Real life victim Terra Newell has slammed the Jeffrey Dahmer series and confessed she was “emotionally distraught” within the first five minutes of watching the show.
Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story was released on Netflix last month and follows the infamous Milwaukee serial killer who murdered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991, several of which involved necrophilia and cannibalism.
Terra, 30, said watching the show brought back her own traumatic memories from when she was attacked in 2016 by John Meehan who came at her with a knife.
READ MORE: Netflix fans ‘physically sick’ as Jeffrey Dahmer series airs disturbing cannibal scenes
Managing to fight back, Terra kicked the knife out of his hand and stabbed him in self-defence which resulted in John’s death four days later.
(Image: Getty Images)
In an exclusive chat with Daily Star, Terra spoke about her feelings towards the series and how her mental health came into consideration when it came to whether she would watch it.
She said: “I’m on three episodes now but I was pretty emotionally distraught by it. I actually stopped watching it after the first five minutes and then I went back to watch more because I wanted to have more knowledge of the show. But I also have to pay attention to my mental health. How much can I watch of this show?”
Reflecting on the show’s opening scene which features Jeffrey Dahmer (Evan Peters) cleaning a knife covered in blood, Terra called it “disgusting” for “glorifying” his horrific crimes.
“I get that it grabs your attention but I had to kill someone with a knife so although I’m biased with my opinion, to see someone cleaning a knife, and planning these murders and to get glorified is disgusting to me,” she explained.
(Image: Getty Images)
The trauma coach also mentioned how “angry” she is for the victims’ families who reportedly weren’t informed the show was being made.
Terra added: “I think that you need to compensate [the victim’s families] especially if they do what I do, they’re gonna go back to therapy, they’re gonna pay those bills, they will struggle.
“They don’t realise how badly it retraumatises you, even if you don’t watch the show, there’s really no escaping it.
(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
“And when I heard that they were upset, I was just angry for them and I wanted to show my support by speaking out for them because I feel that it’s not right.”
A Netflix series called Dirty John was made in 2018 and was based on John Meehan’s relationship with Terra’s mother, Debra which also included a scene on his death.
Speaking about Netflix approaching her, she said: “When I did Dirty John they did ask me about my attack and and they essentially got consent for the show. It was going to be made with or without us but I did decide to get on board with it.”
(Image: NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
The life coach went in to detail about her traumatic fight with John and confessed series like The Walking Dead and Dexter helped aid her in defending herself.
“I defended myself against John as if he were a zombie in The Walking Dead,” Terra explained, adding: “He fell on me and I held his head and then the last stab wounds were to his head and then the last one was to his eye which was the softest point of entry to the brain which is how they kill zombies.”
(Image: NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
“When you watch a lot of television it ingrains in your brain. You remember things and you remember facts. I learned from Dexter that you have to hold the knife really tight so that you don’t get a scar.
“Then I learned from the show Burn Notice how to be in a knife attack because you have to control the knife in one of those attacks.”
Terra uses her platform to help other people who have been through trauma and offers coach training and advice to help people with their mental health.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
