A Crime House Halloween Special: The True Horror Behind Ed Gein | From our new show “Crimes Of…”

Summary

---

Killer Minds: Serial Killers & True Crime Murders

Halloween Special: The True Horror Behind Ed Gein

From "Crimes Of… Infamy"

Released: October 5, 2025

---

Episode Overview

This Halloween special from the “Crimes Of…” anthology takes listeners on a deeply unsettling journey into the life and crimes of Ed Gein, the notorious 1950s murderer and grave robber. Hosts Sabrina Diana Roga and Corinne Vien (of “Two Girls One Ghost”) dissect the psychological origins of Gein’s depravity, the real-life horror behind his acts, and how his monstrous deeds inspired iconic movie villains in Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Silence of the Lambs.
Throughout, the hosts blend immersive, narrative storytelling with critical analysis—never letting the audience forget the very real victims at the heart of the story.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Ed Gein: Facts and Chilling Truths

• Intro Game: Two Truths and a Lie

  • Sabrina leads with three facts about Gein; Corinne identifies that the lie is that Gein “spent the rest of his life in prison.” In reality, Gein was institutionalized due to insanity ([02:46]).
    • Quote:
      “Ed did not spend the rest of his days behind bars, but instead he did spend it in a hospital because he was found mentally incompetent to stand trial.” — Sabrina ([02:46])

• Notoriety and Cultural Impact

  • Gein’s infamy comes from the horrors found in his home—furniture made of human remains, masks from human skin, and more ([05:40],[11:55]).
  • He directly inspired Norman Bates, Buffalo Bill, and Leatherface.
    • Quote:
      “He’s also the real life monster who inspired the iconic films like Psycho, Silence of the Lambs, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and so many more.” — Corinne ([06:14])

---

2. Gein’s Early Life: Seeds of Darkness

• A Troubled Childhood ([12:12]–[22:09])

  • Isolated on an outlying farm near Plainfield, Wisconsin.
  • Augusta, Gein’s mother: strict, ultra-religious, and emotionally domineering; father George: neglectful, alcoholic.
  • Augusta taught her sons that women (except herself) were evil temptresses.
  • Corinne likens Augusta to the mother in Carrie; religion and sexual shame dominate Ed’s upbringing.
    • Quote:
      "Augusta also plants the idea in Ed and Henry’s minds that all women are basically sex workers sent to earth to tempt men. Except her of course." — Sabrina ([14:49])

• Isolation and Social Dysfunction ([17:30]–[21:51])

  • Ed began school at 8, was socially stunted, and frequently isolated by Augusta’s manipulations.
  • Unusual behavior (awkward laughter, poor eye contact, inappropriate social skills), creating an outcast role.

• Ominous “Cornerstone Memory” ([22:09])

  • Ed later describes witnessing his mother slaughter a hog, awakening confused feelings of pleasure tied to violence and sexuality.
    • Quote:
      “In that moment, he feels something he’s never felt before. Like something has awakened inside of him. A complicated feeling of pleasure…” — Corinne ([23:59])

---

3. Escalation to Violence

• Tragedy and Family Dynamics ([26:25]–[31:01])
  • Ed and brother Henry remain adults living at home; Ed is a trusted babysitter, despite later horrors.
  • After a suspicious fire, Henry is found dead under strange circumstances, unnaturally unburned, with head wounds. Local whispers implicate Ed, but no charges are filed.
    • Quote:
      “Funny how that works.” — Ed, after quickly leading a search party to his brother’s body ([30:23])
  • Augusta dies of a stroke. Ed is left alone, house falls into decay, and his psychological state deteriorates.

---

4. The Murders and Macabre Discoveries

• Victims Remembered ([07:48], [33:07])

  • Bernice Worden (hardware store owner) and Mary Hogan (bartender) named as Gein’s two known murder victims; the focus remains on their humanity and the community trauma.

• Bernice Worden’s Disappearance and Death ([38:55]–[44:05])

  • Ed visits Bernice's store on opening day of hunting season, returns with pretense, then shoots her. Evidence (antifreeze receipt, blood) points to Gein immediately.
    • Quote:
      “The person his mother had sold to was none other than Ed Gein.” — Sabrina ([42:16])
  • Gein is found easily, shows no guilt:
    • Quote:
      “Somebody framed me.” When pressed, he blurts out: “Well, Mrs. Worden, she’s dead, ain’t she?” — Ed ([43:41])

• Police Discover the Horror ([44:31]–[47:23])

  • Police enter Gein’s farmhouse; it's a scene of unspeakable gruesomeness—Bernice’s headless, gutted body hangs from the rafters, surrounded by household items made from human remains.
    • Quote:
      “Bracelets, a wastebasket, lampshades and chairs, all made from human skin… Masks and clothes made of real human flesh that are designed to be worn.” — Corinne ([46:04])

• Mary Hogan’s Fate and Serial Parallels ([48:17]–[51:16])

  • Discovery of Mary Hogan’s head, missing for years, in Gein’s home links him directly to her murder.
  • Even more body parts found—suggesting possible grave-robbing and/or other unknown victims.

---

5. Gein's Psychology and Confession

• The Grave Robber Revelation ([56:25])

  • Ed claims most body parts originated from local graves he plundered; he was driven by compulsion, not just murder.
    • Quote:
      “He would crack open caskets and steal the remains of the dead under the cover of night. And usually they were women, freshly deceased…” — Sabrina ([56:25])

• Motives: Maternal Obsession and Hatred ([57:26]–[57:37])

  • He admits both murder victims reminded him of Augusta; whether out of longing or misunderstood hatred, his motives are deeply entwined with his mother.

• Mental Illness and Institutionalization ([57:54]–[59:04])

  • Diagnosed with schizophrenia, found unfit to stand trial, institutionalized for life.
    • Quote:
      “After those 30 days of assessment were up, doctors officially diagnosed Ed Gein with schizophrenia and decided that he was not fit to stand trial after all. …The people of Plainfield were pissed.” — Sabrina ([58:48])

---

6. From Real Life Horror to Movie Villain

• Inspiring Multiple Iconic Villains ([62:18]–[72:16])
  • Hosts trace explicit parallels between Gein and:
    • Leatherface in “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (farmhouse, flesh-masks, rural horror)
      • Creator Tobe Hooper’s family lived near Gein during the crimes ([64:49])
    • Buffalo Bill in “Silence of the Lambs” (women’s skin, psychosexual confusion, trophies)
    • Norman Bates in “Psycho” (maternal obsession, sexual repression, social debilitation; author Robert Bloch unknowingly wrote the book close to Gein’s actual home)
      • “It turns out Bloch was writing the novel Psycho in 1958, 35 miles away from where Gein lived. …His character, Norman Bates, is eerily similar to Ed Gein.” — Sabrina ([68:46])

---

Noteworthy Quotes & Moments

• “Before Ed, monsters like him seemed to only exist in nightmares… but once people learned that men like Ed really did walk the earth, he became the muse for some of the most impactful horror films to date.” — Corinne ([09:16])
• “What is more monstrous than this? If you’re trying to get, like, deeply depraved and write something so horrifying that it doesn’t feel real, it’s Ed Gein’s story.” — Sabrina ([62:08])
• “The scariest monsters aren’t the ones on the big screen. They’re the ones in the shadows, lurking amongst us.” — Sabrina ([74:24])
• Casual horror:
  • “Just as well.” — Ed, learning his farmhouse burned down ([60:22])
  • “Funny how that works.” — Ed, about his brother’s death ([30:23])

---

Psychological Analysis & Reflections

• Repeated emphasis on the interplay of nature vs. nurture—most traumatized children don’t become killers; the show tries to parse what went wrong with Ed.
• The hosts note how horror movies help us process collective fears: “It forces us to confront our own darkest fears. Like the idea that not everyone out there has a mind that works like ours.” — Corinne ([72:16])
• Ed Gein's legacy is inextricable from the cultural obsession with true crime and horror, blurring the boundaries between real trauma and pop-culture fascination.

---

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|-------------------------------------------------------| | [02:46] | The “Two Truths and a Lie” game about Ed Gein’s fate | | [11:55] | Narrative description of police entering Gein’s home | | [23:59] | Ed’s “cornerstone” memory of witnessing the pig slaughter | | [30:23] | Death of Ed’s brother and suspicions | | [44:31] | Discovery of Bernice Worden and Gein's gruesome trophies | | [48:17] | Discovery of Mary Hogan’s head; links to Gein | | [56:25] | Ed’s confessions about grave robbing | | [62:18] | Deep dive: Gein’s influence on classic film monsters | | [74:24] | Hosts remind us of the difference between fiction and real-life horror |

---

Thematic Tone

• Chilling, immersive, sometimes darkly humorous but always aware of the gravity of real events.
• The hosts aim for both empathy toward the victims and a critical lens on Gein’s psychological profile.
• Recurrent acknowledgment that true crime and horror entertainments originate in real pain and terror.

