Monster creator reveals how they pick the show’s subjects and the stories they want to tell next

The Monster anthology might have only just released the season about Lizzie Borden, but already people are wondering who the show might turn into a Netflix series next. 

The show was created to examine the stories of different killers, and to look at the question of whether someone is born a monster, or if this is created within someone over time. So far, the show has focused on Jeffrey Dahmer, Lyle and Erik Menendez, Ed Gein, and Lizzie Borden. 

Now, the creator of the show has said that new stories are being eyed up for the future, and has explained what goes into making that choice. It doesn’t sound easy!

via Netflix

Who do the creators of Monster on Netflix want to focus around next? 

Showrunner Ian Brennan has revealed he is already thinking about future seasons. In a chat with PEOPLE about who could be the centre of more episodes, he said: “God, there’s so many. We’ve talked about BTK (Dennis Rader). [He] is a fascinating one… Ted Bundy, Green River Killer… We’ve toyed with Luigi Mangione, who is fascinating.”

The BTK killer was found guilty of 10 murders, Ted Bundy has confessed to 30, but it’s believed he may have killed more like 100 people, and Gary Ridgway (the Green River Killer), pleaded guilty to 49 murders. Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty to two federal stalking charges over the 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson. 

The showrunner said there is a “million” people they could choose to focus on, if they wanted to.

There’s a fine line to tread when picking who to focus on 

via Netflix

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Because the possibilities are almost endless, Ian Brennan explained there’s a bit of an art when it comes to making the right choice of who to make into a Netflix drama. 

“It’s all tricky because most murderers just aren’t that interesting. It’s horrific, and you don’t want to watch it,” he said. “That’s what’s so tricky about the show is finding a subject matter that you can spend 10 hours with. It’s one thing to watch a movie about something, to spend 90 minutes in the head of someone, but six or seven hours is a whole other thing.” 

He said that he and creator Ryan Murphy spend a long time looking at who fits the anthology, and who they want to explore more. 

“That’s the most curious part of this process is trying to land on something that Ryan and I both find worth the effort and worth the time,” Ian explained. “It’s so interesting how few stories really fit this anthology. I continue to be fascinated by that fact. It’s really, really tricky to find something that you want to explore deeper.” 

He admitted they felt as though they had only focused on male killers before Lizzie Borden, so she felt like “the right subject to look at, to look squarely at the idea of female rage.”

Ian added: “She’s so enigmatic as a historical figure. I didn’t even know that much about her. I don’t think most people do. When we began to dig into the research, I was just immediately taken with how much I felt for her and how much I got why she did what she did.

“There was something that was really, really very likeable about her as a person despite the crime that I think she likely committed because she was sort of a caged animal. I think she was a product of a time [when] it was really difficult to be a young woman. She was so constrained by not just her family, but her opportunities, the community she lived in, the psychology of the time.”

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news and drops, like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.