Ed Gein, the reclusive Wisconsin handyman whose name still evokes shudders, has resurfaced in the spotlight with Netflix's latest "Monster" installment. Released just yesterday on October 3, 2025, "Monster: The Ed Gein Story" stars Charlie Hunnam as the infamous figure, delving into a life marred by isolation and horror. Gein, born in 1906 to a domineering mother and alcoholic father, grew up in a household where religion twisted into something darker. His brother Henry, four years older, seemed the more grounded one, often clashing with their overbearing mom. But in 1944, tragedy struck—or so the official story goes.
Henry vanished during a brush fire near the family farm. Ed, then 38, reported him missing, and when rescuers arrived, he led them straight to the body, burned beyond easy recognition. Bruises on Henry's head raised eyebrows, yet authorities ruled it an accident. Whispers persisted, though. Did Ed, harboring resentment or some deeper psychosis, strike his brother down? No charges ever came, but the incident left Gein utterly alone after their mother's death a year later. He boarded up parts of the house, living like a ghost amid decay. Indeed, this eerie solitude set the stage for what followed.
Gein's crimes exploded into view in 1957, when police found storekeeper Bernice Worden's decapitated body hanging in his shed, gutted like a deer. He'd confessed to killing her and, years earlier, tavern owner Mary Hogan—making two confirmed murders. But that was just the tip. Gein admitted to robbing graves, crafting lampshades and masks from human skin, all in a twisted bid to resurrect his mother. Victim count? Officially two killings, though suspicions lingered over missing locals. His farmhouse became a nightmare tableau, shocking the nation and birthing icons like Norman Bates.
Netflix's series promises to unpack this macabre tale, from the brother's suspicious end to the exhumed horrors. However, it also spotlights Gein's profound cultural shadow—fueling films from "Psycho" to "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre." Yet for all the dramatization, questions endure about the man behind the monster.
In the end, Gein's story forces us to ponder how ordinary isolation can curdle into something irredeemably vile.