Netflix's latest true crime series, Monster: The Ed Gein Story, is now streaming, and it suggests that the real-life killer inspired the character of Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. The eight-part series, released on October 3, delves into the life of Ed Gein, a Wisconsin man who murdered at least two women and crafted macabre objects from human skin and bones.
The series highlights Gein's relationship with his mother, which it claims directly influenced the story of Psycho. In the show, director Alfred Hitchcock and author Robert Bloch are depicted discussing Gein's crimes as plot points, with Hitchcock even showing actor Anthony Perkins a recreation of Gein's home.
However, Bloch, who wrote the 1959 novel Psycho, denied using Gein as a basis for Norman Bates. In a 1991 interview, Bloch stated: 'I didn't know anything about those aspects when I wrote Psycho. I did not use Ed Gein as a basis for Norman Bates at all.' He noted that Gein did not run a motel, kill anyone in a shower, or preserve his mother's body, contrary to the film's plot.
Gein's crimes are also believed to have influenced other horror classics like The Silence of the Lambs and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Monster: The Ed Gein Story is streaming on Netflix, while Psycho is available on Sky Cinema and NOW.