---

Summary: Ideal for True Crime & Horror Fans

This special episode intricately dissects Ed Gein's transformation from a repressed, mother-obsessed farm boy into one of America’s most notorious murderers and cultural bogeymen. Through narrative scenes, historical fact, psychological exploration, and pop-culture connections, listeners get a multi-layered understanding of how one man’s depravity became the foundation for modern horror’s most resilient nightmares.
With a balance of sensitivity and unflinching detail, the hosts remind us that while horror movies might seem like escapist fun, the roots of these stories are as real and tragic as they come.

---

Transcript

[A]

Crime House has the perfect new show for spooky season. Twisted Tales. Hosted by Heidi Wong, each episode of Twisted Tales is perfect for late night scares and daytime frights, revealing the disturbing real life events that inspired the world's most terrifying blockbusters and the ones too twisted to make it to screen. Twisted Tales is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes out every Monday. It's the spookiest time of year and at Crime House, we couldn't resist getting in on the Halloween spirit. This October, we'll be dropping three special bonus horror episodes on this show straight from some of our favorite Crime House shows. Think of it as a trick or treat bag packed with chills, screams and unforgettable true crime stories. First up, we're giving you an episode of Crimes of, a brand new show from Crime House, hosted by Sabrina Diana Roga and Corinne Vien of Two Girls One Ghost. Crimes of is a weekly true crime anthology series that explores a new theme each season from crimes of the paranormal, unsolved murders, celebrity downfalls, and more. For their first season, Sabrina and Corinne are diving into Crimes of Infamy, the real life true crime events behind Hollywood's most iconic horror villains. From cult classics to massive franchises, it's perfect for Halloween. I'm excited to share an episode of Crimes of Infamy with you. After the episode, make sure to follow Crimes of on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen.

[B]

Let's play a quick little game, Sabrina.

[C]

Ooh.

[B]

I want to play Two Truths and a Lie.

[C]

Your favorite.

[B]

I know. So I will give you three facts about today's subject, a 1950s real life killer named Ed Gein. And you're going to guess which one is the lie.

[C]

Okay, ready?

[B]

Okay. Number one. When police entered Ed Gein's house, they found furniture made of human body parts.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

Number two, Ed was a trusted babysitter around town who was loved by the kids for his magic tricks. And number three, Ed was found guilty of his crimes right away and he spent the rest of his life in prison.

[C]

I really want it to be number two, because how could a serial killer be the the town beloved babysitter?

[B]

Right. It's so weird.

[C]

Yeah. It's so creepy and unsettling for all those kids to, you know, later in life realize that that was their babysitter. But because it's so outlandish, I feel like that has to be true.

[B]

Correct.

[C]

So I'm gonna go with number three.

[B]

Shockingly, number three is the lie Ed did not spend the rest of his days behind bars, but instead he did spend it in a hospital because he was found mentally incompetent to stand trial. And. And then he was later ruled not guilty by reason of insanity.

[C]

So today we'll tell you all about Ed's victims, his life, and the twisted crimes he committed. And how Ed's warped mental state became the inspiration for not one, but several of the world's most iconic horror films.

[B]

Welcome to crimes of the show that takes you into different corners of the true crime universe to explore the biggest cases that changed the course of history. Each eight to 12 episode season, we will dive deeper into the themes from movies to music, to scandals, to crimes of passion and heartbreaking disappearances. Every Tuesday, we will be here to share these stories in a whole new light. And you can catch the show on YouTube where we will include visuals that bring the cases to life.

[C]

But here we're not just dishing out the facts. We're pulling you into the heat of the moment. Through through immersive storytelling, we will take you beyond the headlines, into the turning points that changed everything. The characters, cornerstone memories, detectives, explosive interrogations, and the creepy crime scenes packed with hidden clues.

[B]

Get ready to feel every twist and turn, hear every whisper in secret, and uncover the shocking truths that no one saw coming. We are your hosts, Corinne Bien and Sabrina Diana Roga. I will be the one walking you through the chilling facts of every story.

[C]

And I will be zooming in on the moments and showing you how the very real scenes in these stories played out. We are calling this season Crimes of infamy because we are going to be exploring one of our own personal obsessions. Horror movies. Yeah. So for the next eight episodes, we're ripping off the masks of some of Hollywood's most prolific villains and meeting the real killers who inspired them. The from Psycho to scream to it and Friday the 13th, we are going to examine the true crime killers who were so demonic they became muses for the biggest horror films to date. So you may know Pennywise, Norman Bates and Ghostface, but you might not know the full stories behind the real slashers that inspired the men like John Wayne Gacy, Ed Gein, or Danny Rowling. Which is why Corinne and I are here to take you behind the scenes and into the very real world, walking you through these true crime stor and the blockbuster horrors that they inspired. As you're watching and listening, go ahead and comment on all the similarities you see between today's subjects and your favorite horror films. Because we're Curious to know which are your favorite and why. Plus also give us your recommendations.

[B]

Oh yeah, give us your recs. And now, I'm sure you've never wondered what a lampshade made out of real human flesh would look like.

[C]

No.

[B]

Or what a pair of pants made from real human legs would be like to wear. But Ed Gein did. And as horrifying and sadistic as that sounds, it is not fiction. It is disturbingly real.

[C]

It's very real.

[B]

If you've even dipped a single toe into the true crime universe before, you probably have heard Ed's name mentioned because he might be one of the most iconic and disturbed killers in American history.

[C]

He's also the real life monster who inspired the iconic films like Psycho, Silence of the Lambs, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and so many more. I was shocked at how many movies he inspired that I didn't even think of until we were doing this episode and prepping for it.

[B]

And movies that we watched in our childhood inappropriately as children, but in our child watched inappropriately.

[C]

I was such a scaredy cat. I didn't watch any horror films until my, like adulthood.

[B]

Really?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Oh, my first one was signs at 8 years old shout out to Alayna's mom for an unsupervised sleepover. And it scarred me. I slept in my brother's room for the next like eight years after that.

[C]

Oh yeah.

[B]

But now we're here. Because we love her.

[C]

Now we're here. And we'll talk more about these films right after this. If you're an experienced pet owner, you already know that having a pet is.

[B]

25% belly rubs, 25% yelling drop it. And 50% groaning at the bill from every pet video.

[C]

Is it.

[B]

Which is why Lemonade Pet insurance is tailor made for your pet and can save you up to 90% on vet bills.

[C]

It can help cover checkups, emergencies, diagnostics.

[B]

Basically all the stuff that makes your bank account get nervous. Claims are filed super easily through the Lemonade app and half get settled instantly. Get a'@lemonade.com pet and they'll help cover.

[C]

The vet bill for whatever your pet swallowed after you yelled drop it a warning. This episode contains descriptions of murder and dismemberment, so please listen with care.

[B]

Before we tell you about Ed Gein's story and talk about the movies that he inspired, it is important for us to point out that there are two women who lost their lives at his hands. Bernice Worden and Mary Hogan. Not to mention their families, their friends, an entire community who experienced their Loss and the devastation firsthand. And beyond that, the amount of body parts that were found inside of his home has led investigators to believe that there were many other victims as well as. So in telling Ed's story, we are painfully aware that these are not just tales from the past. They are rooted in real, devastating loss. And for anyone who's been personally affected by a tragedy, stories like this can really hit close to home. And so our hearts go out to you. We carry that weight with us as we tell this story and all of these stories, and you're always on our minds.

[C]

I think there's something to be learned about Ed Gein as a person, and I'm sure a lot of great storytellers would agree because Ed had a way of burrowing himself deep into people's psyches, ours included.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

Yes. I feel like I've just been consumed by Ed Gein for the last couple of weeks, and I've definitely been on edge because of it.

[B]

Right. And I feel like his name is a name that I will never forget after first hearing about him. There are a lot of true crime stories, and there's a lot of horror out there, and people consume it often. You know, we are two of those people that tend to gravitate towards that genre. But. But his name is the one that I will never, ever forget.

[C]

Yeah. Because before Ed, monsters like him seemed to only exist in nightmares. And Corinne and I both have terrifying nightmares. So we can tell you all about those another time. But once people learned that men like Ed really did walk the earth, he became the muse for some of the most impactful horror films to date. Think Norman Bates from Psycho, Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs, which I rewatched Silence of the Lambs yesterday in preparation for this.

[B]

Hello, Clarice.

[C]

There's so much about that movie to talk about, and I could talk about that movie for hours, but I feel like my favorite scene from that movie is when Buffalo Bill is dancing to. What's the. Oh, dancing to Goodbye horses. And he's like, in the mirror and he tucks his penis underneath and he's like, would you fuck me? I'd fuck me.

[B]

Ugh. It's so disturbing. I don't really know if that part of Buffalo Bill was inspired by Ed Gein. We will get into that, but there was a lot taken from Ed Gein's life. And we will get into Ed Gein's life, which was also filled with terrifying jump scares and skin crawling scenes that will make you want to hide under the covers. And if you do not believe us, Sabrina will show you.

