A new true crime docuseries is set to unravel the gruesome details of the notorious serial killer who made a ‘skin suit’ from his victims and inspired dozens of modern-day horror movies.
The four-part series titled Psycho: The Lost Tapes Of Ed Gein will delve deeper into the sadistic actions of the now infamous murderer and necrophile who was sent to a mental facility in the wake of his sadistic crimes.
Gein, who operated in Plainfield, Wisconsin, during the late 1950s, was branded as The Plainfield Ghoul and The Mad Butcher due to his heinous acts which are said to have inspired a whole host of films – including Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Silence of the Lambs.
Here, FEMAIL has laid bare the disturbing realities surrounding Gein’s unsettling lifestyle.
The four-part series will delve deeper into the sadistic actions of infamous murderer and necrophile Ed Gein (pictured) who was committed to a mental facility in the wake of his crimes
Nothing could have prepared officers for what they would find in Gein’s dilapidated farmhouse that was strewn with clutter and rotting garbage
Ed Gein and older brother Henry grew up in a tumultuous atmosphere with their parents – George and Augusta – constantly at odds, but refusing to divorce due to their religious beliefs.
Augusta, who was a fervent Lutheran, reserved time every afternoon to read her sons passages from the Bible – usually selecting graphic verses concerning death and divine retribution.
The mother-of-two was also keen to keep them away from external influences, only allowing them to leave the house to go to school and scolding them if they made friends.
But, despite her tight rein, Ed in particular was still eager to please his mother.
His father died of a heart attack in 1940 and just four years later his brother was killed during a brush fire – with some investigators left wondering if Ed had been involved.
Their deaths meant that Ed was left living alone with Augusta until her death in 1945 following a series of strokes.
He is said to have boarded up all the rooms used by his mother after her death in order to leave them untouched – and confined himself to just one room.
The young man stated at the time that he ‘lost his only friend and one true love. And he was absolutely alone in the world.’
Gein confessed to killing hardware store owner Bernice Worden (left) as well as tavern owner Mary Hogan (right)
He is said to have boarded up all the rooms used by his mother after her death in order to leave them untouched – and confined himself to just one room (pictured)
Authorities found bowls made from human skulls, human skin covering chair seats, a belt made from female nipples and a lampshade made from the skin of a human face inside Gein’s home (pictured)
But left to his own devices Gein developed a morbid fascination for corpses, and began grave robbing and body snatching.
Having exhumed corpses from his local graveyards, he began crafting gruesome trophies from the skin and bone.
And the extent of his twisted crimes began unraveling after he was named as the prime suspect in the disappearance of hardware store owner Bernice Worden in 1957.
Her son told police that Gein had been in store the day before and had returned the next morning to buy anti-freeze – which was the last receipt Worden had written out.
Authorities soon raided his home and the killer, then 51, quickly confessed to Worden’s murder as well as that of another woman, tavern owner Mary Hogan, in 1954.
But nothing could have prepared officers about what they would find in Gein’s dilapidated farmhouse that was strewn with clutter and rotting garbage.
Police found Worden’s decapitated body hanging upside down in his shed with her body disemboweled.
Her head, along with that of Hogan, was inside his home.
Sadly, the grizzly discoveries did not stop there with authorities reportedly also finding bowls made from human skulls, human skin covering chair seats, a belt made from female nipples and a lampshade made from the skin of a human face – to name just a few.
Gein was promptly arrested and, during questioning, revealed that he had made up to 40 trips to the three local graveyards to exhume recently-buried bodies.
He was also suspected of killing a further four victims, but this was never proven.
Gein stood trial and was sentenced to life imprisonment but, after being found ‘legally insane,’ spent the rest of his life in a mental facility.
His ‘House of Horrors’ was burned to the ground in 1958 while he was in detention and that same year the car he had used to haul the bodies of his victims to his home was sold at a public auction.
It received 15 bids before being snapped up for $760 (the equivalent to about $8,000 now) to carnival sideshow operator Bunny Gibbons, from Rockford, Illinois, who later charged carnival goers 25 cents admission to see it.
Gein was promptly arrested and, during questioning, revealed that he had made up to 40 trips to the three local graveyards to exhume recently-buried bodies
Police (pictured digging in Gein’s garage) found Worden’s decapitated body hanging upside down in his shed with her body disemboweled
His ‘House of Horrors’ was burned to the ground while he was in detention with arson suspected – before his death in 1984 caused by respiratory and heart failure due to cancer
The gruesome details of Gein’s crimes has inspired a whole host of villains who have taken center stage in Hollywood blockbusters – most notably Norman Bates in Psycho (left) and Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs (right)
Gein died in 1984 from respiratory and heart failure due to cancer.
He was buried next to his mother before vandals later desecrated the killer’s grave.
The gruesome details of Gein’s crimes has inspired a whole host of villains who have taken center stage in Hollywood blockbusters – most notably Norman Bates in Psycho, Leatherface in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs.
And now Psycho: The Lost Tapes Of Ed Gein will use ‘never-before-heard recordings’ to explore the killer’s ‘upbringing and twisted relationship with his mother, his early grave robbing, the murders leading up to his arrest and the police’s discovery of his terrifying house of horrors.’
The docuseries will stream on MGM+ in September.
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