Is that Jeffrey Dahmer in the background at Hawkins High School? That’s what some fans on TikTok are saying after watching a viral video with footage from Stranger Things 4. In the latest season of the hit Netflix series, one episode featured a scene with Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) exiting the school bus. At that time, another student just happens to walk by in the background, and some viewers have noticed that the young man has a physical resemblance to Dahmer. A clip of the scene has since gone viral with many others agreeing, due to the student’s blonde hair, glasses, and clothing.

We can presume that the reason this is going viral now and not when Stranger Things 4 debuted in May is because there has been a lot of recent attention on Dahmer since the Netflix premiere of the new series Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. In the series, Evan Peters plays the titular murderer alongside Niecy Nash as a suspicious neighbor whose concerns went ignored by the local authorities. The show had the highest debut on the platform since Stranger Things 4, and given Evans’ acclaimed portrayal, Dahmer just happens to be on the minds of many Netflix subscribers in recent days.

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Of course, the Stranger Things team couldn’t have anticipated this, and this is most likely not an intentional reference to Dahmer. The scary truth is that during the 70s and 80s, there were many people who looked a lot like Dahmer, and this was partly why he was able to carry out his murders undetected for as long as he had. Dahmer murdered at least 17 people from the late 70s to the early 90s, cannibalizing the remains of many of his victims. He was beaten to death by a fellow inmate in 1994 while serving his 941-year sentence.

Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story Has Been Subject to Controversy

     Netflix

Created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story debuted on Netflix in September. The series stars Evan Peters, Niecy Nash, Richard Jenkins, Molly Ringwald, and Michael Learned. The ten-episode series debuted to very high viewership and has sparked widespread praise for the acting of its lead stars, notably that of Peters and Nash.

But it hasn’t been a flawless debut for Monster on Netflix. Some critics of the series say that it’s perhaps too accurate to the real-life story and therefore disrespectful to the victims of the murderer. Some family members of victim Errol Lindsey have also condemned the Netflix series. There have been some issues behind the scenes as well as a production coordinator has alleged mistreatment endured on the set.

In any case, it’s clear that the release of the series has gotten a lot of people talking. All episodes of Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story can be found streaming on Netflix.