Following the massive global success of narratives centering on Jeffrey Dahmer and the Menendez brothers, Netflix and creator Ryan Murphy have officially turned their gaze toward the desolate winter landscapes of 1950s Wisconsin for their next installment. The upcoming anthology series, officially titled Monster Season 3: Who Was Ed Gein? The True Story of the Butcher of Plainfield, promises to dissect the life of one of America’s most notorious and culturally significant serial killers. With actor Charlie Hunnam cast to portray the titular recluse, the series aims to peel back the layers of psychosis, isolation, and maternal obsession that created a criminal profile so disturbing it inspired some of the most famous horror films in cinematic history.
The Announcement and The New Face of Terror
The Monster anthology has carved a unique niche in the true-crime genre by combining high-gloss production values with a deep, often uncomfortable dive into the psychology of killers. The choice of Ed Gein for the third season marks a departure from the more modern, urban settings of the previous seasons, transporting viewers to the isolated, rural environment of Plainfield, Wisconsin. Production insiders have noted that the series intends to explore how a quiet, seemingly harmless farmhand transformed into a figure of nightmares. The casting of Charlie Hunnam, known for his charismatic roles in Sons of Anarchy and Shantaram, suggests a nuanced approach to Gein, likely focusing on his frailty and complex mental state rather than merely his brutality.
Unlike Dahmer, who terrified the public with the proximity of his crimes in a city, Gein represents the terror of the unknown neighbor in the middle of nowhere. His crimes were not just acts of murder but involved a grotesque manipulation of the human form that fundamentally altered the American psyche regarding safety and sanity. As the production gears up, the central question remains: how will the show balance the gruesome reality of Gein’s "house of horrors" with the objective storytelling required to understand the man behind the myth?
The Roots of Pathology: Augusta and the Farm
To understand the subject of Monster Season 3: Who Was Ed Gein? The True Story of the Butcher of Plainfield, one must examine the dominating force of his life: his mother, Augusta Gein. Born in 1906, Edward Theodore Gein was raised in a household defined by an alcoholic, passive father and a fanatically religious, domineering mother. Augusta moved the family to a 155-acre farm in Plainfield to isolate her two sons, Ed and Henry, from what she perceived as the inherent sinfulness of the outside world. She preached a fire-and-brimstone theology, reading from the Old Testament daily and instilling in her sons a deep-seated fear and hatred of women, whom she viewed as vessels of the devil.
Ed was devoted to Augusta, absorbing her teachings with an obedience that bordered on worship. His social development was severely stunted; he was often bullied at school for his effeminate mannerisms and his tendency to laugh at inappropriate moments—a trait likely stemming from undiagnosed schizophrenia or social anxiety. The farm became his entire world, a fortress of solitude where his mother’s voice was the only law. This codependency set the stage for the psychological fracture that would occur upon her death.
A Suspicious Death and Total Isolation
The dynamic on the Gein farm shifted tragically in the 1940s. After the death of their father in 1940, Henry Gein began to reject Augusta’s worldview, occasionally challenging her authority in front of Ed. In 1944, a brush fire on the property got out of control, and amidst the chaos, Henry went missing. He was later found dead, face down in the marsh, untouched by the fire but suffering from bruises on his head. The coroner ruled it accidental asphyxiation, but doubts lingered in the community regarding Ed’s involvement. With Henry gone, Ed was left alone with Augusta.
When Augusta died following a stroke in 1945, Ed Gein was 39 years old and completely unmoored. He sealed off the rooms she used—the upstairs, the parlor, and the living room—preserving them as pristine shrines to her memory. Meanwhile, he retreated into a small room off the kitchen, allowing the rest of the farmhouse to descend into squalor. It was during this period of profound loneliness that Gein began his descent into madness, educating himself on anatomy and Nazi atrocities through pulp magazines, and eventually visiting local graveyards under the cover of darkness.
