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‘It hurts’: Jeffrey Dahmer victim’s mom calls out people dressing up like killer for Halloween

Shirley Hughes, the mother of Tony Hughes, who was murdered by Jeffrey Dahmer, said online stores selling serial killer-inspired costumes are profiting from victims' trauma

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN: The successful Netflix series 'Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story' has recently stirred up quite a bit of controversy. The accuracy of the events that the series derives from reality is frighteningly similar, and this has forced many families of the victims to come forward and condemn the series. One such family is that of Tony Hughes, 31, who was the deaf model in Ryan Murphy's series. The rising popularity of the series has led to people dressing up like Dahmer and buying his clothes from online stores, and the Internet is accusing people of idolizing a serial killer.

Tony Hughes was one of the 17 victims of the serial killer who was only 31 at the time of his death. Amidst the rising popularity of the serial killer after the show, many people dressed up as Jeffrey Dahmer, and many online stores put Dahmer's blonde wigs, vintage gold-framed sunglasses, and vintage drills for sale. Hughes had some striking remarks about it as well. Shirley Hughes previously told TMZ that it was already super triggering to see a hit Netflix series about the serial killer, and folks dressing like the killer was like putting the nail in the coffin. Many online stores refrained from selling Dahmer's cosplay items such as his famous wire-rimmed glasses and a wig just like his. But eBay continued to stock up its inventory. Reflecting on the same, Tony Hughes' mother opened up about how Netflix and all the online stores have profited off her son's death, while none of the victims' families have seen a dime. 

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The outlet reports that Hughes wants the eBay ads to be taken down, or at the bottom of it all, give the profits to the families who suffered at the hands of Jeffrey Dahmer the Milwaukee Monster. While speaking to Guardian, Shirley Hughes, his mother, explained that she did not see the entire Netflix series but insisted that "it didn’t happen that way." Hughes, 85, told The Guardian, "I don’t see how they can do that. I don’t see how they can use our names and put stuff out like that out there."

Internet slams people for dressing up like Dahmer

Shirley continued to share her worries about people dressing up like Dahmer and explained that she doesn't understand how people who choose to dress like him can sleep at night. Many people online side with her. One user wrote, "#Halloween2022 TO ALL KIDS N MY AREA IF YOU DRESS UP LIKE JEFFERY DAHMER U WILL NOT GET CANDY FROM MY HOME ANY OTHER COSTUME WILL BE SHOWERED WITH CANDY N BOOSIE CHIPS I LOVE THE KIDS BUT ALL “LITTLE DAHMERS”PLEASE SKIP MY HOUSE #thanks" Another user wrote, "It’s grotesque. Why are these evil serial killers made into idols?" One user called out people who are going to dress up like Dahmer saying, "People are really gonna dress up as Jeffery Dahmer for Halloween? Disgusting weirdos fr." Another concerned user tweeted, "Imagine your 14 year oldbrother was kidnapped, violated, dismembered, eaten, and had several pictures of their corpse in several different poses, and people and dressing up as the man who did it years down the line."

One angry user wrote, "if you dress up as Jeffrey Dahmer for halloween i hope someone knocks y*u out. he was not a fictional character, nor should he be a costume. he was a heinous human being who murdered and mutilated young boys and men." Another user said, "Only sick people would dress up as a mass killer. And stores are just in it for the profits knowing what they are doing is wrong"

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online