5 Ed Gein-inspired movies and TV shows ahead of Monster: The Ed Gein Story

When Netflix releases Monster: The Ed Gein Story this October, audiences will again confront the true-crime tale that has shaped horror as we know it.

When police discovered Ed Gein's disturbing farmhouse in 1957, full of human remains, skin-stitched furniture, and odd taxidermy experiments, the nation was shocked. Gein was a quiet recluse from Plainfield, Wisconsin, but his crimes have changed Hollywood's image of a monster.

Nearly seven decades later, Gein’s “projects” still echo across pop culture. From the big screen to prestige TV, his obsessions with his mother and corpses and his desire to become something “other” have birthed some of the most memorable characters. As Charlie Hunnam steps in as Gein for Netflix’s Monster, here are five movies and shows about the “Butcher of Plainfield.”

Five movies and TV shows inspired by Ed Gein

1. Psycho (1960)

Alfred Hitchcock’s classic, The Godfather of Ed Gein-inspired cinema, redefined horror with Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). The lonely motel owner with a domineering “Mother” was drawn from novelist Robert Bloch’s imagination, though Bloch just happened to live 35 miles from Gein’s farmhouse.

Norman’s taxidermy, his habit of dressing as his mother, and that shower scene cemented Psycho as horror’s first brush with Gein’s real-life terrors.

RELATED: How did Gein’s mother die?

2. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Leatherface didn’t carry Gein’s trademark rifle (he lugged a chainsaw), but the parallels are there. Tobe Hooper's nightmare slasher is steeped in Gein lore, from the masks made of skin to the farmhouse with bone furniture.

Though pitched as a “true story,” it was more an exaggeration of Ed Gein, creating a new horror archetype: the family of killers, led by one mask-wearer.

3. Deranged (1974)

This low-budget cult favorite sticks closer to the facts. Its antihero, Ezra Cobb (Robert Blossom), is a thinly veiled Gein surrogate: a lonely farmer who exhumes corpses, decorates his home with body parts, and preserves his dead mother. Even Cobb’s clothing (a hat with ear flaps) mirrors Gein’s.

Less subtle than Psycho but more direct than Chainsaw, Deranged is a grisly, unflinching descent into a man who blurred love, loss, and lunacy.

4. American Horror Story: Asylum (2012)

Ryan Murphy’s anthology series never shied away from pulling inspiration from real-life killers, and in Asylum, Bloody Face (Zachary Quinto) is essentially a Gein remix. He skins women, fashions household items from their remains, and blames his warped psyche on (you guessed it!) his mother.

By embedding Gein’s legacy into a modern TV horror juggernaut, AHS reminded viewers that his crimes are horror canon.

5. Bates Motel (2013–2017)

While Hitchcock introduced Norman Bates, this A&E prequel unpacked how Norman became Norman. Freddie Highmore leans into the Gein DNA, an overbearing mother (Vera Farmiga), isolation, and obsession with death.

What separates Bates Motel is its exploration of psychology: we watch Norman slide from awkward teen to Gein-inspired killer. Turning the “mother fixation” into a drama gave Ed Gein’s influence new life on TV.