As we approach the last week of October, Watch with us We’re excited to watch streaming content to get ready for Halloween.
And what’s better than a little real-life horror? There’s one drama series in particular that we think you should check out before the month is out.
Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy it’s a new show royal peacock about the titular serial killer. starring The assignment Miquel Chernus like Gacy, the show depicts the infamous killer’s double life as a respected member of the community and a bloodthirsty killer.
It’s one of the scariest shows of 2025. Here’s why you need to watch it right now.
Bureau of Prisons/Getty Images Peacock’s Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy is the latest scripted series focusing on a prolific serial killer. According to the show’s synopsis, the limited TV series “peers back the twisted layers of John Wayne Gacy’s life as he weaves together the harrowing stories of his mostly gay victims.” Devil in disguise (…)
This “Devil” is too horrible to be real, but it is
Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy focuses on one of the most infamous serial killers of all time, and yet remembering exactly what he did still seems incredible. Between 1972 and 1978, Gacy killed at least thirty-three young men and children in the Norwood Park Township suburb of Chicago, Illinois. He performed as a clown and was active in his community, often helping his neighbors with odd jobs and tasks. It was the perfect cover for his depraved activities.
Most of the murders he committed took place in his home, and most of his victims were buried under his crawl space. Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy depicts this double life that Gacy led, going unnoticed and unsuspected for so long, as well as the police investigation that led to his capture and the effect on his victims and their families.
‘Devil in Disguise’ does a great job of focusing on the victims
Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy it has been praised in particular for its portrayal of Gacy’s victims and the pain and trauma experienced by their friends and family. This contrasts with another true crime drama centered on a famous serial killer: Monster: The Ed Gein Story, which received widespread criticism for its perceived exploitation and sensationalization of Gein’s crimes, as well as sympathizing with him.
On the other side of the coin, Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy it makes the psychological trauma caused by Gacy’s crimes all too real. The series does a great job of focusing on the real lives lived by Gacy’s victims rather than simply dwelling on their gruesome deaths. It also shows how his murders affected everyone in his orbit and the pain they went through. Rather than dwelling on the horror of the depicted murders, the show focuses more on how Gacy was able to get away with it, how he embedded himself within this unsuspecting community, approached the police, and how he lured his victims. Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy he wants us to feel compassion rather than a sense of voyeurism.
It shows how Gacy got away with his crimes for so long
In addition to painting a more empathetic portrait of a serial killer’s victims than other true crime dramas tend to do, Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy it also serves as a successful indictment of the biases and established systems that allowed Gacy to evade justice for as long as he did. For one thing, the series portrays the Chicago Police Department as inept and ignorant, often ignoring the family’s pleas for help because the victim was gay or had a criminal record.
Actor Jack Merrill has some insight into why he survived a terrifying encounter with serial killer John Wayne Gacy. In his solo show The Save, a performance of which Us Weekly attended on Friday, January 17, Merrill, 65, says he was “kidnapped and raped by John Wayne Gacy” in Chicago when he was (…)
The show is explicit in its portrayal of how homophobia played a large part in letting Gacy get away with his crimes, as well as being a respected white business owner. It also shows how the people involved in the case benefited: lawyers got rich, policemen got second careers as public figures, but the families of the victims live with the pain for the rest of their lives. In short, Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy is an incredibly refreshing take on the serial killer’s true crime series, offering more than just lurid details and gory murders, but also the emotional aftermath.