The new Netflix series Monster: The Ed Gein Story is based on the real-life crimes of one of America’s most infamous killers. While you may not know his name, you almost certainly know the horror movies his gruesome acts inspired.
The show, which stars Charlie Hunnam as the titular “Butcher of Plainfield,” explores the life of the Wisconsin handyman whose macabre crimes in the 1950s sent shockwaves through his small community and later provided the blueprint for characters in Psycho, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs.
Who Was Ed Gein?
Edward Theodore Gein was born on August 27, 1906, in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and later moved with his family to an isolated farm in Plainfield. His childhood was marked by isolation and the domineering influence of his mother, Augusta Gein, a fervently religious woman who taught him that women and sex were evil. Ed idolized his mother, and her death in 1945 was a devastating blow that left him completely alone.
In the community, Gein was seen as a harmless, if eccentric, recluse who did odd jobs and occasionally babysat for neighbors. People considered him quiet and reliable. As one criminology professor noted, serial killers often don’t stand out in a crowd, and Gein was no exception.
How Many People Did Ed Gein Kill?
Ed Gein confessed to murdering two women: Mary Hogan, a tavern owner who disappeared in 1954, and Bernice Worden, a hardware store owner whose murder in 1957 led to Gein’s arrest.
While police found body parts from multiple women in his home, many of these were taken from graves he had robbed. Gein admitted to exhuming as many as nine corpses from local cemeteries over a five-year period, starting around 1947. He was a suspect in other unsolved cases, but polygraph tests and investigations did not link him to any other murders. Some experts argue that Gein was more of a necrophile—someone fascinated with corpses—than a traditional serial killer who enjoyed the act of killing itself.
“When they found all these human body parts at Gein’s house, they assumed they were all murder victims, because nobody imagined that he was a grave robber,” explained author Harold Schechter. “In fact, when he revealed that he was a grave robber, it was harder for people to believe than that he’d gone around murdering all these people.”
The “House of Horrors”
When police searched Gein’s farmhouse in November 1957, they discovered a scene of unimaginable horror. In a shed, they found the body of Bernice Worden, decapitated and disemboweled “like a deer carcass,” hanging from the rafters.
Inside the main house, the discoveries grew even more macabre. Investigators found:
- A collection of human skulls, some used as bowls.
- Masks made from the skin and hair of female faces.
- A lampshade, chair seats, and a wastebasket made from human skin.
- A “woman suit” — a vest, leggings, and a corset crafted from female skin, which he intended to wear.
- A belt made from human nipples and a box containing nine vulvas.
- The heart of Bernice Worden in a plastic bag.
- The face mask and skull of Mary Hogan.
Gein later told investigators that a “force built up” in him after his mother’s death. He reportedly created the skin suit and masks in a twisted attempt to “become” his mother, literally trying to crawl into her skin.
Capture and Trial
Gein was arrested on November 16, 1957, after Worden’s son told police that Gein had been the last customer at his mother’s store. He was initially found unfit to stand trial and was committed to a mental hospital. A decade later, in 1968, he was deemed competent and stood trial for the murder of Bernice Worden. He was found guilty but was then ruled not guilty by reason of insanity. He was sent back to a psychiatric institution, where he spent the rest of his life. Gein died of respiratory failure on July 26, 1984, at the age of 77.
The Cast of the Netflix Series
The new season of Ryan Murphy’s Monster anthology delves into this disturbing story with a star-studded cast.
- Charlie Hunnam plays Ed Gein. Hunnam underwent a significant physical transformation for the role, losing over 30 pounds. He described Gein’s soft, high-pitched voice as an “affectation,” a persona Gein created for his mother.
- Laurie Metcalf portrays Gein’s domineering mother, Augusta. The creators called Metcalf a “theater goddess” and the only choice for the part.
- The series also features Tom Hollander as filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock and Joey Pollari as Anthony Perkins, exploring how Gein’s crimes directly inspired the classic film Psycho.
- Lesley Manville plays murder victim Bernice Worden.
“Ed Gein’s fairly obscure,” said co-creator Ian Brennan. “You take the facts and the things that happened and then just try to get in the guy’s head.”
The real Ed Gein’s farmhouse burned to the ground in 1958, likely by arson. He was never tried for the murder of Mary Hogan or for his grave robbing, and he remains buried next to his mother in the Plainfield Cemetery.
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