- 3 months ago
Discover the disturbing reality behind Netflix's "Monster" series. We're examining the true crimes of Ed Gein, the Butcher of Plainfield, and how his horrific acts inspired iconic horror characters like Norman Bates, Leatherface, and Buffalo Bill. From his troubled childhood to his macabre house of horrors, we separate fact from fiction in Ryan Murphy's controversial adaptation.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00I helped catch a killer today.
00:03Well, congratulations.
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:08And today, we're discussing the life and crimes of the notorious Ed Gein
00:11that inspired Netflix's third installment of Monster.
00:15Spoilers ahead for all eight episodes.
00:17It's not right.
00:21You're the one who can't look away.
00:25Ed Gein and modern horror.
00:27You don't break my heart, Eddie.
00:30I won't, Mother.
00:34Only a mother could love you.
00:36In 1957, a small Wisconsin town was blindsided by the horrific discoveries in the home of Ed Gein,
00:42later dubbed the Butcher of Plainfield.
00:45Netflix's latest season of Monster explores how he inspired numerous villains and slashers in a variety of media.
00:51I had to cast you, Anthony.
00:55You're like him.
00:56In the series, we start to follow Alfred Hitchcock as he works with Robert Bloch to adapt his 1959 novel, Psycho.
01:04The author has repeatedly stated he didn't base the character of Norman Bates on Ed Gein,
01:09but the show makes it seem like he thoroughly researched the man.
01:12Like others that'd follow, Hitchcock only used some elements of Gein's story, notably the disturbing, unhealthy mother-son relationship.
01:36The devil works in mysterious ways.
01:38He blinded you.
01:39He tricked you.
01:41What do you mean?
01:45Venereal disease.
01:46When he was young, Toby Hooper heard about a grave robber in Wisconsin who crafted furnishings using human remains.
01:53Along with other influences and ideas, this shocking, true story partially inspired 1974's horror classic, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
02:02I'm not making the movie this country wants.
02:05I'm making the movie it deserves.
02:08They created it.
02:12The ugliness, the violence, the cruelty, the depravity.
02:17The influential film depicts a group of road-tripping friends who are subjected to a deranged cannibal clan, and chainsaw-wielding killer Leatherface.
02:26Hello?
02:33Although Monster doesn't show as much behind the scenes as the previous films,
02:37serial killer Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs also share similarities with Gein,
02:42like an obsession with human skin and wearing women's clothes.
02:47A tragic upbringing.
02:54First, an evil son who humiliates his mother and is determined to drag us all to hell,
03:00and then I got you, a son so prone to all manner of weakness, who seems set on breaking his mother's heart.
03:06Born in La Crosse County, Wisconsin on August 27, 1906,
03:10Edward Theodore Gein was the youngest of George and Augusta Gein's two sons.
03:14Augusta raised Ed and his brother Henry under her extreme religious beliefs and negative views on women,
03:20purposely keeping them isolated on their Plainfield property.
03:23No, sir. You go. Get out. Now.
03:27I already broke my heart, so...
03:30don't make it worse by dragging it out.
03:33I don't want to leave your mother.
03:34Well, you already have.
03:36George struggled with substance use and often physically harmed his sons.
03:40After he died of heart failure in April 1940, the boys worked all over town doing odd jobs as handymen.
03:46Where you been?
03:49Oh, mother's gonna whip you when she sees you.
03:52Oh, no, no, no, no.
03:54Edward.
03:56Only one that's gonna whip them is you.
03:57Unlike Ed, Henry didn't develop an obsession with their mother and didn't want to live on the farm forever.
04:04In the first episode of Monster, Henry tells Ed that he's getting married and encourages him to break free of the domineering Augusta, too.
04:11You need to get out of here, too.
04:14Mother's sick. She's a sick woman.
04:16Wait.
04:16You shut your mouth.
04:17No, I won't.
04:18I don't want to hear about that.
04:19Ed.
04:19Don't talk like that about that.
04:21Ed hits him with a log, killing him instantly.
