Ed Gein was a wee bit coo coo for cocoa puffs. He murdered two women (though it’s likely the number is much higher) and robbed the graves of several other recently-deceased elderly women so that he could flay the corpses, turn the skin to turn into clothes and wear it so that he could “be” a woman/his mother. He also made furniture out of human remains, as well as other clothing items, like a belt made of nipples! He was eventually caught in 1957 and spent the rest of his life in a nuthouse.
True crime writer Harold Schechter teams up with true comics artist greatness Eric Powell to bring us “Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?”, a morbidly compelling account of the strange, sad life of Ed Gein.
Raised by a tyrannical, religious zealot and likely insane mother Augusta and drunken, violent father George, Schechter/Powell provide glimpses of scenes Ed would probably have seen in his youth which might explain his later behaviour, like seeing his mother butchering a pig and his father tanning leather. It’s a very grim life story and it’s not hard to see how damaging a life of paranoia and isolation could be to a person - Ed really had no chance right from the beginning.
I’ve seen documentaries on Gein before so I was familiar with most of the grisly details in this book, but there were some interesting new aspects that Schechter introduces for the reader to consider. Like whether Gein truly was insane given that his murders, particularly the last one, Bernice Worden, shows definite premeditation, and he got away with his crimes for many years before eventually being caught. He also comes across as very careful with his words in the interviews and not being declared insane at his trial would’ve meant going to the chair instead of being confined to a mental institution. He was certainly mentally ill but insane, as in not in control of his actions? Hmm…
I like that Schechter stuck to the facts of the case. There was a lot of sensationalism around the story at the time that Schechter points out and instead highlights only the proven facts. Gein’s confirmed murder victims were Mary Hogan and Bernice Worden, though it’s implied that Gein also probably murdered his brother Henry, and there were numerous other human remains found in Gein’s house and buried on his farm - some possibly murdered by Gein or as the result of his extensive grave-robbing.
That said, there is one scene that isn’t a confirmed fact: Ed’s childhood sexual assault at the hands of older boys, which was only ever a rumour, though he seemed to have been bullied throughout his life which could have fed into other behaviours. Also certain characters here - the journalist and the university professor - are composite characters; the journalist is a composite of several reporters who covered the story, and the professor is a mouthpiece for Schechter/Powell’s theory on Gein’s motivations that he acted as part of his warped religion where his mother was god.
I appreciated the insight into Gein’s motivations because Gein took that information to the grave (unmarked, following years of vandalism of his headstone, though he would’ve been pleased to know that he’s buried next to his beloved mother) and we’ll never know why he did what he did. Schechter/Powell’s theory is a believable explanation for someone so unhinged and it’s more satisfying to have this included from a reader’s perspective.
The only part of the book I didn’t think was that great was the look at how Gein’s community was affected in the immediate aftermath of his arrest. The numerous comments from the townsfolk of Plainfield, Wisconsin, who generally said the same thing: he was a quiet fellow, shocking to discover, etc. - I’m not sure what this angle adds to the story and seems kind of redundant to include. Wouldn’t atrocities like these bother any community?
Schechter also notes how impactful Ed Gein was on popular culture. Initially there was Robert Bloch’s bestselling novel Psycho followed by Alfred Hitchcock’s iconic movie adaptation which introduced the world to Norman Bates, and then later emerged other incarnations like Leatherface in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs. Carrie’s mother in Stephen King’s debut novel was also probably inspired by Augusta Gein. It’s quite a legacy. And then of course there are books like this that continue to be produced about him, 60+ years after his arrest, because it’s such a unique story.
I’ve been a fan of Eric Powell’s for years and he’s the reason I picked this one up. I wondered why he had stopped writing/drawing his recently relaunched Goon series after just the second book and now I see why - he was working on this one instead!
Powell’s a master draftsman and the whole book is drawn beautifully - the characters’ expressions are especially evocative. He’s been drawing macabre comics for years and that experience shows here. Particularly striking is the comic-book style of Gein as priest of his religion, as he might have thought of himself in his head, juxtaposed instantly on the next page with the gruesome reality of what he likely looked like. The art absolutely sells the horror of Gein’s life and crimes.
“Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?” is an excellent, informative and enthralling summary of the case of Ed Gein - definitely worth a look if you’re a fan of true crime comics.
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