-By Anthony Crupi

Showtime is taking a few more stabs at its drama series Dexter, ordering two additional season runs of 12 episodes each.

Production on season four of the Michael C. Hall serial-killer strip is slated to get under way this spring.

As the forensic detective who hunts down and murders Miami’s criminal class, Hall has been slaying Showtime subscribers of late. The Sept. 28 season three premiere scared up 1.2 million viewers, up 21 percent versus the year-ago opener. Week one of the new season cumed at over 3 million viewers.

Nominated this year for five Emmy Awards, including outstanding drama series and lead actor, Dexter also won a 2008 Peabody Award.

“Dexter’s enormous success is a tribute to the great achievements of its cast, the producing team, the author of the original book, and the gifted Michael C. Hall," said Showtime entertainment president Robert Greenblatt, by way of announcing the renewal. “I thought at best we would attract a devoted cult audience but soon realized that, ironically, this show is so thematically rich and layered with humanity that audiences of all kinds have flocked to it.”