Ed Gein: The Real Norman Bates
In the rural Wisconsin woods of the 1950s lived a seemingly simple farmer, a man so apparently harmless that people let him baby sit their children. The kids used to return from his farm with wild tales of shrunken heads and strange masks hanging on the walls. “What imagination those children have”, thought their parents. What they didn’t know was that no child could make up the abomination that was Ed Gein.
To understand what Ed Gein did to his victims and why, you first must understand how he is classified by serial killer experts. He was what is known as a hedonist lust killer, easily the creepiest and most frightening kind of murderer. This type of killer most often has a specific type of victim in mind. They choose them to fulfill their fetish fueled fantasies- cannibalism, sex with the corpse, wearing their skin, etc. Body shape, hair color, style of clothing and other particulars can be the deciding factor for one of these individuals when choosing a victim. They often practice necrophilia and are highly organized in the planning of their crimes. Ed fit almost all of these descriptions.
Gein was officially charged with only two murders, both women, but was suspected of several more when he was caught. He got his start by robbing graves and dismembering the corpses at his farm, after his mother and brother died, leaving him alone with his “work.” His need to kill came from his inability to get fresh bodies when the cold Midwest winters froze the ground. In 1954 he killed a local women, undetected, and brought her back to the farm. He butchered her and added her body parts to his collection. Ed had the disgustingly bizarre habit of dressing up in clothes he fashioned from his victim’s skin and dancing about his property.
The start of hunting season in 1957 saw Ed commit murder number two, the one that did him in. When the gal that ran the hardware store in town went missing, the last receipt she printed out was for Ed Gein. The sheriff and a deputy went to question Ed, who was at a neighbor’s for supper. What they found became the stuff of legend.
The victim, Bernice Worden, was hanging by her heels in Ed’s kitchen, headless and quartered like a sheep. There was always a contest for the area hunters each year, with a prize for the biggest deer brought in on opening day. The sheriff later shared his thoughts that he felt what he found in the kitchen would have won first prize. But Ed had other trophies for the law to discover, hidden in plain sight in his home. These included a human heart, human entrails, boxes of noses, various clothing made from human skin, bowls fashioned from skulls, a human skin drum, nine masks made out of female faces, and ten female heads. Ed even had four chairs upholstered with human skin.
Ed had nothing personal against his victims, he simply needed what they had- their body parts. To achieve that goal they had to die. Needless to say Gein was certified insane and sent to an institution, where he died in 1984. Locals burned his farm to the ground and kept their kids in line by telling them Ed Gein would get them if they did not behave.
Author Robert Bloch followed the headlines and in 1959 they drove him to write a novel about a quiet introverted loner who was also a serial killer. Alfred Hitchcock eventually won the rights to the book and the rest is history. Could you imagine sitting with Ed Gein in his cell as he watched the movie he inspired-” Psycho”?
