Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Monster: The Ed Gein Story.Netflix’s latest opus Monster anthology, The Ed Gein Storypresents itself as a study in how society turns killers into icons – but for that to work, it really shouldn’t be this fun to do the same thing. Ryan Murphy And That of Ian Brennan The still-hot true-crime entry is gripping, to be sure, but it’s also disturbingly fluid, finding cinematic pleasure in the very horrors it purports to dissect. And it’s filled with enough fictional flourishes to turn what should be a terrifying real-life tale into something resembling a dark fairy tale. There’s a made-up love story, a murdered brother, and even an altercation with Ted Bundy for good measure – all dressed up in moody lighting, operatic gore and more than a few glimpses of stars Charlie Hunnam’s pack of six.
By the time the credits roll, it is difficult to say if Monster criticizes or profits from America’s obsession with infamy. The series claims to challenge our appetite for violence, but it’s too busy fueling it to achieve anything meaningful. And the reason it fails has nothing to do with Hunnam’s transformative turn or a lack of material to mine and everything to do with Murphy and Co.’s insistence on making up shit to turn a two-victim killer into something closer to a doomed anti-hero. Twisted romances, chainsaw obsessions, and Freudian subplots — nothing happened, at least, not like that Monster wants you to believe. Let’s break down what’s true and what’s fiction in the series.
Did The Bernice Worden Romance Happen?
In Murphy’s tale, Bernice Worden (Lesley Manville) is portrayed as more than a victim: she is a love interest, drawn into Gein’s macabre orbit after a chance encounter at his hardware store. Outcasts, like Gein, the two quickly begin an affair, with Worden encouraging Ed’s inclinations such as dressing in lingerie. Their date ends when he shoots and kills her in his store. His death is further dramatized with a fictional clue: investigators discover a gift tag addressed by Worden to “Eddie”, which supposedly leads to Gein’s capture. In reality, Worden was a hardware store owner in Plainfield, Wisconsin, and one of Gein’s two confirmed victims, but there are no evidence she had a romantic or sexual relationship with him. And the gift tag subplot is entirely made up; it was actually a receipt from his visit that prompted the police to visit him.
Did Adeline Watkins help Ed Gein in his crimes?
Suzanna Son’s Adeline Watkins is introduced as a maniacal, death-obsessed woman who ends up encouraging Gein’s murderous behavior. Their game resembles a doomed romance between Bonnie and Backwater Clyde: She appears largely in his macabre inner world, muttering unhealthy ideas and fueling his descent into violence, with a New York subplot that has her assaulting ladies of the land before returning home to harass the victims’ families, further inserting herself into the narrative of her crimes. The truth about Watkins’ role in Gein’s life is murkier, but not as salacious. She was a real person who had little contact with Gein, initially admitting she was dating him for a brief period before recanting and claiming he was just an acquaintance. There is no evidence that she played any role in his criminal activity or that she engaged in the sinister behaviors the series attributes to her.
Did Gein kill babysitter Evelyn Hartley?
In another invented subplot, Gein focuses on a young babysitter named Evelyn Hartle (Addison Rae) who he believes stole a job – and a chance to start a family with Adeline. He kidnaps her and kills her in his home as a strange kind of revenge. The real Evelyn Hartley disappeared in 1954 in La Crosse County, but there is no evidence linking Gein to her disappearance.. Authorities questioned him because he was known to be in the area, but he was cleared of any involvement after they failed to find her body on his property.
Did Gein mutilate and have sex with corpses?
Netflix leans heavily on the idea that Gein engaged in necrophilia, showing him handling and even eating human remains. The real story is darker in another way: Gein desecrated corpses and preserved parts of them – creating masks, belts and a complete “woman’s costume” from human skin – but there is no evidence that he ever had sexual contact with the bodies. His obsession was visual and ritual, not erotic. Gein himself denied sexually assaulting his victims, saying the smell dissuaded him from abusing corpses in this way.
Did Ed Gein really kill his own brother?
At first MonsterGein commits his first unthinkable crime: murdering his brother Henry (Hudson Oz) in the family barn. The two argue about their mother’s overbearing involvement in their lives, leading Gein to beat his older brother to death. He then lights a brush fire to hide the body, using the chaos to explain Henry’s untimely demise. This is one of the show’s few dramatic liberties that might have its own grain of truth, as Henry really did die under mysterious circumstances. and Gein was the first to “find” his body.
Is the chainsaw murder scene in “Monster” true?
Later in the season, as Gein slaughters Worden’s body in his barn, two lost hunters wander onto his property, prompting him to chase after them with a chainsaw. The purpose of the scene is to establish a connection between Gein’s crimes and later cinematic depictions like Tobe Hooper The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – which might have been inspired by Gein’s reign of terror, but certainly wasn’t. Although Victor Travis and Raymond Burgess did disappear in 1952, there is no evidence linking their fate to Gein.. Authorities questioned him due to his proximity to their last known location, but he denied any involvement and was cleared of any connection.
Was Ed Gein obsessed with Nazi war crimes and Ilse Koch?
One of the triggers for Gein’s killing spree, at least in the series, was his fascination with Nazi atrocities, particularly the infamous Ilse Koch, whose alleged use of human skin inspires some of the series’ grisly images. In reality, there is no evidence that Gein has any direct connection to Koch or his crimes. He read about the atrocities of World War II in magazines, but the series exaggerates this interest.using it to add a sense of historical horror and to present his choices as something influenced by the “monsters” of the past.
Did Gein really help the FBI catch Ted Bundy?
Technically, the show debunks its own fabricated rumor by the end of the season finale, but it’s worth repeating. no, Gein did not help authorities apprehend the infamous serial killer, Ted Bundy. Bundy studied past killers, including Gein, and his murders were likely inspired by the Plainfield Butcher, but the series’ footage of Gein working with profilers to stop his crime spree was a product of the troubled man’s broken psyche — proving just how far he had gone, even toward the end of his life.
The ‘monster’s’ attempt to dismantle the legend only builds it
Monster: The Ed Gein Story wants to showcase our fascination with killers, but over the course of its eight episodes, it keeps tripping over its own ambition. Gein is framed in pathos, moments of charisma, and the series has some genuinely striking visuals, making it hard not to get drawn in even as the series tries to warn us against that same impulse. The irony is obvious: the more he works to deconstruct his legend, the more he ends up erecting it..
At the same time, the series flirts with larger ideas — the weight of repression, the consequences of rigid masculinity, the fissures left by untreated mental illness — but never fully engages. Instead, it relies on familiar true crime flourishes, from pop culture references to stylized gore. Yet you get a glimpse of what might have been a harsher critique, moments that hint at the real terror: our willingness to keep telling these stories to entertain ourselves. And the false belief that we must fictionalize these real-life horrors because they aren’t sensational enough for television.
