Netflix's Monster: Ed Gein Story Explores Serial Killer's Maternal Obsession

Ed Gein, known as the "Butcher of Plainfield," was a notorious serial killer whose crimes shocked America and inspired iconic horror films such as "Psycho" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." Central to Gein's story is his deeply controlling and religious mother, Augusta Wilhelmine Gein, whose strict upbringing isolated him and fostered an unhealthy and obsessive attachment. After her death in 1945, Ed's mental health deteriorated, leading him to exhume graves of women resembling his mother and create macabre items from human remains, including a "woman suit" made of skin. Gein was arrested in 1957 for the murders of Bernice Worden and Mary Hogan but was declared mentally unfit for trial due to schizophrenia. His story has been revisited in Netflix's "Monster: The Ed Gein Story," starring Charlie Hunnam as Ed Gein and Laurie Metcalf, known from "The Big Bang Theory," as Augusta. Experts and forensic psychologists emphasize that Augusta's domineering influence and strict religious beliefs played a critical role in shaping Gein's disturbed psyche and crimes.