eBay Plays It Safe With Jeffrey Dahmer Costumes Ahead Of Halloween

The thrill of Halloween is here, with many celebrators globally looking forward to displaying their creativity in costumes.

It may not come as a surprise that several fans plan on imitating the notorious Jeffrey Dahmer, given the recognition he recently gained with the release of the 2022 Netflix series, "Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story."

Unfortunately, they will not be able to purchase any getup related to the serial killer on eBay as the online marketplace has removed sales of such items for violence policy violations.

Fascination with Dahmer-inspired costumes, including glasses, wigs, and shirts, has redoubled since the true crime show premiered on September 21 for the Halloween season. 

Shirley Hughes, the mother of one of Dahmer’s victims, also called out the use of his image for getups as being exploitative and triggering to see people dressed like the murderer that killed her son, Tony Hughes. Not to mention, TikToker Jack Wright was slammed recently for sharing a video in which he recreated a scene from the production.

In light of the negativity associated with Dahmer, an eBay rep confirmed that all the infamous killer’s items are being taken out under its violence and violent criminals policy, per The Daily News.

The policy prohibits "items closely associated with or that benefit violent felons, their acts, or crime scenes within the past 100 years." As for the user agreement, it states, "listings that promote or glorify violence or violent acts, or are associated with individuals who are notorious for committing violent acts, are not allowed."

The eCommerce brand admittedly utilizes the policy “out of respect for victims of violent crimes” and to foster trust, respect, and safety within the market community. Dahmer may be long dead for nearly three decades, but he still bears a mark in the victims’ families’ lives, which viewers understood in the 2022 Netflix series.

As different opinions concerning the production created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan continue to hit the headlines, some fans believe it was sympathetic to the murderer. However, The Blast reported that Brennan set the record straight by disproving those views.

During the conversation with PageSix, the co-creator expressed his belief that the film showed Dahmer as a human being while also revealing him as "monstrously human" and "monstrously monstrous." He added:

"That’s what we wanted to sort of unpack. We tried to show an objective portrait as possible. We did our homework."

Dahmer, who murdered seventeen boys and young men between 1978 and 1991, was brutally beaten to death in 1994 while serving multiple life sentences. Many of his killings involved cannibalism, necrophilia, and preserving body parts detailed in the thrilling series, making it the second most-viewed English show of all time with 701.37 million hours viewed.

The popularity was surprising to co-creator Brennan who confessed that he had no clue why it happened even though he kept wondering. He felt it was interesting when “horrific stories” like “Dahmer” could resonate with people, which he also believed was a way for such people to “approach scary things about themselves” and see it depicted on screens. 

Nevertheless, the 44-year-old did not still understand why fans were pining after the notorious murderer as he saw it as “creepy” and “crazy.”

Brennan may see the attraction to serial killers as creepy, but those with the fascination have the opposite view. This was recently discussed on “The Kyle and Jackie O Show,” focusing on female devotees.

The Blast shared details of the conversation, including a woman calling in to make a shocking revelation about being aroused by the serial murderer. She confessed:

"I am a happily married mum of three. But when I started watching Jeff, because my friends told me to, something just switched in me."

The mother-of-three continued, “And there was one particular episode where he’s got his head over his victim’s heart, and he’s listening to the beat, and you can just hear the beat.” That scene caused her to masturbate, eventually becoming “a regular thing,” shocking the show’s hosts. 

The female further explained that the episode was “so far away” from her regular life, and it transported her to “this other place” when she heard the heartbeat “echoing” in her head.