“Monster: The Ed Gein Story — See the Characters and the Real People Behind the True Horror…”

Charlie Hunnam as Ed Gein; Ed Gein himself

Laurie Metcalf as Augusta Gein, Ed Gein’s mother; Augusta Gein

Hudson Oz as Henry Gein, Ed’s older brother. He died under mysterious circumstances while he and Ed were fighting a brush fire on their farm near Plainfield, Wisconsin. Ed reported his brother missing but then led authorities directly to the body. Despite the official cause of death being ruled an accident from asphyxiation and heart failure, some sources later reported that Henry had bruises on his head. No autopsy was performed. Due to known tensions between Henry and Ed over their domineering mother, some investigators have speculated that Ed may have been involved in his brother’s death, though Ed always denied this and no evidence emerged to prove foul play.

Suzanna Son as Adeline Watkins who nearly married Ed Gein before his confession and prosecution; the actual Adeline Watkins

Vicky Krieps as Ilse Koch, the Nazi “Beast of Buchenwald,” who served as a twisted inspiration for Gein’s use of human skin remains. While the real Koch died in prison, in Monster she exists in Gein’s fantasies; Ilse Koch mug shot

Lesley Manville as Bernice Worden, a victim of Ed Gein; an archival photo of Worden

Addison Rae plays Evelyn Hartley, a babysitter in Plainfield. In 1957, authorities questioned Gein regarding Hartley’s disappearance, as he had been visiting a relative near the Rasmusen home when she vanished. Although Gein denied involvement, passed two lie detector tests and was officially cleared, he remains a suspect in the minds of some. a class photo of Evelyn Hartley

Alanna Darby as Christine Jorgensen. The connection between Christine Jorgensen and Ed Gein is a historical myth that conflates Gein’s horrific crimes with gender identity. Although there is no credible evidence that Gein was inspired by or obsessed with the trans icon, the media and investigators falsely suggested his pathology was linked to a desire to be a woman, furthering a dangerous trope. ‘Monster’ addresses this by including a fictional scene where Jorgensen’s image explicitly tells Gein his violent acts are distinct from being transgender, attempting to debunk the decades-old misconception

“Through the wizardry of medical science, a 26-year-old Army veteran from New York has been transformed into a beautiful blonde woman,” The Daily News reported. The paper identified the woman as Christine Jorgensen, formerly known as George W. Jorgensen, Jr. The rare sex conversion, involving five major operations and almost 2,000 injections, was performed in Denmark, where Jorgensen later made a career as a color photographer.

Tom Hollander as Alfred Hitchcock in ‘Monster.’ The director’s genre-defining horror masterpiece ‘Psycho’ was inspired in part by Gein’s crimes; Hitchcock with the clapperboard for the film

Olivia Williams as Alma Reville, Alfred Hitchcock’s wife. Reville was a screenwriter and editor who collaborated closely with the director, co-writing films like ‘Shadow of a Doubt,’ ‘Suspicion,’ and ‘The Lady Vanishes’; Hitch and Williams in repose

Joey Pollari plays Anthony Perkins in ‘Monster.’ The actor is best known for his role as Norman Bates in Psycho, a character directly inspired by the crimes of Ed Gein.

Jackie Kay as Tab Hunter. Hunter and Anthony Perkins had a years-long relationship, from around 1955 or 1956 until just before Perkins filmed Psycho.

Many say the iconic exterior of the Bates residence in ‘Psycho’ architecturally refernced the Gein farmhouse. While director Alfred Hitchcock undeniably drew on Gein’s life and crimes to develop the Norman Bates character, he never confirmed that Gein’s actual home served as the model for the film’s famous Gothic Victorian house.

The Gein Home in Plainfield in Wisconsin, circa 1957. Ed Gein murdered women in his town, robbed graves and stored body parts in his house.

A scene from Monster: The Ed Gein Story. The inside of Gein’s home did, in fact, inspire the macabre furnishings of the Bates’ residence (such as the sealed-off room shrine), as police found grotesque artifacts made from human remains inside the farmhouse.

