Netflix’s latest addition to Ryan Murphy’s Monster anthology series has viewers hooked for reasons beyond its chilling storyline.
The new season, Monster: The Ed Gein Story, explores the twisted life of one of America’s most notorious kill*rs, but a different character has unexpectedly stolen the spotlight.
In episode eight, titled “The Godfather,” audiences are introduced to another infamous figure: Richard Speck, the convicted murder*r of eight student nurses in Chicago in 1966.
The sequence has quickly become one of the most talked-about scenes in the series. Viewers watch as Speck appears inside Stateville Prison, portrayed in a shocking, post-transition depiction.
Dressed in women’s lingerie and visibly altered through extensive prosthetics, the character is shown running dr*g deals, selling s*x, and bragging about his supposed friendship with Ed Gein.
The unsettling portrayal left audiences stunned. Many called it one of the most disturbing moments in the show, while others were left wondering about the identity of the actor who delivered such a convincing transformation.
The scene, according to producers, was filmed inside the real Stateville Prison, the same facility where both Speck and fellow serial killer John Wayne Gacy were once incarcerated.
This decision, they said, added “a level of realism that couldn’t be replicated on a soundstage.”
Historically, Richard Speck was one of the most terrifying criminals of his time. In 1966, he broke into a Chicago dormitory and murder*d eight young nurses in a single night. One woman survived by hiding under a bed and later testified against him in court.
Though initially sentenced to d*ath, Speck’s punishment was later reduced to life in prison after Illinois abolished the d*ath penalty.
He died in 1991 of a heart attack, one day before his 50th birthday.
Years later, a leaked prison video from 1996 showed Speck wearing women’s underw*ar and appearing to have undergone hormonal changes. Details that the Netflix series accurately incorporates.
But the real twist isn’t in the storyline. It’s in the casting.
After the episode aired, fans flooded social media in disbelief when they discovered that the actor behind the chilling transformation was none other than Tobias Jelinek, the same man who played Jay, the mischievous bully from the 1993 Halloween classic Hocus Pocus.
For millions who grew up watching him torment Max Dennison before getting trapped by the Sanderson Sisters, the revelation was almost impossible to believe.
Jelinek, now 52, said he took on the role because of its extreme complexity and challenge. Speaking to Remind Magazine, he explained:
“Monster is much scarier and spookier territory than my beloved October mainstay, Hocus Pocus. Although, then again, I played a character locked in a cage, so maybe there is a thread. But I don’t think Jay would last long at Stateville, even with the help of Ice and hormones.”
Since his breakout in Hocus Pocus, Jelinek has appeared in shows like Stranger Things, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and This Is Us.
But critics say this is his most transformative performance yet. Both physically and emotionally.
Fans have described his portrayal as “unrecognizable,” “haunting,” and “Oscar-worthy,” praising how seamlessly he disappeared into such a disturbing real-life role.
As Monster: The Ed Gein Story continues to dominate Netflix’s charts, Jelinek’s shocking transformation has become one of the biggest talking points online, proving that in a series built on horror, the most haunting surprise can come from the person you least expect.
Featured Image: (Netflix/Wikipedia)
