Introducing: CRIMES OF…

Speaker 1 This is Crime House.

Speaker 1 Let's play a quick little game, Sabrina. Ooh.
I want to play Two Truths and a Lie. Your favorite? I know.
So I will give you three facts about today's subject.

Speaker 1 A 1950s real-life killer named Ed Gein, and you're going to guess which one is the lie. Okay.
Ready? Mm-hmm. Okay.

Speaker 1 Number one, when police entered Ed Gein's house, they found furniture made of human body parts. Okay.

Speaker 1 Number two, Ed was a trusted babysitter around town who was loved by the kids for his magic tricks.

Speaker 1 And number three, Ed was found guilty of his crimes right away and he spent the rest of his life in prison. I really want it to be number two because

Speaker 1 how could a serial killer be the town beloved babysitter? Right. It's so weird.

Speaker 1 Yeah, it's so creepy and unsettling for all those kids to, you know, later in life realize that that was their babysitter.

Speaker 1 But because it's so outlandish, I feel like that has to be true. Correct.
So I'm going to go with number three.

Speaker 1 Shockingly, number three is the lie. Ed did not spend the rest of his days behind bars, but instead he did spend it in a hospital because he was found mentally incompetent to stand trial.

Speaker 1 And then he was later ruled not guilty by reason of insanity.

Speaker 1 So today we'll tell you all about Ed's victims, his life and the twisted crimes he committed, and how Ed's warped mental state became the inspiration for not one, but several of the world's most iconic horror films.

Speaker 1 Welcome to Crimes of, the show that takes you into different corners of the true crime universe to explore the biggest cases that changed the course of history.

Speaker 1 Each 8 to 12 episode season, we will dive deeper into the themes from movies to music to scandals to crimes of passion and heartbreaking disappearances.

Speaker 1 Every Tuesday, we will be here to share these stories in a whole new light, and you can catch the show on YouTube where we will include visuals that bring the cases to life.

Speaker 1 We are calling this season Crimes of Infamy because we are going to be exploring one of our own personal obsessions, horror movies. Yeah.

Speaker 1 And now I'm sure you've never wondered what a lampshade made out of real human flesh would look like. No.
or what a pair of pants made from real human legs would be like to wear.

Speaker 1 But Ed Gein did. And as horrifying and sadistic as that sounds, it is not fiction.
It is disturbingly real. It's very real.

Speaker 1 If you've even dipped a single toe into the true crime universe before, you probably have heard Ed's name mentioned because he might be one of the most iconic and disturbed killers in American history.

Speaker 1 He's also the real-life monster who inspired the iconic films like Psycho, Silence of the Lambs, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and so many more. And we'll talk more about these films right after this.

Speaker 1 So now, maybe the most infamous nod to Ed Gein

Speaker 1 is the character Norman Bates, the main character in Psycho.

Speaker 1 But before we talk about the movie, let's talk about the book, Robert Block. So it turns out Block was writing the novel Psycho in 1958, 35 miles away from where Gein lived.

Speaker 1 And this is when all of these crimes are happening. But Block has no idea the full extent of Gein's history and the murders until after the book was already published.

Speaker 1 So shockingly, his character, Norman Bates, is eerily similar to Ed Gein. He was writing this book just miles from where Ed Gein was committing these atrocious acts, but had no clue.

Speaker 1 So then this book was then adapted into a film by Alfred Hitchcock. king of horror in 1960.

Speaker 1 And while there are some differences, like Ed never ran a hotel like Norman Bates did, and he never killed anyone in the shower like that infamous scene in Psycho, like Norman did, and Ed didn't keep the corpse of his mother in his home, although arguably he did, because he did take the head into his home.

Speaker 1 Right.

Speaker 1 So the similarities that the two did share were intricate, like the sexual repression both Augusta and Norma encouraged in their sons.

Speaker 1 They both fostered a deep emotional dependence in their children, and that led to a disturbing Oedipus complex in both men. And then, also, both men snapped after their mother's untimely deaths.

Speaker 1 So, this movie has so many twists and turns and other similarities to Ed Gein that we don't want to spoil it for you. But if you haven't seen it, what are you doing? Who are you?

Speaker 1 What's wrong with you? Sorry. No, no judgment.
Pause this episode right now. Go watch it.
Go watch it. Come back.
Yes.

Speaker 1 Have a movie marathon after this episode with fava beans and kiati, apple pie with a slice of cheese on top. Because this is absolutely one to add to your watch list.

Speaker 1 And I think all of this begs a more more interesting question. What's that?

Speaker 1 What's more interesting? What is it about Ed Gein and all of these real-life monsters that makes for such fascinating on-screen characters? Why are they messed up? Why are we messed up watching it?

Speaker 1 We're all a little bit messed up in the head.

Speaker 1 Thank you for listening to the start of our new show, Crimes Of.

Speaker 1 If you want to hear what happens next, search Crimes of and follow wherever you listen to podcasts or subscribe to Crime House Studios on YouTube. We appreciate your support.