04:24To cover it up, he starts burning away marsh vegetation, moves Henry's body, and claims he's missing.
04:32What's all the shouting for?
04:34Fire got out of control. I can't find Henry. He was here.
04:37She tried to find him. I'll go into town for help.
04:39No, I'll fetch the police. You go find him, Eddie.
04:42When he's found, the coroner concludes that he died of asphyxiation.
04:47Despite long-held speculation, it was never proven that Ed intentionally killed Henry.
04:51In the 1989 biography, Deviant, The Shocking True Story of the Original Psycho,
04:57author Harold Schechter alleged that Henry's head had bruises.
05:00However, no autopsy was performed, and Ed later denied any involvement.
05:05You're right about mother.
05:08She's a good woman.
05:11I'll make it right with her.
05:14Soon after Henry's death on May 16, 1944, Augusta suffered a debilitating stroke.
05:19Ed cared for her by himself until she had another stroke, then passed away on December 29, 1945.
05:37Becoming the Butcher of Plainfield.
05:40Over the span of five years, Ed Gein lost his whole immediate family.
05:45However, the devastating death of his mother likely hit him the hardest.
05:48May the Lord forgive you for cursing.
05:52Hush up, Sally.
05:53It's the right.
05:53It's gonna die anyway.
05:54This is a house of hell.
05:58She is an unwind harlot.
06:00He lived all alone on the secluded farm, in a house without plumbing or electricity,
06:04letting his surroundings become more dilapidated and unkempt.
06:08Living in isolation, consuming pulp magazines and comic books about convicted war criminal Ilze Koch,
06:13a.k.a. the bitch of Buchenwald.
06:16It's believed he was inspired by her alleged affinity for using the skin of Jewish prisoners to make lampshades.
06:22Gein would, uh, return the bones to the graves sometimes when he was done with them.
06:27But this means that he was, um...
06:29What?
06:31He was stripping the flesh from the bodies.
06:35Ed began going to cemeteries at night, where he'd dig up the bodies of the recently deceased,
06:40specifically middle-aged women who reminded him of his mother,
06:43using their remains to make a, quote,
06:45woman suit.
06:46On December 8th, 1954,
06:48Ed Gein committed his first murder,
06:51shooting local tavern owner Mary Hogan and bringing her body home.
06:54I haven't seen you around.
06:57Well,
06:58what's bothering you?
07:03Oh, just
07:04girl trouble.
07:06He went on to rob more graves,
07:08creating more face masks and bizarre furnishings to fill the house.
07:12On the morning of November 16th, 1957,
07:15Gein shot hardware store owner Bernice Worden.
07:18I thought I had a chance of another life with you, Ed.
07:22Oh, you reminded me of him.
07:25Same face.
07:26Same
07:27red-playing arms.
07:30Oh, makes me weak.
07:32Later in the day, her son,
07:34Deputy Sheriff Frank Worden,
07:36stopped by the store,
07:37where he found blood and the last receipt she wrote,
07:40which was for Gein.
07:41In episode 4 of Monster,
07:43Ed Gein and Bernice Worden go on a date and hook up at her house,
07:46and later,
07:47talk about him moving in.
07:49This has been just magical.
07:51I haven't skated in years.
07:54You make me feel like a girl again.
07:57You are a girl.
07:58Huh?
07:58Did you?
07:59No, I don't.
08:00He likes that she indulges in his secret hobby of wearing ladies' underwear,
08:04but after returning to his empty home,
08:06he's scolded by a hallucination of his mother,
08:09who convinces him to abandon the sudden plans.
08:12So go run to her,
08:13Eddie,
08:14your devil bride.
08:15Put a demon in that old dusty womb.
08:19Brush the cobwebs off her saggy dugs.
08:22Make the beast with two backs with your syphilitic bride.
08:25There is no evidence suggesting Gein and Worden had a torrid love affair before he killed her.
08:31Episode 6 centers Deputy Worden and Sheriff Schley discovering the horrific state of Gein's home
08:36and his disturbing collection of human remains.
