Monster Eyes 10 Seasons as Lizzie Borden Story Launches
Netflix's Monster is built for the long run. Co-creator Ian Brennan says he and Ryan Murphy plan 10 seasons in total, as season four, Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, arrived on Netflix on 17 September.
Monster is an anthology series, meaning each season tells a separate true-crime story with a new subject. It was co-created by Brennan and Murphy for Netflix. The new season was created and written by Brennan, with Max Winkler executive producing alongside Brennan and Murphy.
Ella Beatty stars as Lizzie Borden. She is the anthology's first female lead. Charlie Hunnam plays her father, Andrew Borden, one season after playing killer Ed Gein in season three. Rebecca Hall plays stepmother Abby Borden. Vicky Krieps plays housekeeper Bridget, known as Maggie, and also appears as Elizabeth Bathory in flashback. Sarah Paulson appears as Aileen Wuornos.
The season revisits a notorious American case. Borden was tried and acquitted over the 1892 hatchet murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. Netflix describes its version as the story of a woman trapped in a cruel Victorian-era household, whose parents are found killed with an axe in an attack that shocks the nation.
Brennan told The Hollywood Reporter that the team first tried to build season four around Luigi Mangione and the murder of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson. The idea was dropped. Brennan said it felt too new and too esoteric. Murphy had long wanted to tell the Borden story, which prompted the switch.
Filming on the Borden season began last year with Hunnam and Beatty attached, as reported in October 2025. The previous season, Monster: The Ed Gein Story, centred on Gein, billed by Netflix as the godfather of all serial killers. Trailers for the Borden season set up Beatty's Lizzie holding an axe, with the season dated for 17 September in an August report from The Hollywood Reporter.
Brennan said three options are already in the hopper for the next season. He did not name them. The 10-season figure is the creators' stated plan.
For viewers coming back to the show, the draw is familiar faces in new places. Hunnam moves from Gein to Borden's father. Paulson returns to the Murphy fold in a different true-crime role. The new season is now streaming on Netflix, according to Netflix.
