Netflix’s Monster: The Ed Gein Story recounts the tale of one of America’s most infamous serial killers and grave robbers — the man whose crimes inspired some of the most iconic horror films of all time. On the surface, Ed Gein was just a quiet farmer from Plainfield, Wisconsin. But, as Alan Watts’ saying goes, “nothing is as it seems,” and by 1957, the unassuming, small-town farmer had become known as the Butcher of Plainfield, or more chillingly, the Plainfield Ghoul. Though Ed’s atrocities have long influenced revolutionary horror films, few truly know the sinister reality behind his crimes, or about Ed Gein himself, until now.
Ryan Murphy’s Monster: The Ed Gein Story explores the disturbing darkness of Ed’s life, but like any dramatized retelling, this third installment of the Monster series takes a few creative liberties, distorting fact with fiction. While the series, and Charlie Hunnam’s authentic performance in particular, captures the eerie nature of Gein’s actions, a few key details still miss the mark.
Did Ed Gein Really Kill His Brother?
Within the first half of the very first episode, Ed is shown killing his brother, Henry, by striking him in the head with a wood log and discarding his body in a brush fire. While Ed never confessed to his brother’s death, the police were always weary of the extent of Ed’s involvement. What’s true in the show, is that police did find his brother’s body in a brush fire, after Ed reported him missing, claiming the two of them were burning vegetation on their family farm and the blaze grew out of control. Police later ruled that Henry’s death was due to asphyxiation.
Though no formal autopsy was performed, police found bruises all over Henry’s head. There have been various theories that Ed struck Henry over the head, killing him, after years of disputes over their domineering mother and her influence on the two. Henry disagreed with most of it, but Ed admired her. As stated, there was never an official confession from Ed, nor was there any evidence to prove he took his brother’s life, but Murphy took the theory and ran with it in the show. Murphy also took creative liberty with the disappearance of Evelyn Hartley. Ed never confessed to her very real disappearance and the police have denied that Ed had any involvement, on account of passing lie detector tests as well as being motivated to take the lives of two women who resembled his mother (Evelyn was 15 at the time of her disappearance). She is still considered missing to this day.
Did Ed Gein Really Draw Inspiration from ‘The Bitch of Buchenwald?’
Ilse Koch, infamously known as the ‘The Bitch of Buchenwald,’ makes frequent appearances on the show, serving primarily as Gein’s inspiration for his heinous acts, particularly his use of human skin to fashion furniture and other grotesque creations. While it’s certainly possible Gein knew of Koch, as her trial was featured in every major U.S. newspaper at the time, Gein never made any mention of her himself. So, while it can’t be confirmed, the two of them eerily and coincidentally took part in the same sadistic rituals. Rolling Stone reported that he had exhumed the bodies of nine women from their gravesites, of which he used to make body masks, suits, furniture, and household items, including a bowl, wastebasket, a lampshade, and other twisted items. This also goes for the show’s use of Ted Bundy and Richard Speck.
Another falsity is that Gein helped the FBI in their capture of the notorious Ted Bundy, though Gein’s case has aided in the study of serial killers. Monster co-creator, Ian Brennan, told Netflix “And also we wanted to talk about, yeah, it was a dark legacy. There were many, many dark creatures in our world — Richard Speck, Ted Bundy — who were influenced and obsessed with Ed for all the wrong reasons.” In the show’s finale episode, toward the end of his life, Gein sees a vision of the many killers he inspired, ushering him down a long hallway and smothering him with praise. “It’s the most tonally challenging part of the show to me in that he’s not horrified by it,” Brennan says. “He sort of loves the fact that he made a mark.” All to say, Ted Bundy’s inclusion in the show is merely fictional and actually used to support Gein’s disillusions in life, further emphasizing his real-life schizophrenia diagnosis.
As for Richard Speck, there is no evidence that the two ever corresponded. Though, aforementioned, the show’s creators, Murphy and Brennan, likely included this fabrication to exhibit the wide influence Gein’s life has had on many things, including serial killers, movies, and the way criminals are studied.
Who Was Adeline Watkins?
Gein did in fact have a long-term relationship with a woman named Adeline Watkins, who is played by Suzanna Son in the show. The extent of their relationship has been unclear over the years. In a 1957 interview with the Minneapolis Tribune, Watkins said she had dated Gein for over 20 years, describing him as “good and kind and sweet.” She later redacted her statement after Gein’s story and her profession of their relationship made waves, telling the Plainfield Sun Gein was a “quiet and polite” friend, and nothing more, denying she ever called him sweet and that there was no romance. All in all, the two certainly knew each other.
Movies Inspired by Ed Gein
Gein’s influence spreads far and wide, and not many know their favorite horror movies were inspired by him. Murphy embeds the true pop-culture influence Gein’s crimes have had throughout the series, showing movie sets and their creators such as the iconic Psycho, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs. Gein directly influenced all three movies, whether it was based on his crimes, life story, or disturbed relationship with his mother.
Robert Bloch’s novel, Psycho, drew from Gein’s psyche, eventually using it to create the mind of his notorious character Norman Bates in Psycho, which was later adapted into the reknown horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, forever shaping the horror genre. Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre drew inspiration from Gein’s use of body parts, much like Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs. Monster: The Ed Gein Story is now streaming on Netflix.