08:39Mother wouldn't have nothing to do with that.
08:50The body of Bernice Worden is found by her son.
08:56When Gein pulls up to the house,
08:57the deputy assaults him in a fit of rage.
08:59In reality, he was apprehended at a store in West Plainfield,
09:08and it was Sheriff Schley who assaulted Gein.
09:10When Gein was first arraigned on November 21st,
09:13he entered a not guilty plea quote by reason of insanity.
09:16There's a reason that you hear voices.
09:19There's a reason that you see things that aren't there.
09:24Well, you can't remember things you did,
09:25and you worry that you did things you didn't do.
09:28He was deemed unfit for trial,
09:30sent to the Maximum Security Central State Hospital in Wappin,
09:33and diagnosed with schizophrenia.
09:35It would be a decade before his second trial for Worden's murder.
09:39On November 14th, 1968,
09:41Judge Robert H. Golmar found him not guilty by reason of insanity,
09:45and recommitted him to Central State.
09:47It doesn't matter if I get better or if I get worse.
09:51Nobody cares.
09:54It's just punishment.
09:58That's part of the punishment, isn't it?
10:01Gein would later move to Mendota State Hospital,
10:03where he spent his remaining days,
10:05dying at 77 years old on July 26th, 1984.
10:10Myths and Misconceptions
10:12Contrary to popular belief, Ed Gein was not a serial killer.
10:17Although he suspected of more,
10:18he only confessed to two murders,
10:20not meeting the definition's minimum of three victims.
10:23I think that the murders of the tavern keeper Mary Hogan
10:28and, uh, uh, Bernice Wharton,
10:33who ran the local hardware store,
10:36were his only homicides.
10:38He also wasn't a cannibal,
10:40and although the series shows him engaging in post-mortem activities,
10:45Gein always maintained that he never had sex with his victims,
10:48or the several bodies he exhumed.
10:49Ed, I gotta ask you,
10:51did you eat them?
10:54No.
10:56No, I couldn't swear to that.
10:59I don't...
11:00I don't think so.
11:02After his arrest,
11:04Gein was questioned about a missing girl
11:05named Evelyn Grace Hartley,
11:07who was abducted from her babysitting job
11:09in La Crosse County on October 24th, 1953.
11:12But Hartley didn't fit his M.O.,
11:14and there was no proof they crossed paths.
11:17The series, however,
11:18sees Gein's disastrous first-time babysitting,
11:21subsequently blaming Hartley for taking his job
11:23and motivating him to stalk and kidnap her,
11:26adding her remains to his house of horrors.
11:28I mean, you really did it, didn't you?
11:30What?
11:31What did I do?
11:33You took my job!
11:34My babysitting job!
11:37Who's gonna pay for my wedding with that job?
11:39Now what?
11:41Hmm?
11:41The sheriff also mentions the 1947 disappearance
11:44of Georgia Gene Weckler and two hunters,
11:47Victor Harold Travis and Raymond Burgess,
11:49who went missing near the Gein farm in 1952.
11:52Two hunters disappeared?
11:54Victor Travis and Raymond Burgess, did you kill them?
11:56I don't believe so.
11:58You have newspaper clippings about them?
12:00Yeah.
12:01Yeah?
12:01It's true that he was briefly a suspect
12:03in all three cases and eventually cleared.
12:06And no, he did not chase them,
12:08or anyone with a chainsaw.
12:10One of Monster's major departures from reality
12:13is Gein's alleged romance with Adeline Watkins,
12:16an aspiring crime scene photographer
12:18and his only friend, besides his mom.
12:20The two share morbid interests,
12:22and it's implied that she introduced him
12:24to comic books and photos of Nazi atrocities.
12:27They go on dates,
12:28and eventually he pops the question
12:30in a nighttime picnic in the local cemetery.
12:32Will you marry me?
12:33Oh no, I shouldn't have done this.
12:41No, no, no.
12:42I was just surprised.
