9 Stars That’ve Given Chilling Portrayals of Real-Life Serial Killers

Some faces you just can’t forget.

That was the thought lurking in the back of our heads as we tried to figure out why the culprit at the heart of Netflix’s Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer seemed so familiar to us. As true crime fans, we have actually consumed many hours of bone-chilling docu-series and fictional films about serial killers.

Still, as we tuned into the Netflix docu-series for the first time, which dropped on Jan. 13, Richard Ramirez‘s face was eerily familiar to us. Before long, it hit us that season nine of American Horror Story had incorporated Ramirez’s haunting murders into their narrative.

So, it wasn’t technically Ramirez who we were recognizing, it was the actor who portrayed the prolific murderer. And while American Horror Story: 1984 wasn’t an accurate retelling of Ramirez’s crimes, actor Zach Villa was simply as terrifying as the real-life killer he was portraying.

This isn’t the first time that serial killers have received the Hollywood treatment. In fact, several of your favorite stars have actually played a few of background’s most dreadful wrongdoers.