[C]

Snow blankets the small town of Plainfield, Wisconsin. The headlights of a cop car cut through the mist, lighting up a quaint little farmhouse on the outskirts of town. The officers turn off their car, plunging everything into darkness. They get out, click on their flashlights, and ever so slowly venture closer to the darkened home. Frost nips at their fingers and the only sound is their footsteps crunching in the snow and their hearts beating in their chest. They're looking for a local woman who went missing earlier that day. But these small town beat cops have no idea what they're in for. Up until now, they've been lucky enough to avoid any real danger. And nothing has prepared them for the horrors they will face tonight. Inside, a woman hanging from her ankles in the middle of the room. Lampshades and chairs upholstered with real human flesh. Women's lips fastened into a window shade. Drawstring belts made out of female breasts. And masks crafted from real human faces.

[B]

Absolutely sick. Yeah. So you're probably starting to see how Moments from Ed Gein's Life inspired the movies that we mentioned earlier. Yes, but before we talk more about that, let us start from the beginning so you can get full picture of how Ed came to be. Ed.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

It's 1914. We are now in a small town of Plainfield, Wisconsin. A village of only about 720 residents at the time. And this was a really sleepy community. It had a handful of businesses. The there was a general store, a wagon shop. It was surrounded by plenty of farmland. And this is where the Gein family had planted their roots.

[C]

It sounds peaceful.

[B]

It does sound peaceful. It kind of sounds like our dream, right?

[C]

Just going to the local farm, picking up some produce.

[B]

The Geens are part of, like the local csa. They're at the farmer's market with their little pickled fruits and vegetables.

[C]

But I have a feeling it's not. That's not exactly how it was, actually.

[B]

Thank God that Ed is no longer taking inspiration because I feel like he would have been into pickling now, nowing what we know. Okay. But they didn't do this. They were just a part of this sleepy little community. And George Gein and his wife, a daughter of German immigrants named Augusta, they find this two story farmhouse on the outskirts of town, about six miles from the main street of Plainfield. And the Geens are sort of private, which we respect, of course. They want to live somewhere kind of far from any prying eyes. They're not super involved in the community. And so this location is perfect for this couple and for their two sons, 8 year old Ed and his older brother, 12 year old Henry. The Geins are far from that perfect little Norman Rockwell family. Ed's father George has a drinking problem. He has a really hard time holding down a job. He spends a lot of the family's money at a local tavern. And he's also not really religious at all, which is starkly different from Ed's mother, Augusta, who is really strict, she's ultra religious. She's just got the hammer on the family while her partner is just like dissolving as a puddle on the floor. And it's basically the family almost viewed him as like a burden and useless for most of his life, which is pretty sad.

[C]

It is very sad. And I feel like this theme of religion plays such a big role in, in Ed's life and his upbringing and in talking about horror movies. It does remind me of the mom and Carrie in Stephen King's film and book.

[B]

So Augusta is super, super religious and extreme even for the 1910s in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin, to the point where Augusta forces her two sons to read the Old Testament over and over again.

[C]

Genesis 50:20. But as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.

[B]

And Augusta also plants the idea in Ed and Henry's minds that all women are basically sex workers sent to earth to tempt men. Except her of course. Which. One, how inappropriate. And two, I don't even, I can't even begin to understand the psyche of Augusta herself because she really wanted daughters. And so she was super upset when Henry, her firstborn, was a her son. So she basically neglected him, almost abandoned him. And then when she had Ed, she decided she was going to do everything in her power to like control him and basically make him into the child that she so wanted. Which to me it just, it still doesn't make sense that she's like, women are evil, women are horrible. It's like you wanted a girl.

[C]

Well, I'm also curious what she thinks about herself. And I know that this episode is about Ed, but it does. But it starts with Augusta wonder about her upbringing and like the narrative her family kind of put into her mind. Yeah, I read a story about how Augusta once caught Ed with like a girl and the way that she punished him afterwards. And then also like one time she caught him masturbating and she completely destroyed him like psychologically telling him how dirty it was. So you can imagine that growing up with all of this just impacted him. Right.

[B]

Yeah. And I had also read somewhere that she told her sons that if they did anything sexual, that basically meant that they did not love her. So it was like your mother's love or growing up as a human being going through puberty and doing things that are natural.

[C]

As if sex and, like, going through puberty weren't tough enough.

[B]

Right. Very tough. In Augusta's house.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

When it comes to her marriage, Augusta definitely wore the pants of this family. She was always ordering George around the house. She was yelling at him for his failures. At one point, they owned a shop, which she ended up kicking George out of his position and taking over the shop. And then when they ended up having farmland, she purchased the farmland in her own name.

[C]

So she was definitely a boss move.

[B]

It is, if you take it out of the context of this story, because, like, it is a controlling move when it comes to Augusta.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

As for Ed, he seemed to always have this almost, like, obsession with his mother. Think Norman Bates. He hung on her every word. He worshiped the ground she walked on. And whether that was maybe out of pure fear or maybe just because of how much she sheltered him, it's anyone's guess, because we can never really know what was going on behind closed doors there. But one thing we do know is that Augusta kept Ed so close that he didn't actually start school until he was eight years old.

[C]

Which is wild, right?

[B]

He has no social skills at that point.

[C]

No.

[B]

He's only been with mommy.

[C]

He's so stunted in so many different ways. And, like, it's social stunt, like being stunted socially, but it's also intellectually. His whole, like, view of the world is what his mother wants him to have.

[B]

And we know that she's not having appropriate conversations for his age either. So there's a lot that Ed had going against him when he joined school.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Immediately, he feels like an outcast. And whenever he came close to making a new friend on the playground or in the classroom, he would run home so excited, he'd tell his mom, oh, my gosh, I made this new friend on the playground, which is so pure. So pure. But she would immediately be like, no, you can never talk to that person. That person is evil. Evil lives within them. And she would spin these wild lies about how awful these kids were that he was trying to befriend, which is.

[C]

A very common abusive technique that, like, isolation tactic that abusers use on their Victims.

[B]

Yeah. She broke Ed down so much that when he would return to the schoolyard the next day, he would avoid talking to or making eye contact with that new friend, which was also strange for the kids who were trying to befriend him. And so he started to get this sort of reputation. And that meant Augusta got what she wanted, which was little Eddie all to herself.

[C]

And it's tough because I feel like in this moment, obviously, we haven't gotten to the really, like, dark things that Ed does do over time. But I have empathy and I sympathize with little Ed. That's really tough. But then at the same time, I don't want to villainize Augusta because, sure, maybe there are parts of his childhood and growing up that contributed to who he became. She is not responsible for his actions.

[B]

No, no. There's unfortunately many children who live similar lives as Ed Gein in their adolescence, and they do not go on to.

[C]

Turn people into lampshade people. Yeah.

[B]

So over time, this created this sort of, like, bizarre dynamic between Augusta and. And the dependency that almost put Ed into the role of her partner at times rather than her child. And this must have been very confusing for little Eddie, as we can imagine. And at school, the way that he was treated by his peers due to this behavior and due to Augusta's influence did kind of add to everything that would shape Ed as a person.

[C]

Right.

[B]

There were some strange quirks about Ed that drove kids away. He had this sort of lopsided grin on his face and his eyes. He had some interesting tactics when it came to making eye contact.

[C]

Well, yeah, if you don't socialize until you're 8 years old.

[B]

He was super shy, super nervous.

[C]

Right, Right.

[B]

But then he also.

[C]

I hate eye contact as a 32 year old woman.

[B]

Me too. Sometimes I count. I'm like, is this an inappropriate amount of time to make eye contact?

[C]

How long is too long?

[B]

30 seconds maybe.

[C]

Too long.

[B]

Look away. But where do I look? I don't know. It is awkward.

[C]

It's awkward.

[B]

We all feel it.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

We feel for young Ed in this moment. It's hard to make friends as a kid. It's hard to make friends as adults. And eye contact does not help. Or maybe it does, I don't know. But that's why we're each other's only friends.

[C]

Exactly.

[B]

He also had this sort of like, wildly inappropriate laughter that he'd burst out at times. So it was just like kind of this whole thing where he was doing his best, he was trying, but his behaviors just were odd enough to the children around him that they did kind of view him as the outcast. Yes. They kept their outcomes.

[C]

And also, we all know children are very mean. We both were bullied as kids and.

[B]

Probably at times, bullies.

[C]

Yeah, exactly. So kids are the worst, but we.

[B]

Love them and we have a child. We together. But the way Ed saw it in his interactions in the schoolyard, it just proved Augusta his mother's points even more. So all the things she was telling him, these kids are evil, blah, blah, blah. It was just driving home what he was being told at home. And so he soon realized the only person he could really trust was Augusta, his mother.

[C]

Really doubling down on that codependency.