In a scene later to be echoed by the cluttered and creepy home in ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre,’ an unidentified police officer examines the junk-littered kitchen in Gein’s house. Authorities found human skulls made into bowls and other adulterated human remains. They also discovered the butchered body of Bernice Worden hung in a shed near the house.

Will Brill as Tobe Hooper, the director and co-writer of ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,’ a film that also drew inspiration from Ed Gein’s crimes.

Gunnar Hansen as Leatherface in ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,’ which was partially inspired by Ed Gein, primarily through the macabre practice of fetishizing human skin and remains. A scene in ‘Monster’ has Gein mirroring the macabre chainsaw dance that Leatherface perfoms in Tobe Hooper’s classic.

While Gein was never confirmed to be a cannibal, some have drawn parallels between him and Dr. Hannibal Lector in Thomas Harris’ books and the films based on them. Harris, however, has said he based the character on an emprisioned doctor he met in Mexico. The man was suspected of killing and dismembering several hitchhikers in the countryside during the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Ted Levine played serial killer Buffalo Bill in the 1991 ‘Silence of the Lambs’ adaptation. In both the film and the book, Buffalo Bill is more directly inspired by Gein. Both fashioned trophies and keepsakes from the remains of their victims. Each also made masks and lamps from human skin.

Golden Garnick as Ted Levine / Buffalo Bill in a scene recrested from ‘The Silence of The Lambs’

Tobias Jelinek as mass murderer Richard Speck, aka Birdman. Speck’s role in the series is a fictional plot used to link Gein to a later serial killer, Ted Bundy. The show suggests that the imprisoned Speck idolizes Gein and corresponds with him via letters, calling Gein a “friend and role model.” In reality, there is no direct evidence that Speck was influenced by Gein’s crimes or that the two ever communicated. Speck himself was a convicted killer who brutally murdered eight female students in Chicago in 1966.

Happy Anderson as Jerry Brudos who appears in the final episode, specifically in a fantasy sequence. Brudos, known as the “Lust Killer” and the “Shoe Fetish Slayer,” was convicted in Oregon of three counts of murder, receiving three consecutive life sentences for the deaths of Jan Whitney, Karen Sprinker and Linda Salee between 1968 and 1969.

In the show’s finale, Ed Gein is depicted as an institutionalized informant, supposedly lending his unique criminal insight to FBI agents who are pursuing Ted Bundy. Gein offers tips that appear to aid the investigation and the eventual apprehension of Bundy.

However, the series uses Gein’s mental state — his diagnosed schizophrenia — to frame this entire scenario as a delusion or hallucination. This dramatic plot device has no basis in reality. Gein was never interviewed by the FBI, and he had no part in the real-life capture of Ted Bundy. The connection serves to emphasize Gein’s reputation as the “godfather” of the modern American serial killer in the context of the show.

John Drea as Charles Manson, who features in the final episode, as part of a fantasy sequence within Ed Gein’s imagination. Manson was convicted of multiple counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

Jeffrey Murdoch as Edmund Kemper who features in the fantasy sequence in the final episode. Kemper was charged with the killing of eight persons, including his mother

Ed Gein, 51, (center), stands with Arthur Schley in the Wabsara county Court here November 21st. Gein was charged with first degree murder in the slaying of Mrs. Bernice Worden.

Gein is shown being taken to the state crime laboratory to face a lie detector test.

Gein walks to the Waushara County Courthouse surrounded by police and reporters

Ed Gein, 61, sits alone behind the defendant’s table and waits for the judge to call the court to order in 1968.

Trooper Dave Sharkey looks over some of the musical instruments found in the farmhouse. Also found in the residence were human skulls, heads, death masks and the newly-butchered corpse of a neighbor.

Gein signs in at State Crime Lab. At left is Sheriff Arthur Schley.

Smoldering ruins is all that remains of the House of Horrors after a fire of undetermined cause destroyed the two story frame building on March 20, 1958. The house was to be auctioned. Police suspected arson.

A crowd of about 2,000 persons watched the 1958 auction of the Gein farm. The highest bidder for the land and charred ruins of the House of Horrors was Enden Schey, a Wisconsin real estate broker who said he planned to put the entire 195 acres into pine for timber and pulpwood production.