Harriet Brewis
Oct 29, 2022
THR
Netflix’s new series about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and the subsequent documentary The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes has opened up a stomach-churning trend on TikTok.
Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story starring Evan Peters as the notorious serial killer, also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal or the Milwaukee Monster has both broken records and sparked fierce controversy since its release last month, with many viewers accusing the biopic of being excessively gruesome and insensitive towards the murderer’s victims.
Dahmer strangled and dismembered 17 young men and boys between 1978 and 1991, with police finding horrifying polaroid shots of their bodies around his home.
And whilst many of us find it hard enough to watch depictions of Dahmer’s crimes, some social media users have relished looking up the real-life images.
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The so-called “Jeffrey Dahmer polaroid challenge” sees TikTokers searching for the pictures online and then filming and sharing their reactions to them.
The search terms “Jeffery Dahmer victim polaroids” have garnered 531.2 million views on the platform, to give some indication of the extent of people’s morbid fascination.
TikTok has made moves to remove some of the unspeakable content, however, users have continued to egg each other on, with one creator posting a clip titled “Jeffrey Dahmer real polaroids”, with the caption: “EDITED REPOST!! [Because] TikTok took down the unedited one with 130k views.” This video has been viewed more than 2.8 million times in two days.
Fortunately, countless social media users have condemned the macabre craze, with many asking why the images are available online at all.
\u201cthe new Jeffery Dahmer show is so fucking grisly. i cannot believe it happened irl & what happened to all those deceased victims \ud83d\ude30 what a sick man he was. what\u2019s even worse is that there are a couple REAL polaroid photos that he actually took released out there on the internet.\u201d— lyss \ud83e\udef6\ud83c\udffc (@lyss \ud83e\udef6\ud83c\udffc) 1664317012
\u201cPeople on tiktok are upset because they couldn't find the Polaroids Dahmer took of his victims???? What tf is wrong with people? I'm actually sick to my stomach right now.\u201d— Cheyenne\u2077 (@Cheyenne\u2077) 1664431936
Others have criticised those voicing their disgust at the photos, asking why they looked them up in the first place.
\u201cThe tiktok\u2019s r so shocked about the jeffery dahmer polaroids like Hello???? He ate People\u2019s insides and kept their bleached Bones in his apartment what did u think the polaroids would be like\u201d— joy (@joy) 1664565056
Indy100 has contacted TikTok for comment.
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