[B]

Mm. There was one event from Ed's childhood, though. This was a cornerstone memory that Ed spoke about later in life. One from before he moved to Plainfield that he seemed to remember with a sort of fondness.

[C]

Ready to go into a narrative. All right. It's a sunny afternoon. Ed Gein is no older than eight, and he's just spent the day running around his hometown of La Crosse, Wisconsin, while his parents are off working in the small meeting and grocery store that they run in town. But Ed, like a lot of little boys his age, is out looking for trouble. Ed finds himself standing outside the rundown wooden building that is behind his parents store. And it's a place that for years has piqued his curiosity. And it's also a place that Ed has been told under no circumstances is he ever allowed to enter. But he's 10. And now, standing there, hearing the horrible sounds and screams of the animals within, he wants to see it for himself. He senses that whatever is happening in the back room is not good. And that makes him want to see it for himself even more. So what does he do? He sneaks around the side of the building, hoping to get a quick peek inside. He's dying to know what his mother and father are doing back there that he's not allowed to see. Ed finds the door open just a crack. And there he spots his parents. In between them, a giant hog hanging from a meat hook in the ceiling. The animal sways as Augusta takes a long blade and runs it down the animal's belly. Little Ed watches and as blood pours onto the floor. And in that moment, he feels something he's never felt before. Like something has awakened inside of him. A complicated feeling of pleasure. A feeling that will drive a lot of Ed's behavior in the years to come.

[B]

See, this is a perfect moment too, where we can discuss how a lot of people could also see that. And that could be a horrible, horrifying moment, a nightmare fuel for a child. But for Ed, it did awaken something in him. So there is this sort of thing that already kind of existed within Ed.

[C]

Right. And there's a lot of different studies into this moment, specifically because Ed did recall it quite a bit after he was caught for his crimes. That almost attached a sexual desire to this and to his mother. It's the act of his mother cutting open this pig. And it's. I mean, the complexity and darkness here is like, really, it runs deep. And it's so unsettling to you and I. Freud would have had a feeling. Yeah.

[B]

So Ed might have thought that he would take this secret with him to the grave. He certainly didn't have any friends to share this. Well, maybe his perversions with.

[C]

Which is even harder because now he's stuck with it alone in his head.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And he probably knows it's wrong, but he has no one to share it with and talk to it with.

[B]

So he obsesses over it and thinks about it because he knows he's not.

[C]

Supposed to, which makes him think about.

[B]

It more and getting punished by his mom.

[C]

And this is why.

[B]

Which is either a bad thing or a good thing. I don't know.

[C]

Which is why everyone should go to therapy.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

Big therapy advocates here.

[B]

It gets even worse for Ed, too, because he actually dropped out of school after the eighth grade. And it seemed like the only person outside of his mom in his life really, was Henry, who was five years his senior. But Henry also didn't last long in school either. And so the two started tending to their parents farm full time, working a series of odd jobs around town. And really, because their father was also suffering with alcoholism and probably a lot of other things, he. He wasn't able to pull his weight. Really. And so they had a lot of work to do to keep the family afloat and help their mother, Augusta, which.

[C]

Goes back to, again, like Ed almost playing this role of partner rather than child. So there's a lot of responsibility to put on a kid. Totally. And then also based on everything we've learned about Ed and Augusta, the relationship Augusta had with Henry, like, she almost kind of despised him.

[B]

And.

[C]

And then favored Ed, which I'm sure created so much conflict between brothers.

[B]

Super weird dynamic.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But the two are working together on the family farm. And then Ed, he would patch roofs, he would paint houses, repaired broken fences, and he even babysat some of the neighbors. Kids and not just like a one time. Oh, we're hiring Ed to babysit. Like he was a repeatedly hired, he was a repeat hire. People thought he did a great job. The kids loved him.

[C]

Which is just so hard to think about after the fact.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

But I do hope he was actually like a good babysitter and that he might have been. Yeah. That he was good to the kids.

[B]

Accepted by the young kids, felt at home with them.

[C]

Cause there is like I even feel this when I'm in social gatherings. Cause I have severe social anxiety. I cling to my niece, my two year old niece, because it's so much easier.

[B]

Oh, if there's a dog at the party, forget it. I'm with the dog the whole time.

[C]

There's no small talk. It's like you're just running around and having fun and it's innocent and there's less pressure on you to be like, look at me, I have my life together.

[B]

Totally. So the younger kids that he babysat did seem to love Eddie. He would roughhouse with the boys, he would do magic tricks for the girls. And he definitely felt more in sync with the children than he did with young adults his own age.

[C]

Right.

[B]

And while most of the kids moved out of their homes, starting their own lives, exploring independence from their families, Ed and Henry did not. They kept living under their parents roof well into their 30s. And it kind of seemed like there was no plan for either of them to move out and be on their own.

[C]

Which is probably something that Augusta wanted.

[B]

Yeah. Kind of reminds me of the Borden sisters.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But in the 1940s, tragedy was brought to the Gein family. By the start of the year, Ed's father George was nearly at the end of his life. The years of drinking had really taken a toll on his health. And at 66 years old on April 1st of that year, George passed away. And after that, the dynamic in the home, it changed a lot. Right now, with their father gone, the reason that Eddie and his brother Henry had never really been close was more apparent, at least to Henry. It was because of how much Ed worshiped Augusta. A very inappropriate amount. The two always seemed to gang up on Henry, taking each other's side. And eventually it came to the point where Henry just could not keep quiet any longer. He approached Ed one day and and expressed some of his concerns about how much of a hold Augusta had over the 37 year old ed. And it was one concern that Henry probably should have kept to himself. Though I don't want to blame Henry for this, but you'll know why. Because of what came next.

[C]

It's the evening of May 16, 1944. Ed Gein runs to his neighbor's house in a panic. He says there's just been a fire on his property and he and his brother were scrambling to put it out. But he lost sight of his 42 year old brother, Henry. And after the flames and smoke finally cleared, Henry was still nowhere to be found. Ed cries out desperately. He needs his neighbor's help. They assemble a search party. Even the deputy sheriff comes out to lend a hand. But there's something strange about how this search goes down. Ed trudges back over to the property, and without missing a beat, with the team trailing behind him, Ed seems to know exactly where to find his missing brother. And he leads the search party directly to where Henry is now, lying face down in the dirt, his pulse no longer beating. While the neighbors call Ed out for having found Henry's body so easily, Ed just shrugs and agrees, saying, quote, funny how that works. Even weirder, Henry doesn't appear to be touched by the flames at all. There isn't a single burn on his body. There are, however, several strange bruises on his head. Bruises that might have been caused by foul play.

[B]

Funny how that works. Guilty.

[C]

But apparently not.

[B]

That's so suspicious.

[C]

It's so suspicious. And I feel like to you and I, and probably our listeners, everyone who's out there listening, it seems safe to say Ed had some role in this. But.

[B]

Yeah, it would seem that way. But for the record, Ed was actually never charged with anything related to Henry's death. But the people of Plainfield definitely whispered about it. And one thing was for certain, Ed did not have to worry about sharing his mommy anymore. He had Augusta all to himself.

[C]

Why'd you have to say it so creepy?

[B]

Mommy. Mommy. Because that's how I picture them together. Just odd behaviors.

[C]

Have you ever seen Long Legs? No. Ugh. So it's Nic Cage in that movie and he plays this very, very creepy role, but there's a scene where he's like, driving and he's like, mommy, Daddy.

[B]

Ooh.

[C]

So you sounded like that.

[B]

Well, no offense to Nicolas Cage in that movie. Nicolas Cage. The way I said that. But it does kind of look like he is wearing a skin suit in it.

[C]

It does, yeah. Well, I don't think that's offense. I think that's props to the costume people.

[B]

Yeah, props. Props to the prosthetics.

[C]

They did their job.

[B]

Curious if there's any inspiration there from Ed Gein's story, but Ed also did not have Augusta to himself for very long after Henry's death because a short time later, Augusta suffered a paralyzing stroke. And just four days after Christmas, on December 29, 1945, a second stroke took her life and she died at 67 years old. And now Ed was completely beside himself. Completely alone.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

The one person who'd offered him shelter and security and direction, at least in his skewed beliefs, was now gone.

[C]

It was probably life shattering.

[B]

I can't even imagine his whole reality has changed what was going on if he wasn't already broken inside, like that had to have destroyed him. Yes.

[C]

And. Cause that's something that, like I remember when my dad's dad passed away, it really, really broke him in many ways. And I think that's something that a lot of people deal with when their parents die. Like, it's really difficult.

[B]

Right? Yeah. And for Ed, in his grief, he had no purpose and he had no direction. The house completely went to ruin. And it wasn't long before that grief and loneliness manifested into something darker, something twisted and sadistic. And it would only be a matter of time before the monster living inside of him finally emerged.

[C]

Dun dun dun.

