often controversial, mark on American history. The 1892 murders of Andrew and Abby Borden in Fall River, Massachusetts, have been the subject of intense speculation, academic study, and pop-culture fascination for over a century. By applying the "Monster" lens to this Victorian-era mystery, the series has managed to bridge the gap between historical period drama and modern psychological thriller.
This shift to a more historical, "cold case" style of narrative differentiates the Borden story from the more contemporary settings of the Dahmer and Menendez seasons. The viewership numbers suggest that the audience’s appetite for the "Monster" brand is not limited to modern crimes, but extends to any narrative that explores the darker complexities of the human psyche and the failures or peculiarities of the legal system.
The Landscape of the Netflix Top 10
The rise of "The Lizzie Borden Story" to the No. 1 position comes during the tracking period of September 14-20, a week that saw a diverse array of content vying for subscriber attention. The Netflix Top 10 for this period illustrates the platform’s dual focus on high-budget domestic productions and a robust slate of international acquisitions.
In the English-language TV category, the "Monster" series led the pack, followed by a mix of returning favorites and new reality programming. The movie side of the English-language charts also showed strong engagement, though the "Monster" debut remained the most significant "event" of the week across the entire service. Meanwhile, the non-English-language charts continued to show the strength of global content, with several international series maintaining multi-week runs in the Top 10.
Netflix’s decision to provide transparent data for both English and non-English titles has allowed industry analysts to better understand the global nature of streaming hits. For the "Monster" franchise, the 12.2 million views for Borden are a global figure, reflecting a broad appeal that transcends the American historical context of the crime itself.
Understanding the Metrics: Hours vs. Views
The reporting of these figures also highlights the evolution of how Netflix defines success. For years, the industry relied on "hours watched," a metric that naturally favored longer series with more episodes. To provide a more equitable comparison between a three-hour movie and a ten-hour limited series, Netflix introduced the "views" metric.
By calculating views as (total hours watched / total runtime), Netflix provides a clearer picture of how many people actually completed or significantly engaged with a program. The 12.2 million views for "The Lizzie Borden Story" indicate a high "completion rate" or a very large number of unique accounts starting the series. This metric has become the gold standard for evaluating the performance of Netflix originals, and the consistency of the "Monster" franchise within this framework confirms its status as one of the platform’s most reliable assets.
The Future of the "Monster" Anthology
As the "Monster" franchise continues to evolve, the debut of the Lizzie Borden story serves as a validation of the anthology format. By rotating subjects while maintaining a consistent creative team and tonal approach, Netflix and Ryan Murphy have avoided the "sequel fatigue" that often plagues long-running dramas. Each season offers a fresh entry point for new viewers while rewarding the established fan base with the familiar stylistic hallmarks of the series.
With 170 million cumulative views and a proven track record of hitting the No. 1 spot, the "Monster" series is likely to remain a fixture of the Netflix production slate for years to come. The ability to generate 12.2 million views in just four days is a clear signal that the public’s interest in these "monstrous" historical figures is far from exhausted.
As the tracking week concludes, "The Lizzie Borden Story" remains a dominant force on the charts, with viewership expected to grow as word-of-mouth spreads and the series moves into its second and third weeks of availability. For now, the "Monster" brand continues its reign as a titan of the true-crime genre, proving that some stories, no matter how old, never lose their power to captivate an audience.
