Deviant by Harold Schecher
The story of Ed Gein (pron. “Geen”), the basis for Norman Bates, Leatherface, and probably a dozen other horror characters. In the ultra-rural backwater of Plainfield, Wisconsin, Ed Gein kills, flays, and grave robs for more than ten years. After his arrest, investigators discover a gruesome sight in Gein’s remote and isolated farm house.
This is the second of Schecter’s books I’ve read and it’s better than the first I think mostly because the subject is much more modern, so there are better records. Gein’s crimes were discovered in 1957 and he didn’t die until 1984 in a hospital for the criminally insane.
Schecter gives a good accounting of the crimes and both the psychopathology of Gein and the resulting disruption of life in Plainfield. The juxtaposition of Gein’s mild manneredness and the non-chalant grave robbing and butchery is presented as well as can be. It’s not really for the squeamish, though.
June 26th, 2006 at 6:27 pm
Gein’s story is also the basis for Silence of the Lambs, as well. Truly a serial killing icon, he will be missed…
June 26th, 2006 at 8:06 pm
I thought it might be, but didn’t see it written down anywhere. But really, just how many people make clothing and furniture out of human skin? East of the Mississippi, I mean.
I think his mother must have been the model for the mother in Stephen King’s Carrie, too.