Jeffrey Dahmer victim’s mother begs people not to dress as him for Halloween

Shirley Hughes says constumes simply exploit victims of the ‘Milwaukee cannibal’

The mother of one of Jeffrey Dahmer’s victims has criticised people for using Halloween costumes inspired by the serial killer as it “traumatises” the families of the victims.

Shirley Hughes, mother of Tony Hughes – a deaf victim of Dahmer among 17 others murdered by him – said she is outraged by the “evil” Halloween costumes inspired by the serial killer.

She believes the costumes simply exploit the victims of the cannibal serial killer, also referred to as the “Milwaukee cannibal”, and traumatise their families.

Several costumes have attracted the ire of Twitter users after Netflix aired the controversial series Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.

The Dahmer costumes sport the killer’s signature spectacles and have wigs resembling his hairstyle along with short-sleeve button-down shirts.

Hughes, 31, had gone dancing at a Milwaukee gay bar on 24 May 1991, according to the Associated Press. Dahmer had picked him up, taken him home, drugged him, dismembered his body and kept his skull.

“When it first happened, I thought I would lose my mind,” Ms Hughes said at the time.

Ms Hughes also has a bone to pick with the Netflix series.

She said while people geared up to dress like Dahmer for fun, families of the victims are left to deal with their pain all over again. She told TMZ that “if Netflix hadn’t streamed the show, none of the families would be re-victimised... and then there’d be no Dahmer costumes this year”.

She said Dahmer was “pure evil” and that she doesn’t understand why people would choose to dress like him and how they can sleep at night.

The serial killer was sentenced to life in prison in 1992 and was murdered by a fellow prisoner two years later. Most of his victims were black or gay or both.

Following the outrage over the costumes last week, many big retail stores stopped selling Dahmer-inspired costumes. But people have instead flocked to online portals like eBay which continue to sell props like blonde wigs, retro-style tops and wire-rimmed glasses.