As the leaves switch over from green to red and the air becomes chilly, Netflix gifts us with yet another Monsters series. Three years ago the first season, Dahmer was released September 21, 2022. The second season, The Menendez Brothers was released September 19, 2024. Now, this October the third season of Monsters was released just a couple days ago The story of Ed Gein. These true American crime dramas were all created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan. Murphy and Brennan both have interest in true major crime cases. Both were drawn to Ed’s story because it gave a different perspective of mental illness.
Ed’s story was made worldwide in 1957 when a local hardware employee went missing. The cops traced all evidence back to Ed’s farm home, where they found a mutilated body in his home along with several other body parts of missing people throughout his dwelling. His story became inspirational for many horror film makers. A popular one being Chainsaw Massacre and The Silence of the Lambs when the murderer would skin his victims and wear there faces just like Ed did.
When Ed was shown a news article picture on the front page, of beaten Jewish bodies from World War Two his obsessionn grew, and it fascinated him. Ed Gein did not grow up among other children and lived a strict life influenced by religion and his mother which was one of the reasons Ed grew such an odd obsession to the holocaust victims, he had no other hobbies but farming to keep his mind busy. His mother did not allow him to make friends at school because she believed he would grow evil. Ed’s father died leaving him to idolize his mother and obey her wishes even up to her stroke and death. Ed’s brother also died which raised eyebrows that it may have been Ed’s doing, foul play was later ruled out. When Ed was questioned he told investigators his motive to take bodies, was his mother’s death and desire to keep a deep connection even after her death by “wearing her skin.”
I have begun to watch the Ed Gein series this past weekend, and I am extremely astonished by just how mortifying this season is. The past two seasons, I was both familiar with and more so followed along rather than with this year’s episodes. I am learning about a case I had no idea about. The Ed Gein episodes and the Dahmer episodes compared to the Menendez episodes is vastly different. The two (Ed Gein and Dahmer) both have more psychological meaning. We are introduced to more of an idea of other mental disorders and how they ruin lives and the gruesome reality of their doings. The Menendez brothers was more so an act of violence against their parents and not their secret serial killer tendencies. I have not finished the Ed Gein episode yet, but I am very curious to see what happens next!