[B]

58 year old Bernice Worden, her maiden name was Conover, had lived in Plainfield, Wisconsin ever since she was a little girl. She had married a boy in town named Leon Warden, and the two opened a hardware store together. And then they had two children, Frank and Miriam. And it was a very quiet and simple life. And over the years, the family became synonymous with that little hardware store. I picture like Gilmore Girls now.

[C]

Yeah. Such a small town. Everyone knows everyone.

[B]

Totally.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And everyone in town knew who Leon and Bernice were because of this hardware store that they ran. And so when Leon suddenly passed away in 1931 at the age of 4 40, the whole town was mourning his loss. This was a very beloved man. And this was just the kind of place that Plainfield was. Everyone knew each other, everyone cared about one another. But suddenly Bernice had found herself owning this hardware store. A single mom having to run this shop and have two children, all under her care. And for the next 25 years, Bernice learned how to live without Leon by her side. She went to church. She found a love for fishing. She became a grandmother. And all while earning the title of Citizen of the week in 1956.

[C]

I love that.

[B]

Bring that back.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Citizen of the Week.

[C]

I feel like towns are too big. Like you need to do something small.

[B]

Actually, that was inappropriate to say in this episode. Sorry. Moving on.

[C]

You meant to do that.

[B]

I did not. But you know where my mind is now.

[C]

I do, yes.

[B]

Okay. Well, there was one person in this town who took an extra special liking to Bernice Worden, and that was Ed Gein. Because ever since his mother's passing, Ed. Well, he hadn't really changed much. He was still odd. He was quite polite and soft spoken and most people knew him as such. And he still actually babysat people in the neighborhood. Right. Like, still in his 40s, he's babysitting kids. If there was a sudden emergency, I don't think he was like the go to, but, you know, he was still there and available. But he looked a little bit more ragged than before without his mother around to encourage him to bathe every few days. Maybe that was expected. Ed wasn't the only one who'd fallen into disrepair, though, because their farmhouse, the Gein's family farmhouse, also suffered in the wake of Augusta's death. It was once completely pristine, and now the yard was infested with weeds. The farming equipment had rusted away in the summer sun, and any livestock that once brought life to the land had been sold off by Ed to make some cash.

[C]

Right.

[B]

Even from the outside, it was very clear that there was some unsettling darkness that had descended over the Gein's home. And maybe that is why Ed often found himself wandering all around town.

[C]

It's like his physical reality was a metaphor for what was happening psychologically, too.

[B]

Yeah, completely. And him, like, wandering around, totally lost, looking for direction.

[C]

Right. And looking for a mom. Clearly some companionship, some type of replacement for Augusta.

[B]

Totally. And one of his chosen haunts was Bernice Worden's hardware store. It started small, stopping by every once in a while to buy a new wrench or some chemical supplies. But soon he was making daily appearances, and those turned into something more specific. Some more specific requests. He would ask Bernice, do you want to join me for a movie tonight? Are you free to go roller skating later? Maybe. Dancing is more your speed.

[C]

So it's almost like he wants a romantic connection with her.

[B]

Which I have to say, after all of these talks about him struggling socially, I do feel like his lines to ask someone on a date is appropriate, maybe the way he did it in.

[C]

The context, and we're not there to really know how it went down. So, you know, we want to imagine it one way, but it might have been a little bit more unsettling.

[B]

True. Yeah. And while it doesn't seem like Bernice, who was seven years older than Ed was very accepting of his advances. She also wasn't rude to him either. She was very polite in declining these dates. But Ed's feelings for Bernice, they went from fondness to to obsession. And quickly. And on the morning of November 16, 1957, Ed Gein could no longer help himself.

[C]

Imagine fast hydration combined with balanced energy. Perfectly flavored with zero artificial sweeteners. Introducing Liquid Ivy's new energy Multiplier.

[B]

Sugar free.

[C]

Unlike other energy drinks, you know the.

[B]

Ones that make you feel like you're glitching. It's made with natural caffeine and electrolytes so you get the boost without the burnout.

[C]

Liquid IV's new energy multiplier Sugar free Hydrating Energy.

[B]

Tap the banner to learn more.

[C]

Think your lashes have hit their limit? Discover limitless length and full volume with Maybelline Sky High Mascara. The Flex Tower Brush bends to volumize and extend every single lash from root to tip. And the lightweight bamboo infused formula makes lashes feel weightless. Now in eight bold shades so you can take your lashes to new heights every day. Visit maybelline.com to shop Sky High Mascara now.

[B]

Do you want to know what it's like to hang out with Ms. 13 in El Salvador? How the Russian Mafia fought battles all over Brooklyn in the 1990s? What about that time I got lost.

[A]

In the Burmese jungle hunting the world's biggest meth lab?

[B]

I'm Sean Williams. And I'm Danny Gold and we're the host of the Underworld podcast. We're journalists that have traveled all over reporting on dangerous people and places, and every week we'll be bringing you a new story about organized crime from all over the world, available wherever you get your podcasts.

[C]

It's a quiet day in downtown Plainfield, the first day of hunting season. So many of the local men and boys are out in the woods searching for deer. But back in town, Bernice Worden is managing the quiet hardware shop in case any of the men come back for supplies. Even Bernice's grown son, Frank is out in these woods. When Frank isn't working as deputy sheriff in town, he's helping Bernice out in the hardware shop. But today, Bernice figures she can handle it alone. And Ed Gein, who has been watching her closely, sees this as the perfect opportunity. Just after 8am that day, Ed hops in his 49 Ford sedan and heads into town. He parks his car in front of Bernice's shop and goes inside. As the bell over the door rings, Bernice greets Ed politely. He brings an empty jug over to the register, flashes an awkward, toothy grin at Bernice, and asks if she will refill his antifreeze. Bernice saunters to the back room to get it, making small talk with Ed as she disappears. Then she comes back into view. She writes him a sales receipt, keeping a carbon copy for herself, and then watches as Ed wanders back out the front door. Bernice lets out a sigh of relief, believing she is off the hook from Ed's flirtatious advances today. But then she hears the bell chime again. Ed is back. And this time he has another request. He's been thinking of trading his rifle for a new one, so he asks Bernice if he can see the model she has on display. Bernice hands the unloaded rifle over and walks over to the window of the shop, giving Ed some time to consider it. She comments to Ed about a big red Chevy parked in front of the general store across the street. I see Bud has a new car, she says, her back still turned to edge. And while she's distracted, Ed takes a bullet out of his overalls, loads the pistol, and by the time she turns around, Bernice is face to face with the shotgun. Then Ed pulls the trigger.

[B]

A few hours later, a man named Bernard, who worked across the street at the gas station, noticed how quiet things were at Bernice's store. And Bernice was always hustling about. But not today. And so he noticed something felt off.

[C]

And again, like going back to the small town. Everyone knows everyone. They're probably in each other's businesses.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. On his break, Bernard strolled over to check on Bernice. And the shop door was locked. And so he thought to himself, well, maybe Mrs. Worden decided to close shop early. But if that were the case, then why had Bernice left all the lights on inside? So he's an investigator, right? He's picking up on the clues.

[C]

This is a time where having nosy neighbors is a good thing.

[B]

Oh, it's still a good thing.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And later that afternoon, Bernice's son, Frank Worden, returned from hunting and stopped by the gas station. And when he heard that his mother was missing from her shop, he rushed right over. And one of the first things he noticed was a pool of blood inside of the trap. And near it was a handwritten receipt for antifreeze. And the person his mother had sold to was none other than Ed Gein.

[C]

Leaving a lot of evidence behind. Which, thankfully, we're glad that he did.

[B]

Right. Which is a little bit ironic that he was so Sloppy in his crimes because he did also consume a lot of content at home reading about crimes.

[C]

He spent a lot of time thinking about it, probably, but never, I guess, acting on it is such a different experience.

[B]

True.

[C]

I hope to never know. And I hope none of you ever know. And I hope no one kills anyone. I think that's safe to say.

[B]

I'd worry. I, like, took that.

[C]

I was like, walk it back, walk.

[B]

It back, walk it back. So Frank knew Ed had been making some strange passes at his mom and that this had been going on for a while. So when he contacted his fellow officers at the sheriff's department, he was certain when he said, quote, he's done something to her.

[C]

Oh, that's so sad.

[B]

I know. They needed to find Ed Gein and they needed to find him fast, which, shockingly, was not that hard because they found Ed Gein sitting in a neighbor's driveway that evening. And they asked Ed to get out of his car, where they questioned him. They asked where he'd been that day. And the conversation basically ended with one very suspicious comment from Ed. He said, somebody framed me. And the police asks, framed you for what?

[C]

Oh, God.

[B]

And then he replies, well, Mrs. Worden, she's dead, ain't she?

[C]

Guilty. We need to get you again.

[B]

Police department. This is ridiculous. Okay, so this was.

[C]

I like how angry you just got, but they're about to. Yeah, they're on dishes.

[B]

And also the chairs are soft, so you can't really feel my frustration. But this was a huge tell, right? Because no one had suspected that Bernice was dead at the time. No one was talking about it. The town didn't know. The gossip hadn't spread yet. She was just missing.

