Inside ‘Monster’ Ed Gein’s House

For those who haven't watched it yet, the true crime series follows on from the Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story installments of the Monster anthology series, and tells the story of Ed Gein, aka the Butcher of Plainfield. Gein killed and desecrated the bodies of multiple women in the 1950s and inspired numerous horror films for decades to come, including The Silence of the Lambs, Psycho, and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

Monster: The Ed Gein Story is, undeniably, gruesome but that hasn't stopped true crime fans (including us) from wanting to know more. With that in mind, we took a deep dive into Ed Gein and his life, and uncovered how many victims he actually had. Now, we're giving you a look inside the killer's former home. Scroll on to see the creepy photos captured from Ed Gein's house.

Where did killer Ed Gein live?

Ed Gein was born in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, but later moved to a 155-acre farm in the town of Plainfield. Gein, his mother, his father, and his brother lived at the property together until his father's death in 1940. Four years later, in 1944, Gein's brother Henry also passed away under suspicious circumstances. Gein and his mother then lived alone together on the property until her death in 1945.

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From this point on, Gein lived at the Plainfield farmhouse by himself. He boarded up the rooms used by his beloved mother (including the downstairs parlor and living room), encapsulating them to remain untouched by time. They remained pristine, while other rooms in the house fell into squalor, with Gein predominantly living in a small room next to the kitchen.

What happened to Ed Gein's house?

Following Gein's capture, arrest, and commitment to a hospital, his house, the outbuildings accompanying it, and his Plainfield acreage were appraised, and his belongings were scheduled to be auctioned off in March 1958. However, concerns within the community grew that the house and surrounding land may become a tourist attraction as a result of Gein's crimes, and on the morning of 20 March 1958, the house was destroyed by a fire.

Per reports from the time, a deputy fire marshal logged that a garbage fire had been set 23 meters from the house by a cleaning crew working at the property. The marshal added that hot coals were recovered from the spot, but that the fire did not spread along the ground to the location of the house. As such, arson was suspected, but the cause of the fire was never officially determined.

When Gein learned the fate of his home, he said: “Just as well.”

See photos of inside killer Ed Gein's house

Photos taken by police during their investigation show the outside and inside of Gein's house, which reveal the squalor that he lived in. There is also an image taken after the suspected arson attack, which shows the smoldering remains of Gein's now-infamous property.