Case 1: The Killer who influenced Horror

If you haven’t heard of Ed Gein, you’ll most likely know the most iconic horror characters and stories he has influenced with his crimes; Silence of the Lambs, Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre are a few of the many. 

The Case

Edward ‘Ed’ Theodore Gein was born August 27th 1906 to George and Augusta Gein. He and his older brother, Henry, were brought up on an isolated farm in Plainfield, Wisconsin. As his father was an absent figure in the household due to his struggle with alcoholism, Augusta took this opportunity to raise the boys devoted to religion. She preached about the evil nature of women and the sins of alcohol, lust, and desire. She also reminded them throughout their life that she wanted daughters instead of sons. Ed became indoctrinated to his mother’s ideals, which scarred him for the rest of his life; he feared any form of sexual contact, found it difficult to interact with women properly and wanted to prove to his mother that he was good enough. Unlike Ed, Henry went completely against his mother when he began dating a divorced, single mother. He also often badmouthed about his mother to Ed – who defended her every time. 

After his father’s death in 1940, and his brother’s suspicious death in 1944, Ed became devoted to caring for his mother. However, shortly after, his mother passed away in 1945, leaving Ed to fend for himself. In Ed’s biography by Harold Schechter, his mother’s death was described as him losing “his only friend and one true love”.

After Augusta’s death, Ed fell into deep mourning, preserving rooms in the house that his mother used by bordering them up, almost like a memoir to her. However, the rest of the house became a chaotic mess as he only gave himself a small room to reside in. To earn money, Ed took up handyman jobs and maintained the family 160-acre farm. At home, he turned his interests to magazines and books centered on horror, Nazis, cannibals and human anatomy (specifically that of females).

On the evening of November 16th 1957, Frank Worden reported his mother, Bernice Worden, as missing after discovering blood on the floor of the empty hardware shop that she worked at. Frank discovered that the only sale transaction of the day was for a gallon of anti-freeze that morning. Remembering that Ed Gein had been there the previous evening enquiring about anti-freeze, there was an immediate search for him.

Authorities arrested Ed and searched the Gein property. Inside the house, they found the body of Bernice hanging upside down, suspended from a beam. The body had been decapitated, disembowelled and hollowed out. Her head was later found in a burlap sack and her heart in a plastic bag.

Another missing woman remains were found at the Gein residence; Mary Hogan, who had gone missing from the local pub she worked at, on 8 December 1954. Her face was skinned and found in a paper bag, as well as her skull which was found in a box. Ed had previously joked to residents and Mary herself about how Ed would kill her. 

Further in Gein’s property, authorities found:

• Human bones

• A wastebasket made of human skin

• Several chair covers made of human skin

• Skulls on the bedposts

• Bowls made from human skulls

• A corset made from a skinned female torso

• Leggings made from human skin

• Several masks made from skinned female faces – like Mary Hogan’s

• Nine vulvas in a shoebox – 1 of which was painted silver (believed to be his mother’s) and 2 of which belonged to 15-year-old girls

• A belt made from female nipples

• Four noses

• A pair of lips attached to the window drawstring

• Human organs stored in the fridge

• A full bodysuit made from women’s skin

• A lampshade covered in human skin

When Gein was questioned about the items in his home, he admitted to the murder of Mary and Bernice due to their resemblance to his mother. However, he revealed that he grave robbed for other body parts to make the gruesome items in his house, proving this by taking the police to some of the graves and telling them the items they’d find inside, such as crowbars or body parts. He denied any association with necrophilia, cannibalism, and transsexualism, however, many people believe he was involved in some of these behaviours. Gein’s explanation for the items in the house were reminders of his mother. He told authorities he used the human skin suit to wear so he could “crawl into her skin.”, hence why he used females that resembled her. 

Gein was found unfit to stand trial on grounds of insanity and sent to Wisconsin’s Central State Hospital for the Criminally Insane after being diagnosed with schizophrenia. It’s stated that Gein was tried for only one murder—that of Mrs. Worden, even though, he also admitted to the murder of Mary Hogan. He spent the rest of his life in mental institutions, where he eventually died of cancer on July 26, 1984.

Influences on Film and TV Ed’s gruesome crimes and odd behavior influenced some of the most notorious characters in horror. Here’s a breakdown list of the classics.

1. Norman Bates – Pyscho (1960)

Like Gein, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) has an unhealthy obsession with his mother after her death. He dresses up in her clothes, pretending to be her often and keeps her corpse in the house 10 years after her death.

2. Buffalo Bill – Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Ted Levine portrays the fictional killer, Buffalo Bill – a transsexual who kills women to make a female skin suit to wear, much like Gein did.  However, Bill did this more for identity reasons.

3. Leatherface – Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

The main inspiration from Gein in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre is Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen). The reason for his name is the human skin mask he wears– much like the ones that Ed made. The fictional killer also butchers his victims on a meat hook just like Gein did to Bernice Worden.

4. Ezra Cobb - Deranged (1974)

The plot of Deranged is very similar to Gein’s life; from Ezra Cobb’s (Roberts Blossom) obsession with his religious mother – to the similarities between Sally Mae’s (Pat Orr) death with Bernice Worden's. The only difference is that Ezra is sexually active with women – alive and dead.

5. Doctor Oliver Thredson – American Horror Story (Asylum, S2. 2012)

In season 2 of the popular series, the character Doctor Oliver Thredson, portrayed by Zachary Quinto, has a similar obsession with his mother like Gein. In this case, it’s the feel of her skin he yearns for after being orphaned. His crimes of killing women for their skin and making it into furniture and masks them reflect that of Gein’s. This list only included a few fictional pieces inspired by Gein’s horrific crimes, I believe there to be a plethora of works out there similar to these in all different variants. 

Thanks for reading my first blog post! Stay tuned for more.

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