crimgirl

Though it might be considered a little tame by today’s limb-sawing, babysitter-gutting standards, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is still considered one of the best horror movies ever made. The story and characters were taken directly from a book of the same name written by renaissance man Robert Bloch, a literary genius whose broad spectrum of published works includes Psycho II, The Psychopath, Psycho House and Psycho-Paths. Bloch penned a number of classics, ranging from the devastatingly witty (Fear Today, Gone Tomorrow; Such Stuff As Screams Are Made Of) to the bone-chillingly unclear (Lost in Time and Space with Lefty Feeps; Mysteries of the Worm).

Robert Bloch based Psycho on real-life nutjob Ed Gein. No, Gein didn’t have a spooky hotel, and he didn’t stab anyone in a shower (that I know of). But he did have some mommy-issues. And some making-clothes-out-of-dead-women issues. But who doesn’t, am I right?

Eddie was born in 1906, and spent most of his life on a big ol’ farm in Plainfield, Wisconsin. His mother Augusta was an exceedingly unpleasant woman, who continually reminded Ed and his older brother Henry that all women (except her) were hellbound harlots. As adults, the boys remained on the farm and worked as handymen. Ed worshipped mommy and believed everything she told him, but Henry occasionally shocked young Ed with candid comments regarding her rampant bitchery. Henry died under “mysterious circumstances.”

Several years later, dear Augusta finally died, and I’m happy to report that her body is currently rotting in the cold ground. Ed wasn’t as enthusiastic about her death as I am, so he kept the house exactly as she had left it, a shrine to his dear mamma. He lived in the utility room and kitchen, amusing himself with books about Nazis and South Sea cannibals, as well as local newspaper obituaries. Eventually he started digging up corpses. You know, for kicks.

You see, as it turns out, Augusta’s patented brand of bizarre psychosexual abuse had a lasting effect on her remaining son. I know, I’m just as shocked as you are.

Despite his morbid nocturnal activities, Ed Gein decided to try his hand at something a little more domestic. An aspiring seamstress, he designed and created a lovely lady-vest and lady-mask from lady-skin. When Gus, Ed’s helpful digging partner, was hauled off to a nursing home, Ed continued his hobby by murdering two local women.

The things he did with the dead bodies (all of whom appeared to be roughly the same age and size as his mother) are really quite distasteful. In 1957, word got around that old Ed wasn’t quite right, and police raided the farmhouse. Inside, they found some pretty messed up stuff. If you want to see the grisly crime scene photos, do so at your own risk. I really don’t want them haunting up my site.

Annnnnyway, Ed Gein confessed to the two murders and lived the rest of his life in an insane asylum. (I love a happy ending!)

[tags]Ed Gein, crime, murder, Psycho[/tags]