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‘Dexter’: 10 Facts You Need To Know Before ‘Dexter’ Returns

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 03:18 PST, Jan 25, 2016

Dexter kept fans entertained and suitably creeped out for eight wonderful seasons. Dexter’s disturbing personality had viewers firmly entrenched in the intrigue of the show. However, there are quite a number of interesting, even phenomenal facts about the hit show that many fans aren’t aware of. And with rumors flying fast of a Dexter return, here are 10 facts about Dexter that all true fans need to know before Dexter comes back, in whatever form that may take.

1. Buzzfeed reports that in every scene in which Dexter uses a needle, there are actually two needles in play. There is a real needle, with a regular point on it, which is the one the viewers see, and then there is one with a retractable point, which is the one that appears to be going into the neck of Dexter‘s victim.

2. The “blood” used on Dexter is a special recipe cooked up by Joshua Meltzer. It’s a mixture of Dawn dish soap, maple syrup, food coloring, and peppermint oil.

“The blood is made from maple syrup, because it has a thicker texture and cleans up easier than corn syrup. If we use blood outside, flying things like wasps and bees that are drawn to the syrup don’t like peppermint. So if you put in some peppermint oil, you won’t have a problem. There’s nothing worse than someone lying next to a pool of blood, and all of a sudden they’re worried about being stung.”

3. Old blood on Dexter’s slides is made out of furniture dye, which looks like dried blood.

4. While it seems as though Dexter sets up his kill room quickly, it actually takes set designers 12 hours to set one up. Meltzer explains that it is a work of art.

“We try to make our kill rooms works of art. That’s what this show is about. We all know our crew, when we do our kill room days, that’s a tough day for everybody. It’s an emotional day for Michael, it’s an emotional day for the poor guy who’s on the table, and it’s a tough day for the crew, because we’re gonna be there [filming] usually anywhere from 8 to 9 hours.”

5. The actors that play the part of the victim on the table are well secured to the table and are completely naked except a nude G-string.

6. Over the seasons of Dexter, the way victims were wrapped had to change. Originally, the entire body was wrapped in plastic, but the skin of the victims couldn’t breathe, so the wrap was altered to what it was in later seasons, a wrap at the feet, the hips, the torso, and the head.

7. The List Love reports that the producers of Dexter have admitted that the inspiration for many of their serial killers have been based on real-life killers. For instance, Dexter’s Trinity Killer was based on the BTK Killer, Dennis Rader.

8. What Culture reports that David Zayas’ son frequently stepped in for him to play the character Angel. David Zayas Jr. could easily be a double for his father because the two look completely alike.

9. Dexter managed to anger Australia by remarking in one episode that Adelaide had the highest number of serial killers per capita. Whether or not the statistic was true, the South Australian government filed claims against the local Fox affiliate, and advertising for that season of Dexter was pulled.

10. Most of the cast was killed off over the eight years of the series, but none of the actors knew when their character might be killed off. Executive producer Sara Colleton explained why they approached it this way.

“You can’t tell them at the beginning of the year, because it’s just too hard for them to spend a whole season knowing this. It would somehow affect their performance.”

Despite this, it was apparently an honor for some to be killed by Dexter, at least for those who weren’t part of the regular cast.

Click through to watch classic scenes from the show, including Dexter killing Lila and even Dexter killing his own brother.

[Photos by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images]

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