The House of Horrors: Uncovering the Truth
The crimes that will be depicted in Monster Season 3: Who Was Ed Gein? The True Story of the Butcher of Plainfield came to light on November 16, 1957. Bernice Worden, the owner of the local hardware store, had disappeared. Her son, a deputy sheriff, recalled that Gein had been in the store the night before, asking about the price of antifreeze. When authorities arrived at the Gein farmhouse to question him, they stumbled upon a scene that defied comprehension.
In a shed on the property, police found the decapitated body of Bernice Worden, hung upside down and dressed out like a deer. However, the true extent of Gein’s depravity was found inside the house. The search revealed a collection of artifacts made from human remains that shocked even the most hardened investigators. The inventory included:
- Bowls made from human skulls.
- Chairs upholstered with human skin.
- A wastebasket made of human skin.
- A "belt" made from female nipples.
- A corset made from a female torso, skinned from shoulders to waist.
- Nine vulvas in a shoe box.
- Leggings made from human leg skin.
- Masks made from the skin of female heads.
Gein eventually confessed that these items were harvested from graves he had robbed over several years. He admitted to visiting three local cemeteries, often digging up middle-aged women he thought resembled his mother. His ultimate goal, psychiatrists later theorized, was to create a "woman suit" so that he could literally become his mother, thereby negating her death and his abandonment.
The Crimes Against the Living
While Gein is most infamous for his grave robbing, he was also a murderer. In addition to Bernice Worden, Gein confessed to the 1954 murder of tavern owner Mary Hogan. Hogan, a boisterous woman who bore a resemblance to Augusta, had been missing for three years. Her face was found among the masks in Gein's collection. While Gein was suspected in other disappearances in the Wisconsin area during that era, only the murders of Worden and Hogan were definitively linked to him.
The media frenzy that followed the discovery was unprecedented. The "Butcher of Plainfield" became a national sensation. The sheer grotesque nature of his crimes—cannibalism was rumored but vehemently denied by Gein—challenged the innocent self-image of rural 1950s America. It forced the public to acknowledge that monsters did not just exist in fiction; they lived quietly down the road.
Legal Aftermath and Psychological Analysis
Following his arrest, Gein was arraigned on one count of first-degree murder. However, he was initially found unfit to stand trial due to schizophrenia and was committed to the Central State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. It wasn't until 1968, over a decade later, that doctors determined he was competent enough to participate in his defense. In a trial that lasted only a week, he was found guilty of first-degree murder but was simultaneously deemed not guilty by reason of insanity. He spent the remainder of his life in mental institutions, dying of respiratory failure due to lung cancer at the Mendota Mental Health Institute in 1984.
Psychiatrists who studied Gein noted his placid demeanor. He spoke of his crimes matter-of-factly, without visible remorse or emotional affect. This detachment is a key element that Monster Season 3: Who Was Ed Gein? The True Story of the Butcher of Plainfield will likely explore—the terrifying banality of his madness.
The Legacy in Pop Culture
Ed Gein’s actions left an indelible mark on American horror culture, serving as the direct inspiration for three of the most iconic villains in cinema history. Robert Bloch, the author of Psycho, lived just 35 miles from Plainfield and based the character of Norman Bates on Gein—a man dominated by his mother, living in isolation, and preserving her room. Later, Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre drew upon Gein’s furniture made of bone and skin to create the character of Leatherface. Finally, the character of Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs, who skins women to create a suit, was a direct reference to Gein’s pathology.
The upcoming Netflix series has the difficult task of reclaiming the factual history from these fictionalized giants. By focusing on the true story, the show aims to contextualize the tragedy of the victims and the systemic failures that allowed a severely mentally ill man to descend into total darkness unchecked.
Looking Ahead to Monster Season 3
As audiences await the release of the new season, the fascination with Ed Gein speaks to a broader human desire to understand the incomprehensible. Ryan Murphy’s series has historically walked the line between dramatization and documentation, and the story of the Butcher of Plainfield provides ample ground for both. It serves as a grim reminder of the fragility of the human mind and the horrors that can bloom in isolation.
