NETFLIX’S latest series on warped killer and grave robber Ed Gein has been blasted as a “travesty” and an insult to his victims for its over-Hollywoodization of his story by an author close to the case.
Gein became infamous after his crimes left locals traumatized in the isolated town of Plainfield, Wisconsin, back in 1957.
Ed Gein being led away by Sheriff Arthur Schley, near Plainfield, Wisconsin, in 1957, after he admitted to murdering two women and robbing graves.[/caption]
Charlie Hunnam as Ed Gein and Suzanna Son as Adelina Watkins, his rumored girlfriend of 20 years[/caption]
The show also claimed he helped to catch serial killer Ted Bundy, who was eventually convicted in Florida[/caption]
Police were led to the door of Gein’s farmhouse, where he lived alone after his mother’s death, when a local hardware store owner, Bernice Worden, went missing.
They discovered her mutilated body along with the body parts of several others, while he had also fashioned furniture and clothing out of human skin and remains in the house of horrors.
He was only ever confessed to murdering two women, Worden, and Mary Hogan, a tavern owner, and said the other bodies were found by digging up corpses at local grave sites.
Yet the new Netflix series shows him murdering his brother Henry in 1944, whose death in real life was officially ruled an accident.
The program also shows Gein, played by Charlie Hunman, murdering a babysitter, Evelyn Hartley, along with two hunters, Victor Travis and Raymond Burgess.
In addition, a scene in the series depicts Gein killing a nurse as part of a schizophrenic hallucination.
In reality, he was only ever questioned about Hartley, Travis and Burgess, and was described as a model and non-violent patient at mental hospitals after being committed.
The U.S. Sun spoke to author Harold Schechter whose book Deviant was the first to bring Gein’s story to the nation’s attention back in the 1980s.
He slammed the series as nothing more than Hollywood fiction, and was shocked by how producers, who never got in touch with him, decided to tell Gein’s story.
“I thought the series was a travesty,” he said after watching the series.
“The bulk of it was totally made up and bore no relation to reality. It pains me that so many viewers will now believe that they know the truth about Gein when, in fact, they are seeing almost total make-believe.”
During the series, there are also several scenes of Gein with a woman called Adeline Watkins, a neighbor and occasional girlfriend, with whom he reportedly had a 20-year romance.
Actress Suzanna Son portrays Watkins in the show and is seen showing Gein photographs of dead bodies from a Nazi concentration camp, which leave him fascinated months before his murders.
She is also seen being spooked after a visit to his house while his controlling mother, Augusta, was still alive.
In reality, although Watkins initially claimed to press they had been romantically involved, she later retracted her story and said she’d exaggerated her connection to him.
Monster also includes a fictionalized plotline where Gein assists the FBI in helping to catch serial killer Ted Bundy, but this never happened
Schechter said, “I was shocked that the makers took such outrageous and shameless liberties, inventing so much of the show and making Gein out to be a crazed serial killer, which he wasn’t.
“It’s true that Ed killed Mary Hogan and Bernice Worden, violated graves, fashioned grotesque objects, including a ‘mammary vest,’ from the body parts, and had an unhealthy attachment to his mother. As far as I can tell, that’s about it.
“The rest is pure … Hollywood, forgive the vulgarity, bullsh**
Who was Ed Gein?
ED Gein is the real-life serial killer whose disgusting crimes gave birth to some of cinema’s darkest horror villains.
Here is a look at the twisted life of the so-called Butcher of Plainfield.
- Gein is a killer and grave robber from Wisconsin who earned the chilling nicknames “The Butcher of Plainfield” and “The Plainfield Ghoul” for his horror crimes
- His entire life was warped by his obsessive devotion to his mother, Augusta. When she died in 1945, he spiraled into a total breakdown, turning parts of their house into shrines to her.
- Gein infamously dug up corpses from local graveyards and used the remains to craft unbelievably grotesque items
- Authorities found his horrifying “creations,” including a “woman suit” he wore, face masks made of human skin, a chair padded with skin, and a belt made of human nipples
- Gein admitted to killing two women who strikingly resembled his late mother: tavern owner Mary Hogan (54, disappeared 1954) and hardware store owner Bernice Worden (58, killed 1957)
- When police raided his farmhouse, they found Bernice Worden’s gutted, decapitated body hanging from the ceiling.
- Gein was later diagnosed with schizophrenia and found legally insane at the time of the murders. He spent the rest of his days in mental health institutions.
- He would go on to inspire movies like Psycho, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs
Worden is seen in the series offering to get Gein a prosititute if he wanted a night with a woman, before he later murders her in the bar.
Schechter added, “My understanding is that relatives of Bernice Worden are extremely upset over the way she is portrayed in the show.”
Monster also shows scenes where Gein practises necrophilia; however, he repeatedly denied having ever done so.
According to research, he told doctors in his mental hospital that he’d never had a sexual experience.
Schechter went on, “One thing I wish was there is any respect for historical accuracy.
“Not only did they not do the story justice, they did an active disservice to everyone who has or will watch the show by presenting an absurd fictional creation as the true story.”
Gein was found guilty of first-degree murder but was deemed not guilty by reason of insanity.
As a result, he was committed to psychiatric institutions for the rest of his life instead of serving a prison sentence.
He died at age 77 from respiratory failure in July 1984.
Ed Gein only ever confessed to killing two women but was questioned about others[/caption]
An officer examines the junk-littered kitchen in the farm home of Ed Gein, where authorities found human skulls and other parts of human bodies[/caption]
The serial killer’s story is retold in Monster: The Ed Gein Story, starring Charlie Hunman[/caption]
