If, like us, you spent the entire weekend binge-watching Netflix's newest true crime series, Monster: The Ed Gein Story, then you've probably been left with just as many questions as we have about the fact vs fiction element of the show. Like, how many victims did Ed Gein actually have? And, did Ed Gein really kill his brother?
While we've already answered those questions (you can thank us later, by the way), there's still so much we want to know about what's real – and, more importantly, what's not. With that in mind, we've taken a deep-dive into the fact vs fiction of Netflix's Monster: The Ed Gein Story, including whether he really had a romance with Bernice Worden, if he actually killed two men with a chainsaw, and the reality on what he did (or didn't do) with the corpses he dug up.
Scroll on for the details on the fact vs fiction of Monster: The Ed Gein Story.
Did Ed Gein have a romance with Bernice Worden?
In Netflix's retelling of Ed Gein's life, he is seen to have a sexual relationship with his second confirmed victim, Bernice Worden. The series depicts Gein as developing a relationship with the 58-year-old hardware store owner, with the pair engaging in sexual activities over a period of time. Their romance on the show comes to an end when he shoots and kills her at her hardware store, and he is tied to her death because investigators find a gift tag addressed from Worden to “Eddie.”
In reality, there is no evidence to suggest Gein had a romantic or sexual relationship with Worden. Following his arrest for his crimes, Gein told doctors at Central State Hospital that he'd never had a sexual experience, therefore nullifying the portrayal of his romance with Worden. As for how he was captured for her murder, rather than being caught out over a gift tag, Gein was actually identified as a suspect because he left a receipt for antifreeze in her store, and this is the last item she recorded as having sold.
Did Ed Gein kill two men with a chainsaw?
After Gein kills Worden in Monster: The Ed Gein Story, he takes her body home and begins mutilating it at the barn on his Plainfield acreage. While he is doing so, he is interrupted by two bear hunters who have gotten lost in the snow. Annoyed by their interruption and because they will have likely seen the crime he was in the midst of committing, Gein chases the pair into the woods, where he brutally kills them both with a chainsaw.
This, however, is just conjecture on Netflix's part. While Gein was questioned about other disappearances in the local area after his arrest, there's no evidence that ties him to the missing hunters—Victor Travis and Raymond Burgess—and their fate remains a mystery to this day. What's more, their murder by chainsaw in the Netflix show doesn't fit with the pattern of Gein's other crimes. He is known to have used guns and knives on his victims, so the suggestion of any chainsaw murders is an invention to tie Gein to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre plotline of the show.
Did Ed Gein babysit children?
Although Gein is shown in Monster: The Ed Gein Story as being somewhat feared by people in his local area (see: one of the opening scenes in which two women leave a diner to avoid sitting near him), he was actually entrusted to babysit for short periods of time. Following his father's death, Gein took up odd jobs in the town to help contribute to the running of his home, and one such job included minding children while their parents ran errands.
That being said, there's no evidence to suggest Gein ever took these children to his home, unlike in the TV series.
Did Ed Gein kill the babysitter?
Speaking of babysitting, another murder that Gein is portrayed as committing in Monster: The Ed Gein Story is that of a babysitter, Evelyn Hartley. He abducts, tortures, and kills Hartley in the series in retaliation for her “taking” his babysitting job.
Although Hartley did go missing in real life in 1954, she was not abducted or killed by Gein. Like the deaths of the two missing hunters, Gein was questioned about Hartley's disappearance following his arrest. This is because he was known to have visited La Crosse County, where Hartley disappeared from, around the same time. Gein denied any involvement with the case, and no evidence was found, resulting in him being cleared of any connection in 1957. Her case remains unsolved.
Did Ed Gein kill a nurse?
Yet another murder that Ed Gein is shown committing in Netflix's true crime series is a nurse at the hospital where he is confined following his arrest. In Monster: The Ed Gein Story, the killing is later revealed to be part of a schizophrenic episode and in reality, did not happen. In fact, Gein is reported as having been a model patient at the Central State Hospital. He was later transferred to the Mendota Mental Health Institute in Madison, where he died in 1984 due to lung cancer complications.
Did Ed Gein have sex with corpses?
Monster: The Ed Gein Story shows numerous scenes of Ed Gein practising necrophilia; however, in real life, he repeatedly denied having ever done so. Gein told doctors at Central State Hospital that he'd never had a sexual experience, and when questioned about the necrophilia, he cited the smell of the corpses as a deterrent.
Stream all episodes of Monster: The Ed Gein Story on Netflix now.
