Ed Gein‘s crimes are the focus of the third season of Ryan Murphy‘s Monster — but it’s far from the first TV show or movie to be based on the prolific serial killer.
The first season of Monster debuted in 2022 and focused on Evan Peters‘ portrayal of Jeffrey Dahmer, who was long known as the Milwaukee Cannibal a.k.a the Milwaukee Monster. In season 2, Lyle Menendez (Nicholas Chavez) and Erik Menendez’s (Cooper Koch) 1989 arrest for the murder of their parents was explored.
Monster: The Ed Gein Story, which premiered in October 2025, centered on Gein’s crimes. Nicknamed the “Butcher of Plainfield,” Gein was convicted of one count of first-degree murder and admitted to a second killing in the 1950s.
It has been suspected that Gein was involved in multiple other crimes around his Plainfield, Wisconsin, hometown. Gein also admitted to exhuming multiple graves and fashioning grotesque keepsakes out of the bodies.
Guide to Every Criminal in Ryan Murphy’s ‘Monster’: Menendez Bros, Ed Gein
“You have to have an enormous amount of love and empathy for a character that you play to be able to inhabit them. Because as despicable as Ed was in his acts, I wanted to find the human in there,” Charlie Hunnam told Variety at the time about playing Gein. “I personally don’t like to be forced to confront the most bleak and sinister elements of the human condition.”
He continued: “I could certainly see the accusation being leveled at me that I was too sensitive toward him, and let him off the hook a bit too much. My hope was, although I clearly don’t understand the function of these type of stories, I understand that people are very drawn to them. I needed to bring Gein to life in as honest and human a way as possible.”
Before Murphy chose Gein for Monster, the criminal served as the inspiration behind movies such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Psycho. Keep scrolling for more pop culture projects that used Gein as a jumping off point when creating fictional serial killers:
‘Psycho’
After inspiring Robert Bloch‘s 1959 novel Psycho, the story of Norman Bates — who was based on Gein — was adapted by Alfred Hitchcock. This version focused on Bates’ fixation on his late mother and grave robbing. (He was originally portrayed by Anthony Perkins in Hitchcock’s version and then by Vince Vaughn in 1998’s Psycho. Freddie Highmore played Norman in the Bates Motel TV show, and Joey Pollari took the role in Monster.)
‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’
The fictional character of Leatherface, who was at the center of the Texas Chain Saw Massacre horror films, was known for his weapon of choice: a chainsaw. Disturbing details from Gein’s crimes helped shape Leatherface as the masked killer.
‘The Silence of the Lambs’
Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs is a serial killer who lured, kidnapped and skinned women, which relied on Gein’s notorious behavior.
Most Anticipated Scripted True Crime TV Shows Coming Out Soon
‘Con Air’
Garland Greene (played by Steve Buscemi) is feared by other convicts because of his gruesome murders. Con Air pulled from Gein as a way to make Garland more frightening on screen.
‘American Horror Story: Asylum’
Season 2 of Murphy’s American Horror Story introduced Dr. Oliver Thredson a.k.a Bloody Face (Zachary Quinto), whose house of horrors included items crafted from human body parts, which was directly linked to Gein.
‘Monster: The Ed Gein Story’
The third installment of Murphy’s scripted true crime series followed Hunnam as Gein while also exploring how the serial killer influenced American pop culture.
