Monster Season 5: What We Know, And Who It Could Be About

If you’re a fan of Ryan Murphy’s gruesome anthology series Monster, you’ve likely spent the last few days hooked its newest iteration, which focusses on the case of Lizzie Borden.

While the horror series was originally conceived as a limited series, after the success of Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Netflix renewed it as an anthology, which was followed by Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story in 2024, Monster: The Ed Gein Story in 2025 and the most recent incarnation, Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, which debuted just this week.

For those who’ve already binge-watched The Lizzie Borden Story, and aren’t already disturbed and haunted enough, you might already be looking ahead to the future, and whether a fifth season could be on the cards.

Here’s everything we know so far about what’s next for the Monster franchise…

A fifth outing for Netflix’s Monster anthology series has not yet been officially renewed.

However, it’s fair to say its showrunner seems keen on continuing to explore the dark world of true crime with more instalments to come.

Speaking to Variety in September 2025, Ryan Murphy revealed that he and his collaborators “have a ‘maybe one day’ file” consisting of ideas for future seasons, indicating the American Horror Story creator already has many more chilling stories of real-life murders still to explore.

While Ryan hasn’t revealed exactly who he has in mind as the central character in season five of Monster, he has teased the type of person he has in mind.

Ryan admitted to Variety last year he had been considering making a series of the Netflix show about Luigi Mangione, the accused killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, although he acknowledged this was something he might have to revisit much later in the future.

“We know nothing about him,” he pointed out. “There was nothing to write — we didn’t have information yet. Maybe something will come out in the trial.”

While the show’s creators haven’t revealed who a fifth season could centre on, Ryan Murphy has ruled out some famous names for true crime fans.

He told Variety last year that his intention with Monster is to “provoke questions” about broader social issues, through the lens of true crime.

For this reason, co-showrunner Ian Brennan has ruled out a series dedicated to John Wayne Gacy, claiming he feels there is “nothing redemptive” about the murderer.

The team also feel the same way about the Golden State Killer and Original Night Stalker, Joseph James DeAngelo Jr.

Ian claimed: “The second the name comes up for us, every year, both of us go, No. There’s no pathos.”

Although there had been rumours that an upcoming series would revolve around Ted Bundy, Ryan said he was uninspired by the man who kidnapped and killed multiple women in the 1970s.

Ryan suggested: “When you look at those crimes, what are the themes there? It doesn’t ask you any questions about society. It feels too murderous — not interesting enough.”

For years, fans have speculated about who could be the focus of an upcoming anthology series.

One popular suggestion on the Netflix subreddit named Richard Ramirez as a potential story idea for season five, noting that his story has “societal commentary” that fits Ryan Murphy’s interests.

“The 1985 Los Angeles setting provides the perfect gritty, sun-drenched noir aesthetic. More importantly, Ramirez’s crimes happened right at the peak of the 1980s Satanic Panic,” the post said, suggesting that the series could also “explore how heavy metal culture, media sensationalism, and religious hysteria completely gripped and terrified the public”.

Another heavily “upvoted” Reddit comment mentioned Gerard Schaefer, the so-called Butcher of Blind Creek, and George Tiaffay, the Las Vegas firefighter sentenced for hiring a hitman to kill his wife, during a similar discussion.

One idea that the fandom is in agreement would be a bad one is a season focussed on the Columbine tragedy.

While Ryan has previously touched on the trauma of school shootings in a controversial episode of American Horror Story, Reddit users are near-unanimous that this is a piece of American true crime history that should be left alone, especially given the backlash to Ryan Murphy’s handling of past cases, most notably Jeffrey Dahmer.

Back in 2024, Ryan admitted he was interested in revisiting The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, after changes were made to their case once his show was already complete.

Speaking to Variety, Ryan claimed: “I think what I would be interested in doing, if Nicholas [Alexander Chavez] and Cooper [Koch] would agree to do it, is maybe one or two episodes that continue the story.”

All four seasons of Monster are streaming now on Netflix