[C]

And sure, there was blood, but that doesn't necessarily mean death. It could have just been injury. Exactly.

[B]

Totally. So Ed is showing all of his cards here, and this was enough to land Ed in handcuffs and get him stuffed into the back of the squad car. And meanwhile, two other officers were dispatched to the Gein Farmstead, arriving around 8pm.

[C]

With one hand on their flashlights and the other on their holsters. The officers approach the Gein house with a sense of hesitancy, even though they know that Ed is in custody. There's something about this place that sends shivers down their spines. And it isn't the freezing cold weather. They try several doors, finding most of them are locked, aside from one latch that is a bit flimsier than the rest. The door to the summer kitchen, which is attached to the main house. This bolt is weak and gives with one swift kick. As the door opens, the officers are struck with a horrible stench. An unmistakable decay. The officers cover their noses with their jackets, shining their lights inside to find that the place is covered in trash. They step over weeks, if not months, of rotting food, empty bottles, old newspapers and rusted farm tools. They take each corner with a cautiousness you might feel in a haunted house. And that is when one of the officers feels it. A ghostly presence gently caressing his back. He whips his head around to see it isn't his imagination. His flashlight illuminates a decapitated dead body hanging upside down from the ceiling. The remains are gutted like livestock, split down the middle. Despite the dismemberment and lack of a head, there is no question in their mind that this is the body of Bernice Worden. And as they wander from room to room, the officers discover something far worse. Something that can only be described as a museum for the macabre, one concocted from Ed's own twisted psyche. Bracelets, a wastebasket, lampshades and chairs, all made from human skin. And boxes filled with other discarded body parts like noses, sex organs. They are amongst unthinkable horrors. Masks and clothes made of real human flesh that are designed to be worn. Then one of the officers sees a bag hidden behind a door. After what he had just witnessed, he cannot fathom what lies within. And every instinct tells him not to open it, to stay away. But this is his job, and duty calls. That is when he reaches in, fingers interlocking with a clump of human hair. And then he pulls out an entire human head. And it is not Bernice Worden's head. He hasn't realized it yet, but it belongs to another woman who went missing in Plainfield three years prior, in 1954. A woman named Mary Hogan.

[B]

This is just so brutal, because I feel like one of the things was serial killers is trophies, right? Like, the trophy is the kind of token thing that gets a lot of people caught. But this is so far beyond a trophy.

[C]

This is.

[B]

I don't even know what this is.

[C]

It's a head. It actually. So I wrote for the show Prodigal Son back in. What was that, 2021, 2022. Those years of the pandemic. And one of the episodes that I wrote it was season one, episode 18, I think. I can't remember. Anyway, the killer in that, like, resembles Ed Gein so much, and I didn't even realize it. Like, it must have been in my subconscious, but I didn't realize it but there's a scene that I wrote where a body is, like dismembered in pieces and the head is found in a paper bag.

[B]

He's just so disturbing that I do think he's influenced more than what is just even credited to him, unfortunately. So Mary Hogan, the victim that you just presented, her tavern was a local after work watering hole. It was located only 7 miles outside of Plainfield. It was one of the places that everyone could just get together after a really long day and drown their sorrows or disrupt their routines a little bit. And for Ed Gein, it was kind of a classroom. It was a place where he could learn how the rest of the society, I guess, like, acted, which is a common.

[C]

Which is a common thing with serial killers. I feel like a lot of them have this way of studying other humans to try to be like, oh, this is how I'm supposed to act.

[B]

Right.

[C]

And then they mimic it.

[B]

Yeah. And he also, he didn't drink either. So he was like truly there just to observe people and to get a lesson in blending in. So while Ed didn't need any alcohol, which was his father's obsession, and so he kind of was turned off from it, he was there for a different sort of vice. He was there for the bartender, mary hogan herself. Three years before his obsession with Bernice Worden in 1954, Ed had set his sights on Mary. She was another middle aged woman and she was a little bit heavyset. She had a thick German accent who again, reminded him of Augusta, reminded Ed of his mother. And Augusta, of course, she was super religious, super like cold and stark and rigid in her beliefs and her ways. And so she would have never been caught dead in a bar. Right?

[C]

Right.

[B]

But on the outside, Mary Hogan resembled Augusta fully. And on the inside, her morals could not be more different. And for some reason, this is kind of what attracted Ed to Mary even more.

[C]

Right.

[B]

And that obsession came to a head in December of 1954.

[C]

On the afternoon of December 8, the first patron steps inside Mary's tavern for his happy hour beer. The door slams behind him as he walks up to the counter and realizes it's eerily silent in here today and Mary has not come out yet to pour him his usual ale. The longer the man stands there in the quiet, abandoned bar, the more he realizes Mary isn't in the back changing a keg. She isn't there at all. Something is very, very wrong. So this man peers behind the bar, and that is when he sees a pool of blood on the floor. Minutes later, Deputies arrive on the scene, and they find a used.32 caliber cartridge on the bar floor and a trail of blood that leads out the back door and into the parking lot lot. But that is where the clues stop. Detectives spend weeks searching for more evidence, searching for Mary. But Mary's body never shows up, and neither does a lead.

[B]

Eventually, Mary's case ran cold. That is, until almost three years later, when on the evening of November 16, 1957, two detectives found her head in Ed Gein's home. The officers at Ed's home called for backup, prepared to collect every shred of evidence needed to prosecute Ed for Bernice and Mary's deaths.

[C]

And also, I mean, based on all the evidence they were finding, I'm sure they were like, how many other victims does he have?

[B]

There were way more body parts than just two humans.

[C]

Noses, sexual organs, nipples. Like, it was dozens of body parts belonging to who knows how many victims.

[B]

I can't even imagine what those officers were going through. Yeah, it turns out Ed was not looking for a fight, thank goodness. And after his arrest, Ed was willing to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, as long as they got him some apple pie with a slice of cheese on top, which kind of.

[C]

Has become a famous reference. I think it's Robert De Niro's character in Taxi, in Taxi Driver, who asks for a slice of apple pie with cheese on top.

[B]

And it does make me wonder, the history of this. If this was something that Augusta. It was, like, his special treat.

[C]

It must have been, because why? Have you ever tried that?

[B]

No. And it's such a weird combo.

[C]

Like, I do love apple.

[B]

Well, I'm not trying to yuck another person's yum, but maybe Ed's.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, I think it's okay to yuck Ed's yums.

[B]

I'm allergic to apples. I can't have that. But Ed gave the police what they wanted. They wanted answers. They wanted to know why. And he began to talk. He told them, yes, he had killed Bernice Worden, but he couldn't recall the details. He said he remembered buying antifreeze, but then after that, he blacked out, which.

[C]

I think is a common thing that either serial killers or murderers in general experience or claim to experience.

[B]

Right. And again, Norman Bates, this is his character, essentially.

[C]

But I do believe that there is this weird duality that's probably existing in the mind of the killers where they know something is wrong morally, they've been taught murder is wrong. So to protect themselves, they almost have, like, this alter ego again. Not excusing it, but it's like they have to shut that off. It's the same way when people experience trauma. Like, sometimes they block it out because it's easier to move on. Right.

[B]

And also, I don't know what was going on in Ed's mind. Obviously, I feel like he's a really hard person for anyone to understand the psyche of.

[C]

Right.

[B]

But there is that kind of back and forth of like, he's finally completing his, like, perversion, his dream of doing this thing that also the person he loves the most in life, his mother would have absolutely probably killed him over. So it's like he's doing the worst thing in his mother's eyes. And probably the fear, the joy of doing it and the fear of being caught. I know even though she's gone, if.

[C]

I were to turn this into another type of movie, I'd picture it very like Dexter esque, where Augusta is showing up. Like her ghost is like this voice in Ed's head all the time, but, like, almost like he sees her spirit talking to him.

[B]

Yeah, well, he said he blacked out and that when he came to, he was dragging Bernice's body from the store into his truck and then he took her home where he cut her open like a deer. So, yeah, maybe he blacked out during the actual killing portion, but he certainly remembers what he did after the fact.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And as the conversation continued, he also admitted to killing Mary Hogan in a very similar fashion three years prior.

[C]

So he's just confessing everything once he's caught, I guess.

[B]

Like, what does he have to live for? He's got nothing. The question now was, who did the rest of the body parts belong to?

[C]

Right.

[B]

And that is when Ed confessed to the unthinkable. This episode is brought to you by Netflix. Everyone is telling her she dreamt it. But in the woman in cabin 10.

[A]

Lo Blacklock is determined to uncover the.

[B]

Truth in the gripping new thriller coming to Netflix October 10th.

[A]

Keira Knightley plays a journalist aboard a luxury yacht who witnesses a crime she can't unsee.

[B]

Adapted from Ruth Ware's best selling novel.

[A]

Directed by Simon Stone.

