Most of the monsters in horror films are pure imagination. Unless the world gets a whole lot more interesting, you’ll probably never have to worry about a vampire trying to suck your blood, or your best friend turning into a werewolf. But there are real monsters in the world, and Ed Gein was one of them. In fact, his crimes were so heinous that a lot of writers and directors who grew up hearing about his murders ended up creating characters based on Ed Gein. Get ready to delve into a world of madness (and a boy’s love for his mother) and take a look at the terrifying characters based on Ed Gein, real life nightmare.
There are a lot of interesting aspects to the Ed Gein story, but the two big take aways that most filmmakers seem to use is Gein’s love for his mother and his predilection for wearing his victims' skin like a suit. These two traits have been worked into multiple characters dating as far back as 1960 and as recently as 2012, so it doesn’t look like Gein’s hold on popular culture is going to break any time soon. If there was one silver lining to Ed Gein’s terrible crimes, it’s that he was able to provide fountain of inspiration for people like Tobe Hooper, Rob Zombie, and Alfred Hitchcock, all of whom based some of their most terrifying characters on the very real boogieman of Wisconsin, Ed Gein.
Terrifying Characters Based on Ed Gein, Real Life Nightmare,
Hannibal Lecter
Everyone knows that The Silence of the Lamb's Buffalo BIll is based on Gein, but Lecter's cannibalistic predilections are based on the rumor that Gein ate pieces of his victims. The first group of police officers who investigated his home found a human heart in his oven and a refrigerator stocked with human intestines. Yum!
Jason Voorhees
So what if Camp Crystal Lake's hockey mask-wearing boogie man doesn't wear the skin of his victims? He loves his mother and that's all that counts.
Leatherface
Leatherface is arguably the most popular character whose very existence is essentially one big reference to Gein. Not only does he have an odd connection to his feminine side, but everything in his house is made of human skin. Except for the chainsaw - that baby's made of pure American craftsmanship.
Norman Bates
No matter what Psycho's author says, there's a lot of Ed Gein in Norman Bates. From the very intense momma's boy vibes, to the whole wearing skin thing, Bates is one cabin in Wisconsin away from being the biggest news Plainfield ever saw.
Otis B. Driftwood
Otis Driftwood is an interesting character creation in that, in House of 1,000 Corpses, his skin-wearing patriarch of the Firefly family is modeled after Gein, and in the film's sequel, The Devil's Rejects, he's clearly in full Charles Manson mode. Thank goodness that's not how things worked in real life.
Buffalo Bill
Jame Gumb, or Buffalo Bill, is probably the most overt reference to Gein on this list. Not only does he have serious mother issues, but his entire modus operandi is killing heavyset women so he can wear their skin as a suit. He's basically the Ed Gein Wikipedia page if it were a person.
Bloody Face
American Horror Story: Asylum's Bloody Face is a raving psychopath that runs around multiple timelines wearing a bloody face on his... um, face. Even though Bloody Face gets around a bit more than Gein, his roots are firmly planted in Wisconsin.
Who Was Ed Gein?
Ed Gein was basically raised to be a serial killer. His mother raised him and his brother away from the general population of Wisconsin and punished Ed whenever he made friends. One of the theories for why he killed women and wore their skin is that his mother convinced him that women were "vessels of sin that cause disease." Ed allegedly killed his brother and hid the remains in the ashes of a peat marsh fire, but after his mother died he really went off the deep end and began to kill women and dress them out as one would a deer.
After Ed's arrest, the Plainfield police discovered multiple decapitated heads, a belt made of nipples, a skin apron, a box of noses, and various household items made of human flesh. Supposedly, Ed had even fashioned a curtain pull with a pair of a woman's lips sewed to the pull cord.
Ezra Cobb
Deranged is a highly underrated film that basically mirrors the life of Ed Gein with a few slight variations. In the film, Ezra Cobb moves on from murdering people and using their skin as decor to full on necrophilia - something Gein never did because his mother raised him right.
Vincent Smith
Where do you even start with Motel Hell? Even though this movie is more of a dark comedy than a straight up horror film, it's still hard to watch a guy in a pig mask (made of real pig!) cut people up with a chainsaw before smoking their meat into delicious jerky, all while trying to keep a small business afloat. Vincent is one of those characters that's based on the more nightmarish aspects of Ed Gein (unlike the characters based on his love of small engine repair), and in Motel Hell the sensationalized bits of Gein's crimes are cranked up to 11.