Netflix’s Ed Gein Series Sparks Outrage—What Did They Get So Wrong?
Ever find yourself wondering where the line is between true crime and truly made-up? Same here—and Netflix’s latest Monster: The Ed Gein Story has left me scratching my head (and double-checking Wikipedia). I mean, I love a juicy crime tale, but when a show invents murders, rearranges history, and actually gives a notorious “Plainfield Butcher” a devoted girlfriend, you have to ask… is Hollywood trying to out-weird reality or are we just that desensitized? As someone who’s spent decades navigating the winding roads of pop-culture SEO (and believe me, I know a high-stakes drama when I see one), I find the backlash from fans deliciously ironic—true crime lovers demanding the truth instead of a killer plot twist? Now, that’s a plot twist. Dive in as I unpack why Netflix’s “facts” about Ed Gein are getting more side-eye than a dodgy backlink audit. LEARN MORE
Netflix’s latest instalment of its Monster series, which focuses on notorious serial killer Ed Gein, has been slammed for having major ‘inaccuracies’ in the show when compared with real events.
The show is the latest season of Ryan Murphy’s true crime anthology series, which previously saw seasons depict the horrific cases of Jeffrey Dahmer and the Menendez Brothers.
Ed Gein, also known as the Plainfield Butcher, is the focus of the newest season, which has been just as controversial as the prior two instalments of the show.
Gein was arrested in 1957, leading to the discovery of his ‘House of Horrors’ in which he kept disturbing clothing and furniture made out of human bodies.
Gein murdered two people, according to him, with no other killings having been officially attributed to him – though it is suspected he had more victims.
This is something that the show takes quite a bit of liberty with, seeing him kill a grand total of six people across the eight-part Netflix series.
These additional murders include a babysitter named Evelyn Hartley, whom he denied killing in real life and no evidence was found linking him to her death, his own brother, who he is rumoured to have killed but was never confirmed, and two men who came across his farm.
He is shown in the show killing them with a chainsaw, a-la Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a film his crimes would later inspire, but this never happened.
This, and several other inaccuracies, have seen the show slammed by fans on social media.
One fan on Reddit called the show ‘horrific’, saying that they added ‘multiple details that just weren’t true to make it more dramatic, turned storylines past what was real to the point it seemed honestly just weird and disrespectful’.
The Ed Gein series has been accused of ‘inaccuracies’ (Netflix)
They went on to particularly point to Ed’s ‘girlfriend’ in the show.
In the show, Adeline Watkins is presented as his doting girlfriend who visits him after he is placed in an insane asylum and is shown helping him rob a grave.
In real life, however, this was a controversial topic. Watkins, at one time, gave an interview in which she said she had dated him for two decades and that she’d turned down a marriage proposal from her.
She would later take this back though, saying they had only dated for seven months and that she had never entered his house.
Ed Gein and Adeline Watkins’ relationship wasn’t quite the same in real life as it was presented in the show (Netflix)
Another fan posted to Reddit saying the show ‘sucks’, adding that after enjoying the first couple episodes, it was all downhill.
They said: “I kept watching and seeing so much bullsh*t that I had to google a lot of things only to find out every time that it’s made up ! almost 50% of the show is made up.
“As a fan of true crime I really can’t enjoy a fake story about a real serial killer.
“The Ed Gein’s story itself isn’t that deep and it could be finished in 3 or 4 episodes maximum if it was truly told so maybe he shouldn’t have chose him in the first place?
“I feel like it was dragged so much because he wanted to finish the eight episodes mark.”
LADbible has contacted Netflix for comment.
Monster: The Ed Gein Story is available to stream on Netflix now.
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