[B]

Watch the Woman in Cabin 10 only.

[A]

On Netflix on October 10th.

[C]

This episode is brought to you by Rakuten. If you're shopping while working, eating, or even listening to this podcast, then you.

[B]

Know and love the thrill of a deal.

[C]

But are you getting the deal and cash back? Rakuten shoppers, do they get the brands they love? Savings and cash back. And you can get it too. Stack sales on top of cash back and feel what it's like to know you're maximizing savings. It's easy to use and you get cash back sent to you through paypal or check. The idea is simple. The brands you love pay Rakuten for sending them shoppers. And Rakuten shares the money with you as cash back. Download the free Rakuten app or go to rakuten.com to start saving today.

[B]

It's the most rewarding way to shop.

[C]

That's R a k u t e.

[B]

N rakuten.com he told detectives that those body parts actually belonged to people who were already dead. Because it turns out he was super obsessed with grave robbing. And he would crack open caskets and steal the remains of the dead under the COVID of night. And usually they were women freshly deceased. And sometimes they were people he'd known about town. So after he confessed to grave robbing, a team of excavators pulled those bodies from their graves and analyzed their remains and did confirm that, yeah, he did take those body parts. But there was something else detectives were curious about that day. They wanted to know, why did he do it? And after nine hours of questioning, police finally got some answers. Ed admitted to them that both women reminded him of his mother. And whether he felt this urge to kill because of his deep obsession with Augusta or because maybe he had some, like, misunderstood hatred for her, we don't really know. But it seems too complicated for Ed to unravel himself without a therapist. Pro therapy.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

But it was enough to press charges. And five days later, on November 21, 1957, Ed's lawyer helped him plead not guilty by reason of insanity. Which meant.

[C]

Which is insane to me.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, it is. But, like, he also wasn't with it. Like, yes, I feel like they were premeditated for sure. But was he understanding right from wrong? Which maybe is part of.

[C]

I have opinions on that, but yes, I understand.

[B]

Either way, he's put away. Right. Like he's off the streets.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So the next step was to see whether or not this 51 year old ed Gein was fit to stand trial. And a judge ordered ed to undergo 30 days of observation at the Central State Hospital for the Criminally Insane and Waupunct Wisconsin. And during his time there, Ed offered even more insight into how his twisted mind worked. Despite what many investigators believed, he insisted that his crimes were not sexually motivated, that he never engaged in any acts of sex with the deceased or.

[C]

Or even the living. Like he was a virgin. He claimed to be A virgin?

[B]

Yes.

[C]

His whole life.

[B]

That he did partake in masturbation, but never had sex ever in his entire life.

[C]

Because what would Augusta think?

[B]

Right? Yeah, they would. He was evil if he partook in those acts with the evil women that were all around him.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

After those 30 days of assessment were up, doctors officially diagnosed Ed Gein with schizophrenia and decided that he was not fit to stand trial after all. Instead, he would remain under the care of the state hospital indefinitely. And the people of Plainfield were pissed.

[C]

Which I don't blame them.

[B]

Right. We're already getting pissed.

[C]

Yeah. Get your gavel out. Guilty. All right. It is around 2:30am on March 20, 1958, when a little boy living near Ed's house wakes up to a brilliant light outside his window. As he peels back the blinds, he sees that the G's abandoned farmhouse has erupted into flames. And by the time the fire marshal and a team of firefighters arrive on the scene, there is no saving Ed's childhood home. Come sunrise, the people of Plainfield have gathered around to watch the now tainted farmhouse crumble. The way they see it, this is one way for Ed Gein to finally receive some justice. And the local authorities seem to agree. Because what, or rather who, started the fire is never investigated. Later that morning, Ed's psychiatrist comes into the ward. After hearing the news on the radio and terrified of how Ed might react, he wonders to himself if he should even bother sharing the news. So he waits for Ed to get up, get dressed and to eat some breakfast before he finally tells him that his childhood home is no longer standing. And Ed, without much expression, just blinks in his direction before responding very casually. Just as well.

[B]

He's so casual in all of his lines, like, I don't, I don't. It's. He's the most confusing person ever.

[C]

Funny how that works.

[B]

Funny how that works just as well. Well, just as well. Ten years later, in 1968, Ed's doctors announced that he had improved and he was now fit to stand trial for the murder of Bernice Worden. And on November 14th of that year, 62 year old Eds fate was decided again, still not guilty by reason of insanity. And so Ed was sent back to the hospital where he lived for the next decade and a half. And come 1984, 78 year old Ed was senile. He was living with cancer. And on July 26th of that year, he died of respiratory failure. And the following night, he was buried in an unmarked grave in the Plainfield cemetery, right next to his mother.

[C]

Augusta, eternally at peace with his mother.

[B]

I also wonder, like, was her head returned or was he with headless Mommy?

[C]

I don't know. The fact that you keep saying Mommy, it's so appropriate because he probably was calling her Mommy until her death. Yeah, but it's creepy hearing you say it.

[B]

It's Mommy.

[C]

It's Mommy. The story is really, really disturbing. And after hearing Ed's story, you can probably see why he's left such a lasting impression on a lot of filmmakers, creatives, even everyday people. Because something about the way Ed expressed those horrific desires lodges itself deep into the psyche, creating what can only be described as nightmare fuel. And like I was saying about with Prodigal Son, that episode I wrote, I wasn't thinking about Ed Gein, but he.

[B]

Exists inside your mind somewhere.

[C]

He stays there. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

Because, like, what is more monstrous than this? If you're trying to get, like, deeply depraved and write something so horrifying that it doesn't feel real. It's Ed Gein's story.

[C]

It is. So let's talk about some of the films that were inspired by Ed Gein. So let's start with one of my favorites, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which I didn't realize was inspired by Ed Gein. It is one of the longest running horror franchises out there. And the first movie came out in 1974, written by Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper and also directed by Tobe Hooper as well. He then directed a sequel that came out 12 years later, and this one was written by LM Kit Carson. Seven more movies followed after that, all by different creators, including a remake in 2003, which I think that's the one I saw.

[B]

Yeah, me too, actually.

[C]

That was my. That was another movie horror movie I ever watched.

[B]

Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

[C]

I did a double feature. So I really, like, went from never watching horror movies, and then I went to a sleepover where my friend wanted to watch scary movies and I couldn't be chicken. And we did a double feature of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and House of Wax.

[B]

Ooh. I think about that every time. The Achilles tendon, like, just getting snipped underneath the stairs. Hate it. Or just being pulled apart at a gas station with two trucks. Horrible. This is what kids born in the 80s and 90s grew up watching.

[C]

But so throughout all of these movies, the franchise's villain, who Ed Gein inspired, has remained the same. So if you haven't seen any iteration of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I'm gonna give a a group of friends are traveling through rural Texas when they stop by this old farmstead. One by one, they're picked off by a chainsaw wielding villain known as Leatherface, who is a former butcher who makes and wears masks of human skin to hide his own identity. So just by that quick synopsis, you can see how Leatherface was clearly inspired by Ed Gein and his horrific crimes. Plus also the, like, old farm in the middle of nowhere. Right. So then there's the desecration of bodies, the trophies made of human remains. This is all taken from a page in Ed Gein's book. But there is one interesting fact that I learned in preparation for this episode. In an interview, co writer and director Toby Hooper said that he learned about Ed when he was just four or five years old, who told him, he said relatives of his lived just one town over from Ed Gein in Wisconsin and told his family about the crimes as they were happening.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[C]

So, like, he and his family were getting the inside scoop in real time live. Yeah, so it was something that always stuck with Hooper, especially with the story hitting so close to home. Have you seen Texas Chainsaw Massacre?

[B]

Oh, yes.

[C]

Have you seen multiple versions of it?

[B]

No, I think I've only seen the one that you did.

[C]

Yeah. It is unsettling. And as my intro into horror movies, I will say it's a good one to start with, but it is, if you like gore. Yeah, it is gory.

[B]

Yeah, it's very gory.

[C]

Ugh. And the moments of, like, hiding in the, like, old buildings attached to the farmhouse, hearing the chainsaw going.

[B]

Your heart's just constantly beating watching that. I know, but if we want to do a more psychological spin on Ed Gein's story, then let's go to the next movie, because this one still gives us nightmares. Silence of the Lambs.

[C]

And if it weren't 11am I'd say let's crack open a bottle of Chianti, get some bowls of fava beans and skip out on the liver.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. All right, well, here's the TL doctor. An FBI agent in training, Clarice Starling, played by the iconic Jodie Foster, asks for the help of a cannibalistic psychiatrist named Dr. Hannibal Lecter. And she asks for help when she needs to find another serial killer named Buffalo Bill. Author Thomas Harris drew inspiration from Ed Gein when conjuring up Buffalo Bill's character. And if you've read the books or if you've seen the movies, you know that one of Buffalo Bill's identifying traits is dressing up in a suit of female flesh exactly like the one that was found in Ed Gein's farmhouse on that fateful day that Bernice disappeared. Buffalo Bill also has the defining trait of mutilating and skinning his victims. Again, taken from a page from Ed Gein's book.

