Netflix’s Monster anthology is back — and this time, it’s delving into the deeply disturbing life of Ed Gein, the reclusive killer whose twisted crimes in the 1950s left a permanent scar on American culture. After exploring the lives of Jeffrey Dahmer and the Menendez brothers, the third instalment takes viewers into the warped psyche of a man who would go on to inspire some of cinema’s most terrifying villains.

The real-life horror behind Hollywood’s nightmares

Before Psycho, before The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and long before The Silence of the Lambs, there was Ed Gein — a name whispered in fear and disbelief in mid-century America. Known grimly as “The Butcher of Plainfield,” his crimes weren’t just murders; they were grotesque expressions of obsession, control, and grief.

His legacy in pop culture is undeniable. Norman Bates, Leatherface, and Buffalo Bill — three of the most notorious fictional killers — all trace their roots back to Gein’s horrifying story. The Netflix series, starring Charlie Hunnam, doesn’t just retell his life but examines how his crimes bled into the creative imaginations of Hollywood’s biggest directors, including Alfred Hitchcock and Jonathan Demme.

The house that hid a nightmare

The horror came to light in November 1957, when the disappearance of Bernice Worden, a local hardware store owner in Plainfield, Wisconsin, led investigators to Gein’s isolated farmhouse. What they discovered shocked even the most hardened officers: Worden’s mutilated body hanging in a shed, and inside the home, a gruesome collection of human remains turned into household items.

There were lampshades made of skin, soup bowls carved from skulls, and even a bodysuit stitched together from the flesh of exhumed corpses — a grotesque attempt by Gein to “become” his deceased mother, a woman he both idolised and feared.

Among the remains were the body of Mary Hogan, another missing local woman, and items fashioned from stolen body parts — including a belt made of nipples and a box of preserved genitalia. These weren’t the trophies of a killer seeking fame — they were the fragments of a man utterly consumed by psychological collapse.

A childhood built on fear and isolation

Gein’s descent into madness didn’t happen overnight. Born in 1906, he grew up under the oppressive grip of Augusta Gein, a fanatically religious mother who preached that women were the root of all sin. His father, a violent alcoholic, offered no refuge. Isolated from the world, young Ed was raised in a world where shame, fear, and religious guilt reigned.

When Augusta moved the family to a secluded farm, she cut her sons off from school and society entirely. Gein became increasingly withdrawn, clinging to his mother as his only connection to the outside world. That dependency turned toxic after her death in 1945 — the event that seemed to unravel what little stability he had left.

From grave robber to murderer

Gein began to frequent cemeteries, digging up the bodies of recently buried women who resembled his mother. He later claimed he never violated the corpses sexually, though the gruesome state of the remains told another story. Eventually, his obsession escalated — leading him to murder.

Though suspected in several disappearances, Gein was only formally charged with the killings of Bernice Worden and Mary Hogan. His confessions, however, revealed a far broader pattern of macabre activity.

Declared insane, but never forgotten

After his arrest, Gein was diagnosed with schizophrenia and deemed unfit to stand trial. He spent over a decade in a psychiatric institution before finally facing court in 1968. Although found guilty, the judge ruled he was mentally unfit at the time of the murders. He remained in state care until his death in 1984.

Buried in Plainfield Cemetery, between the family members who shaped his twisted worldview, Gein never left the public consciousness. His life, a dark blend of mental illness, repression, and isolation, continues to haunt storytellers — a legacy revisited with chilling clarity in Netflix’s Monster.

Whether you’re a fan of true crime, horror, or psychological thrillers, this season of Monster serves as a stark reminder: sometimes, the most terrifying monsters aren’t found in fiction — they’re hidden in plain sight, living just down the road.