12:44However, the real Adeline Watkins told a different story.
12:48In an interview with the Minneapolis Tribune
12:49just days after his arrest,
12:51she claimed to have had a 20-year relationship with Ed Gein,
12:54though turned down a marriage proposal in February 1955.
12:58Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
13:01Just like it says in the Bible.
13:03Nothing human disgusts me.
13:05I think if a human can do it,
13:08it's fascinating.
13:10But she tried to set the record straight
13:12just a couple weeks later,
13:13telling the Stevens Point Journal
13:15they only saw each other between 1954 and 1955.
13:19Showrunner-slash-director Max Winkler
13:21explained that her prominent presence in the series
13:23was to give Ed someone to talk to,
13:25since he led such an insular life.
13:27Can I be honest with you?
13:30Can I tell you something honest?
13:32What?
13:34What?
13:37You're too warm.
13:38Before we continue,
13:40be sure to subscribe to our channel
13:41and ring the bell to get notified
13:43about our latest videos.
13:45You have the option to be notified
13:47for occasional videos or all of them.
13:49If you're on your phone,
13:51make sure you go into your settings
13:52and switch on notifications.
13:55In the media.
13:56Ed Gein may be the most influential killer
13:58in pop culture,
13:59but his real story hasn't been as discussed
14:02or depicted as others
14:03like Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahmer.
14:05This is a skull.
14:07Oh yes, it is.
14:08He made it into a bowl.
14:14Ate every meal out of it.
14:17In 1974's Deranged,
14:19the Gein-inspired Ezra Cobb
14:20becomes a serial killer
14:21after his fanatical mother's demise.
14:24The cult classic features
14:25much more graphic acts of violence
14:27than Gein committed,
14:28along with digging up his mother's remains.
14:30But if I untie you,
14:33you'll try something.
14:37No, I won't.
14:40I promise.
14:422000's In the Light of the Moon
14:44is a mostly accurate biopic
14:46starring Steve Railsback as Gein.
14:48However, the film shows him
14:50gifting his neighbor's meat
14:51that he claims is venison,
14:53something the real Gein
14:54reportedly did not do.
14:56I hope you're hungry
14:57because I've been a-cooking.
14:59I sure am.
15:03Smells good.
15:04Actor and stuntman Cain Hodder
15:06stepped into the role of Gein
15:07for the 2007 direct-to-video release
15:10Ed Gein, The Butcher of Plainfield.
15:12While the film is fairly accurate,
15:14it depicts Gein as an aggressive spree killer,
15:16not the timid loner
15:18he was often described as.
15:19Is there anything else I can help you with
15:21before I add this all up?
15:22Nope, I got everything I need.
15:24Oh, that's broke.
15:27Wow.
15:29That's a fine-looking pickaxe, Mr. Gein.
15:33Aside from the 2010 comedy
15:34Ed Gein, The Musical,
15:36he also influenced a few grunge
15:38and metal rock bands,
15:39including Slayer, Tad,
15:41Blind Melon, and Mudvayne.
15:42Surrounded by an old friend
15:45and yet
15:45I'm treated like a rural mannequin
15:50Netflix's monster,
15:52the Ed Gein story
15:53hit the platform on October 3rd, 2025.
15:56And, much like most Ryan Murphy-produced projects,
15:59it promptly stirred up controversy.
16:01Casting actor Charlie Hunnam
16:03as the Wisconsin murderer
16:04had fans skeptical of his portrayal.
16:06Things are going to change around here.
16:10When I bring a friend to meet you,
16:12you say hello!
16:14Don't you tell me what to do.
16:16With so little known about Gein
16:18compared to others,
16:19showrunner Ian Brennan
16:20had to embellish a lot,
16:22adding fantasy sequences,
16:24a love interest,
16:25and more than a few lurid actions
16:27that Gein is not known to have committed.
16:29I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, Mary.
16:34It's alright.
16:37You're actually nothing like her.
16:39Did you watch the 8-episode series?
16:42Let us know in the comments below.
Be the first to comment