[C]

Of the movies inspired by Ed Gein, I think this is the one that sticks with me the most because it is. I mean, if you're a horror movie fan, I feel like this is one of your go tos.

[B]

Silence of the Lambs and a psychological thriller. And it still has the gore. It's just so disturbing.

[C]

It is. There was a time in my life where I would do dinners with friends and we'd pick a movie and then make a dinner associated to the movie or like, relative to the movie. And we did a Silence of the Lambs Night.

[B]

Oh, God. Okay. At least it was the first one and not the second one.

[C]

Yeah, no, it was just the first one.

[B]

Yeah. Because the second one, he eats the guy's brain while he's.

[C]

I was not serving humans at my dinner party.

[B]

It's an interesting choice for a dinner party. I'll say that.

[C]

I'm a weird person and I'm proud.

[B]

And that's why we sit here in.

[C]

These chairs and that's why we're talking about this. No, but I do think it's one of those things where as humans, we want to understand patterns and we want to understand the why behind things. And that's why so many killers and people like Ed Gein are so fascinating to us, because they feel so foreign from you and I. Yeah, thank God. Yes, exactly. But it's also scary and it feels real. And there are victims that perhaps like. Like we could be victims and.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And there's this desire to want to protect ourselves.

[B]

Right. I was just gonna say that, like, there's something in, like studying the clues and studying what happened to see if there any way of, like, identifying if this is about to happen to us. And like, what are the ways that we could potentially survive?

[C]

Like, how do you catch a killer before they kill? And I think that's the. That would be the goal for everyone. But yeah, instead we look back afterwards. So now maybe the most infamous nod to Ed Gein is the character Norman Bates, the main character in Psycho. But before we talk about the movie, let's talk about the book, Robert Bloch, because there is something really eerie that happened here.

[B]

So creepy.

[C]

And you told me about this.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

So you tell me about it again.

[B]

Okay. So it Turns out Bloch was writing the novel Psycho in 1958, 35 miles away from where Gein lived. And this is when all of these crimes are happening. But Bloch has no idea the full extent of Gein's history and the murders until after the book was already published. So, shockingly, his character, Norman Bates, is eerily similar to Ed Gein. He was writing this book just miles from where Ed Gein was committing these atrocious acts, but had no clue.

[C]

It reminds me of, like, that book, and I can't remember the name of it, but it was, like, about a big ship that was doing a transatlantic journey that crashed in a very similar way to the Titanic that was written years before the Titanic crash.

[B]

It's weird. It's like, what is going on in the universe? Or like the ether, like they're picking up on some sort of energy. And it does make me wonder not to get like, woo woo, but you.

[C]

Were mentioning, but if you know us from two girls, one goes, we get woo woo. So sometimes you're gonna get a little woo woo here.

[B]

Yeah, but you were talking about, like, what if Augusta was whispering in Ed's ear? It makes me wonder if somehow this author unknowingly was tapping into, like, whatever was going on in the paranormal realm in this other dimension and was kind of getting bits and pieces of maybe what Ed was being told or even just Ed's mind himself.

[C]

Right. Or as a writer, like, sometimes when I'm writing, like, I feel like I kind of just. The muse writes through me, like, I feel like I kind of disassociate and then words just, like, come out.

[B]

Automatic writing taken over by the spirit.

[C]

Right. So is there also an element of that when you're so creative, you're in a project that, like, the universe is kind of speaking through you.

[B]

But how ironic that writing such an atrocious monster when the monster lives next door.

[C]

Right. It's like Bloch was channeling Ed in some freaky, otherworldly way. So then this book was then adapted into a film by Alfred Hitchcock, king of horror in 1960. And while there are some differences, like, Ed never ran away from, like, Ed never ran a hotel like Norman Bates did, and he never killed anyone in the shower, like that infamous scene in Psycho, like Norman did. And Ed didn't keep the corpse of his mother in his home, although arguably he did because he did take the head into his home.

[B]

Right.

[C]

So the similarities that the two did share were intricate. Like the sexual repression both Augusta and Norma encouraged in their sons they both fostered a deep emotional dependence in their children. And that led to a disturbing Oedipus complex in both men. And then also both men snapped after their mother's untimely deaths. So this movie has so many twists and turns and other similarities to Ed Gein that we don't want to spoil it for you, but if you haven't seen it. What are you doing? Who are you? What's wrong with you? Sorry. No, no judgment.

[B]

Pause this episode right now. Go watch it. Go watch it and come back.

[C]

Yes. Have a movie marathon after this episode.

[B]

With fava beans and Chianti apple pie with a slice of cheese on top.

[C]

Because this is absolutely one to add to your watch list.

[B]

And I think all of this begs a more interesting question, which is, what's more interesting? What is it about Ed Gein and all of these real life monsters that makes for such fascinating on screen characters? Why are they messed up? Why are we messed up watching it?

[C]

We're all a little bit messed up in the head, but I think in a way, they also force us to confront our own darkest fears. Like the idea that not everyone out there has a mind that works like ours.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Like, I don't think about or sexualize murder. Right. In this way. So it feels so foreign to me that I want to understand it. And it makes us want to understand someone else's psyche, how they operate, how they think, why do they do the things that they do. And it does expose the unimaginable things in human beings and that human beings are capable of. Like, we spend a lot of time talking about the paranormal, but at the end of the day, the scariest thing is truly other living beings. All of this challenges our perception of reality and it upsets the natural order. And then another scary part is the wrong combination of nature and nurture. Like, anyone could become someone like Ed Gein. And you referenced this or you made a note to this earlier in the episode. But, like, there are plenty of people who have traumatic children, childhoods, and grow up with unstable parents who then don't become serial killers.

[B]

Right.

[C]

So the nature, nurture, there's a mix that comes in there. Yeah.

[B]

Ed Gein.

[C]

Right. Like, how can you make certain that it doesn't happen to us or it doesn't happen to our children that we raise?

[B]

And honestly, for some killers, they have a perfectly normal childhood. Like, I think of Ted Bundy. He has siblings that are nothing like.

[C]

Right, right. So maybe that's why true crime is, as a whole, something we can't look away from. Because it forces us to not only face our fears, but helps us convince ourselves that we can spot the dangers, allows us to think that maybe we can avoid them, or hope we can avoid them. And it gives us a feeling that if we can understand it, we can control it.

[B]

But there's one thing to remember in all of this. At the center of these horror movie muses lie very real people living very real lives. There's no one calling cut on a scene. There's no heading back to the trailer to remove the costumes, the makeup, the fake blood. There's no movie premiere or Oscar for best performance. So next time you press play on your favorite horror movie, particularly the ones inspired by true events, remember that the scariest monsters aren't the ones on the big screen. They're the ones in the shadows lurking amongst us.

[C]

So maybe don't watch all those movies. Maybe watch Bravo Summer House or something more relaxing after this.

[B]

Thank you so much for listening. We are your hosts, Sabrina Dianarroga and Corinne Vien. Join us next Tuesday for another peek inside another Crimes of Infamy here at Crime House. We want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you've heard today, reach out on all social media Rime House. And don't forget to rate, review and follow Crimes of wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference.

[C]

Thank you so much for joining us and we can't wait to see you next week. We're so excited to be here on Crimes of and we're glad that you're here with us.

[B]

And if you're watching on YouTube, don't forget to subscribe. And also, what should we call everyone?

[C]

What do you want to be called?

[B]

Tell us, what's this community? Who are you guys?

[C]

Who are we all as a group comment on YouTube.

[B]

We'll figure it out. See you next time. Bye.

[A]

Follow Crimes of a Crime House Original now new episodes release every Tuesday. Again, that's Crimes of Follow now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you listen to podcasts. There's also a link to the show in this episode description that will take you you there. And for early ad free access, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts.

[B]

And Doug Limu and I always tell you to customize your car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. But now we want you to feel it. Cue the emu music. Limu Save yourself money today. Increase your wealth. Customize and save.

[C]

Save. We save.

[B]

That may have been too much feeling. Only pay for what you need@liberty mutual.com Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty Savings Fairy Unwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. Affiliates excludes.

[A]

Massachusetts crimes of is a weekly series that explores a new theme each season, starting with the crimes that inspired Hollywood's most iconic horror villains. Follow Crimes of wherever you get your podcasts or or find them on YouTube. Crime House Studios New episodes out every Tuesday.

[B]

It's okay not to be perfect with finances. Experian is your big financial friend and here to help. Did you know you can get matched with credit cards on the app? Some cards are labeled no Ding Decline, which means if you're not approved, they won't hurt your credit scores. Download the Experian app for free today. Applying for no Ding Decline cards won't hurt your credit scores. If you aren't initially approved, initial approval will result in a hard inquiry which may impact your credit scores. Experian.