Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story Hits Netflix September 17 - Ella Beatty, Ryan Murphy and the Axe Murder That Still Haunts America

Netflix Is Bringing America Most Infamous Axe Murder Back to Your Screen

True crime obsessives, clear your calendars. Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, the fourth chapter of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan hit Netflix anthology series, drops on September 17, 2026 - and it might be the darkest season yet. After Dahmer (starring Evan Peters), Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (with Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez), and the Ed Gein chapter led by Charlie Hunnam, Murphy is turning the clock all the way back to 1892 Fall River, Massachusetts.

The new season stars rising talent Ella Beatty as Lizzie Borden, the Sunday-school teacher accused of hacking her father Andrew Borden and stepmother Abby Borden to death with a hatchet. The trailer - all blood-spattered dresses, whispered accusations, and that chilling axe - already has social media in a frenzy.

Who Was Lizzie Borden, Really?

Here is the wild part: this is not fiction. On August 4, 1892, Andrew and Abby Borden were found brutally murdered in their home, each struck multiple times in the head. Suspicion quickly fell on 32-year-old Lizzie, whose strange behavior and contradictory statements made her the prime suspect. Her trial became one of the first true media circuses in American history.

Lizzie was ultimately acquitted, but the question has haunted America for over 130 years: did she actually do it? The nursery rhyme says it all - Lizzie Borden took an axe, and gave her mother forty whacks. Murphy, never one to shy away from blending erotica and horror, is reportedly leaning hard into the psychological tension, the repressed Victorian atmosphere, and the subtext historians have debated for decades.

Why This Season Could Be the Biggest Yet

Every Monster season has dominated the Netflix Top 10 for weeks. Dahmer became one of Netflix most-watched English series ever. The Menendez season literally helped reopen conversation around the brothers real-life resentencing push.

So what makes Lizzie different?

• A female monster: After three seasons centered on men, the gender flip changes everything.
• A fresh star: Ella Beatty (daughter of Warren Beatty and Annette Bening) gets her biggest role yet.
• Perfect timing: Dropping right before spooky season, alongside The Gentlemen Season 2 and Fauda Season 5.
• The unsolved mystery factor: Unlike Dahmer or Gein, there was no conviction. Expect Reddit threads and TikTok theories to explode.

Early reports describe the show as part courtroom drama, part gothic horror, and part thriller - classic Ryan Murphy chaos, in the best way.

Should You Watch It?

Absolutely - if you survived Dahmer and devoured the Menendez brothers saga, Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story is essential viewing. It is gruesome, glamorous, and guaranteed to start arguments at every watch party.

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story premieres September 17, 2026, only on Netflix. Will you be watching?