CONTENT WARNING: Contains description of gruesome crimes
In the quiet farming town of Plainfield, Wisconsin, no one suspected shy, awkward Edward Theodore Gein of anything more sinister than being a bit of a recluse.
He was polite, kept to himself, and blended easily into the background.
But behind the doors of his ramshackle farmhouse, Ed Gein was hiding one of the most horrifying secrets in American true crime.
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Ed Gein’s childhood marked by fear
Ed’s early years were anything but happy. His father, George, battled alcoholism, while his mother, Augusta, ruled the household with fire-and-brimstone sermons and cruelty.
Despite her harshness, Ed worshipped her, hanging on her every word.
When George died in 1940, Ed stayed on the family farm with his mother and older brother Henry.
The brothers clashed constantly—Henry openly criticised Ed’s unhealthy devotion to Augusta.
Then in 1944, Henry was found dead after a mysterious fire.
Ed called police, leading them to Henry’s charred body when they arrived.
Although Henry’s body bore bruises on his head, his death was ruled an accident…
Then Augusta was left paralysed by a stroke, dying the following year. Ed was devastated.
Alone at the farm, he sealed off rooms and preserved them as shrines to his beloved mother.
From then on, he withdrew from the world.
Ed Gein’s crimes discovered
For years, Ed Gein lived in isolation, but then came a day that changed everything.
But on a cold November morning in 1957, the quiet of Plainfield was shattered.
Bernice Worden, 58, the friendly owner of the local hardware store, vanished.
Her last customer? Ed Gein. Known locally as an odd recluse.
Bernice’s son said Ed had called in the store the day before she disappeared and made plans to return to buy some antifreeze.
Police found a receipt made out for antifreeze as the last entry in Bernice’s receipt log. Had Ed come back like he said he would?
Police drove out to his farm to question him—and stumbled into a nightmare.
Bernice’s body was found in a shed, shot, decapitated, and strung up like a butchered animal.
nside the farmhouse, investigators discovered a scene so grotesque it left even seasoned officers sickened: bowls made from skulls, furniture upholstered in human skin, masks stitched from faces.
Most chilling of all, Ed had been piecing together a “woman suit” made of human flesh—an outfit he believed would let him step into his mother’s skin.
A twisted grave robber
Ed Gein had developed a monstrous interest in anatomy and had begun digging up women’s bodies from their graves.
He preferred recently diseased middle-aged women whose looks reminded him of his mother.
He’d drive them back to his farm before carving them up and fashioning every day household items from the remains.
Among Gein’s small circle was a couple with a 16-year-old son who went to watch movies and the baseball with Gein.
At his farm, he’d seen small shrunken heads which Ed said were relics from the Philippines sent to him by a cousin.
In fact, they were human facial skins.
The house of horrors was proof life can be worse than even the most twisted fiction.
His second confirmed victim
Among the grisly discoveries were the remains of another missing woman.
Mary Hogan, 51, was a local tavern owner who’d disappeared three years earlier.
After his arrest, Ed admitted to shooting her in her bar and dragging her body home on a sled.
And he confessed to robbing Bernice’s shop before shooting her dead.
The trial of a monster
Gein, then 51, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
He was sent to a psychiatric hospital.
It took over a decade before he was declared fit to stand trial for Bernice Worden’s murder.
The traumatised officer who first interviewed Gein back in 1957 was reported to have bashed the killer’s head against a wall, ruling his confession inadmissible.
In 1968 he was found guilty of killing Bernice Wordern but declared legally insane, and returned to the institution.
He was not convicted of Mary Hogan’s murder as he didn’t stand trial for it due to the costs.
Authorities always suspected him of other killings—even his brother Henry’s—but no further charges were ever proven.
He passed lie detector tests when questioned over other missing women.
Gein remained at the Mendota Mental Health Institute until his death in 1984, aged 77, from respiratory failure and lung cancer.
Buried alongside his parents and brother, his grave was vandalised by ghoulish souvenir hunters who chipped pieces off the grave marker.
Since the stone was stolen in 2000 and recovered in 2001, his grave has been left unmarked to deter visitors.
Small Town Killer to Hollywood Legend
Gein’s depravity became the blueprint for some of cinema’s most infamous villains.
- Psycho’s Norman Bates, obsessed with his dead mother.
- Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs, who skinned his victims to make dresses.
- Leatherface in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, who wore masks made from human skin.
Screenwriter Kim Henkel, who co-wrote Texas Chain Saw, later admitted: “I definitely studied Gein.”
Netflix incarnation: Monster: The Ed Gein Story
What is Monster: The Ed Gein Story?
It’s the third instalment of Netflix’s anthology series Monster, which dramatises the lives and crimes of infamous figures. This season focuses on Ed Gein, the “Plainfield Ghoul,” whose shocking murders and grave robbing terrified 1950s Wisconsin.
Previous seasons focused on cannibal killer Jeffrey Dahmer and Lyle and Erik Menendez.
When will it be released?
The series premieres globally on October 3, 2025 on Netflix.
Who plays Ed Gein?
Charlie Hunnam (known for Sons of Anarchy) takes on the chilling role of Ed Gein.
The casting has drawn some criticism over how little the actor looks like the killer. The decision has drawn the ire of some critics for possibly making Gein seem glamourous and alluring, and even sexy.
Who else is in the cast?
The series features a strong line-up, including Laurie Metcalf as Augusta Gein (Ed’s domineering mother), Suzanna Son as Adeline Watkins, Lesley Manville as Bernice Worden, and Tom Hollander as Alfred Hitchcock, with Olivia Williams as Alma Reville. Rising star Addison Rae and actors like Vicky Krieps, Joey Pollari, and Robin Weigert also appear.
What crimes will the series explore?
It covers Gein’s disturbing acts, including the murders of Bernice Worden and Mary Hogan, as well as his grave-robbing and creation of grotesque items from human remains.
The show also delves into his obsessive devotion to his mother and how it shaped his crimes..
What makes this series different from past depictions?
Rather than just focusing on the gore, Monster: The Ed Gein Story promises to explore the psychological, familial, and societal factors that created Gein’s “monster.”
It also examines the cultural impact his story had on horror films and popular imagination.
Who created the series?
The series is created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan.
