As a self-proclaimed true crime fanatic, my spare time mainly consists of binging true crime documentaries and horror movies on streaming platforms. It’s safe to say that I was more than excited when I heard a docuseries about killer roommates, “Worst Roommate Ever,” was going to be released on Netflix on March 1. 

It’s difficult to spook me. I hardly ever get chills from the documentaries and horror movies I watch. However, once I heard Blumhouse Productions was behind this series, I realized that I was in for my first scare in a while. Most widely recognized for producing eerie horror movies such as “Get Out” and “Insidious,” the production company is definitely no joke when it comes to achieving true fear through their work. 

The series has a total of five episodes, each 40 minutes long. The first three are each dedicated to a different story and the last two focused on only one person. By the end of my binge marathon of this series, I was left with overwhelming paranoia. Evil people lurk in plain sight, and this show is living proof of that. 

The first episode, probably the most gut-wrenching, focuses on a 53-year-old woman, Dorthea Puente, posing as an elderly woman in her 70s in order to lure disabled victims into her “boarding” home to steal their social security checks and murder them. After killing each tenant, she ends up burying seven people two feet deep into her lawn and cashes the checks. 

The rest of the episodes that follow grow progressively more unsettling. In order, they include a man in a one-sided love obsession murdering his roommate because she rejected him, a foreign con man attempting to murder a friend in their home and a serial squatter who terrorizes women. 

“Worst Roommate Ever” offers itself to its audience as a warning sign, bringing awareness to the red flags you should notice when deciding to live with a stranger. As someone who has considered the idea of splitting rent with a roommate, I’ve now reconsidered. 

There’s a reason this series is ranked in the top ten in the U.S. on Netflix, with its fast-paced storytelling leaving its audience hooked, keeping their jaws dropped until the very end and motivating them to click “next episode” quicker than usual. “Worst Roommate Ever” achieves true horror, and is now my go-to recommendation for my fellow true crime junkies needing a quick scare.