The Monster and Ryan Murphy, the director of the franchise has found its next infamous American killer. For Season 4, Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan are turning their attention to Lizzie Borden, the Massachusetts woman whose name became synonymous with one of the most notorious unsolved murder cases in American history.
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story arrives on Netflix on September 17, 2026, bringing the 1892 murders of Andrew and Abby Borden to the screen. And if you know the case only from the famous nursery rhyme, prepare to learn that the real story is considerably stranger.
The fourth season centers on Lizzie Borden, who was accused of murdering her father, Andrew, and her stepmother, Abby, at their Fall River, Massachusetts, home on August 4, 1892.
The case quickly became a national sensation. Lizzie was arrested, put on trial and ultimately acquitted in 1893. No one else was ever convicted, leaving the murders officially unsolved.
That uncertainty is precisely what makes Borden such a compelling subject for Monster. Rather than simply retelling the murders, the series explores the family dynamics, social pressures and relationships surrounding Lizzie—and the question that has haunted the case for more than a century: Did she actually do it?
Season 4 follows Monster: The Ed Gein Story, which premiered in 2025 with Charlie Hunnam playing the notorious Wisconsin murderer.
The third season attracted enormous attention, but its reception was decidedly mixed. Hunnam’s performance was one of the elements most frequently singled out for praise, while critics questioned the series’ decision to dramatize and expand on aspects of Gein’s story.
That debate is important for Season 4. Monster has increasingly faced questions about where the line sits between true-crime storytelling and sensationalism. With Lizzie Borden, however, the filmmakers have a different kind of mystery to work with: the central suspect was never convicted.
Ella Beatty leads the series as Lizzie Borden. She is joined by an ensemble cast that includes Charlie Hunnam (also played Ed Gein in Season 3 of Monsters) as Andrew Borden, Rebecca Hall as Abby Borden, Billie Lourd as Emma Borden and Vicky Krieps as Bridget Sullivan, the Borden family's maid.
The season also features Sarah Paulson as Aileen Wuornos, connecting Borden's story to another notorious female figure (engaged in street prostitution along highways in Florida, Wuornos shot, killed, and robbed seven of her male clients) in true crime.
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story premieres September 17, 2026 on Netflix.