WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Monster: The Ed Gein Story
Netflix has just unveiled the latest season of Ryan Murphy's true crime anthology series, Monster: The Ed Gein Story, reports the Manchester Evening News.
The chilling series delves into the life and crimes of the lesser-known but equally horrifying serial killer and body snatcher, Ed Gein, portrayed by Charlie Hunnam.
Gein, a seemingly mild-mannered farmer from Plainville, Wisconsin, hid a house of horrors where he committed his gruesome crimes, including grave robbing and using human skin to craft household items and clothing, as well as engaging in necrophilia.
In addition to showcasing his macabre deeds, creators Murphy and Ian Brennan have endeavoured to portray Gein's schizophrenic mind, blurring the lines between reality and his hallucinations, offering viewers a glimpse into his mental illness.
However, many are eager to distinguish what is factual and what is merely artistic licence on the part of the show's creators. Here are seven inaccuracies and the actual events.
Unlike several Netflix shows, such as The Crown and House of Guinness, The Ed Gein Story doesn't begin with any disclaimer indicating whether it's based on fact or fiction.
Monster: The Ed Gein Story straddles the line between fiction and fantasy, but compared to its predecessors, this season deviates significantly more from reality and the facts.
The show's tone seems to align more with Murphy's acclaimed series American Horror Story, thanks to its shift towards a more exaggerated and theatrical horror style.
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1. Ed Gein and Ted Bundy
Contrary to the narrative in the show, Gein did not assist in capturing Ted Bundy (John T. O'Brien).
This is merely a fantasy that Gein conjures up, along with the belief that he aided Mindhunter FBI agents John E. Douglas (Caleb Ruminer) and Robert Ressler (Sean Carrigan).
This is suggested when he watches a TV report and claims he helped, only for someone else to quickly change the channel.
In reality, Bundy was apprehended in 1978 by an unsuspecting police officer who pulled him over for speeding and discovered he was driving a stolen vehicle. The officer had no idea he had just arrested one of America's most notorious serial killers.
2. Ed Gein and Ilse Koch
Gein did not communicate with Nazi criminal Ilse Koch (Vicky Krieps) via a ham radio from his asylum. The show confirms this as a product of Gein's imagination, revealing that his own ham radio is disconnected. Meanwhile, the other two radios he purchased are stored away.
He also didn't converse with transgender actress and singer Christine Jorgensen (Alanna Darby), who suggested he was likely gynephilic and attracted to femininity as an object.
In truth, Gein did own a ham radio while in hospital, a detail which the writers cleverly wove into the show.
Another point to note is that Gein didn't murder a nurse in the asylum with a chainsaw. This is merely another hallucination, confirmed when he sees Nurse Roz Mahoney (Linda Reiter) strolling down the corridor.
3. Ed Gein's influence on Psycho
Contrary to what the show implies, Gein's crimes did not inspire author Robert Bloch while penning his novel Psycho, published in 1959. The Alfred Hitchcock film is an adaptation of this novel.
In a 1991 interview at the World Horror Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, Bloch stated that Gein was not the inspiration for Norman Bates "at all".
4. Ed Gein and Adeline Watkins
The series portrays a complicated and dark romance between Gein and Plainville local Adeline Watkins (Suzanna Son), with the couple getting engaged and planning to start a family.
Initially, the real-life Watkins claimed she had a 20-year relationship with Gein and that he proposed, but she rejected him.
She later denied this, stating that while she knew him for two decades, they only dated intermittently for seven months.
Watkins also mentioned she never entered his house, which concealed his horrific trophies and crimes.
5. Ed Gein didn't correspond with Richard Speck
In the series, Richard Speck (Tobias Jelinek) wrote to Gein, but the Plainville Ghoul never replied to his letters.
Speck claimed he was influenced by Gein's crimes and viewed him as a hero, even going to the extent of chemically or hormonally altering his own body to develop breasts.
There's no concrete evidence to suggest that the real Speck was influenced by or had any contact with Gein in his lifetime.
However, a deeply unsettling video made by the serial killer while he was incarcerated reveals that he did modify his body to possess more feminine characteristics. Speck also disclosed horrifying details about the student nurses he had killed, despite previously claiming he had no recollection of the events.
6. Ed Gein's fleeting romance with Bernice Worden
The series portrays Gein and hardware shop owner Bernice Worden (Lesley Manville) embarking on a brief sexual relationship, which takes a dark turn when he murders her.
In reality, there's no evidence to suggest that the two were romantically involved, but Worden would indeed be Gein's final victim, leading to his capture.
7. Ed Gein and the babysitter
Gein is shown undertaking a stint of babysitting, which ends disastrously when he brings the children back to his house and performs a twisted magic show.
He later kills babysitter Evelyn Hartley (Addison Rae) when she takes over from him.
In truth, Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein reveals that the serial killer did carry out some odd jobs, including looking after local children.
Conversely, the real Hartley did vanish in 1954 from La Crosse County, which was over a two-hour drive from Gein's residence.
As per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Gein was questioned regarding Hartley's disappearance, but he denied having any involvement in it.
Monster: The Ed Gein Story is streaming on Netflix now
