Deviant: The Shocking True Story of Ed Gein, the Original "Psycho"

The subtitle is all the synopsis anyone needs: The Shocking True Story of Ed Gein, the Original “Psycho”.

The residents of Plainfield Wisconsin were more than a little concerned when the owner of a local tavern disappeared in December 1955. She was a middle-aged woman with a no-nonsense attitude and a somewhat mysterious past, but who would want to kill her? Yet the evidence was clear: a pool a blood on the floor, a spent .32-caliber cartridge nearby, and a bloody trail indicating the body had been dragged out the door to a spot in the parking lot where presumably it was loaded into a truck.

Nearly two years later another middle-aged store-owner disappeared from Plainfield. But this time authorities quickly honed in on the show more mild-mannered little man whom everyone thought of as odd but harmless. What they found at Ed Gein’s farmhouse, however, would shock not only the residents of Plainfield, but the entire nation. The gruesome case captured the attention of a novelist, who wrote Psycho based on Gein’s story, and that captured the attention of Alfred Hitchcock.

Schechter writes a detailed account of Gein’s upbringing (as best as he could re-create it), the events and suspicions of the townspeople, his trial and his life in a mental institution. I was too young to know the details at the time the crimes were committed, but I vividly remember the renewed interest when Gein passed away. I’ve always like “true crime” books, and this is a pretty good, though not great, example of the genre. show less

I read the paperback in the 90s, shortly after it came out. I still think this a true crime classic and a picture of an exceptional individual. Exceptionally insane? Ghoulish? Devious? One thing that sticks out to me on this reading is how many of Gein's neighbors, etc. felt his insanity was a pose and that he succeeded in elevating his comfort level and stand of living by using his crimes to move out of a decrepit farmhouse where he dwelled alone to an engaging state institution.

I normally don't read a lot about "real" serial killers, preferring to stick with the fictional kind, but this book was highly recommended by a friend, and I quickly saw why. For me, the case of Ed Gein was obscure; I knew next to nothing about him before reading this book, even though I have visited the general area in which the events took place (Wisconsin Rapids, and I'm pretty sure that we drove through Plainfield on our way to visit a friend in Neshkoro). Anyway, I'd never really heard of Ed Gein, or at least not enough to form a lasting impression/memory. And now I'm wondering why I hadn't!

I really enjoyed Harold Schechter's writing style; he really delves into the facts, scant as they sometimes are, and weaves a story that is show more both interesting and laced with facts. I had a hard time putting this book down, and I found myself saying "just one more chapter" more times than I can count on two hands.

The crimes of Ed Gein are horrific. He served as an inspiration for several fictional serial killers, from Norman Bates to Leatherface to Buffalo Bill. Schechter did a fairly good job of staying away from out and out gore, which I appreciate, although I believe there's a few very disturbing images included (I didn't look through them myself).

I'll be picking up Schechter's other books for sure. show less

"The year was 1957. To his Wisconsin neighbors, Ed Gein was a slight, Midwestern farmhand with a twisted little smile. To an unsuspecting nation, he would become one of the most notorious crime figures in history, having lived for ten years in his own secret world of brutal murder and unthinkable depravity.

Here is the grisly true story of “the Butcher of Plainfield,” a deranged killer whose fiendish fantasies inspired such works as Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs. More horrifying than any movie or novel however, Deviant dares to explore in chilling detail the life and times of one of the most twisted madmen in the annals of true crime—one who still haunts us to this day—and how he transformed show more his small, nondescript farmhouse in the American heartland into his own private and inescapable domain of ghoulishness and blood."
Anyone wanting an in-depth account of Ed Gein - from his upbringing to his horrifying crimes to the prosecution and death. I finished this book quite quickly because it was extremely captivating and chilling at the same time. show less

Read it in two gos separated by about 6 months, but good book, interesting and intriguing. And it goes in depth into Gein's psychological condition.

The fascination with serial killers lives within me and has done for many years now. I have a great love and interest for the criminal mind, I am not talking about petty criminals - I mean serial killers. Those that create the most horrific murder scenes - sometimes through accident and sometimes through choice.

Ed Gein is a very interesting person and has influenced many writers (Robert Bloch) and film directors (Tobe Hooper) to create characters based on the characteristics of Gein.

This book was the first that I picked from Amazon about Gein after watching a film about him. This book is wonderfully written, it is easy going and interesting. Over the years criminal books have been written in such an academic way that they become show more difficult to read and often get put away because the reader loses interest. The author keeps the reader interested, involved and amazed. This has to be the best serial killer book I have read and would highly recommend it not only to those who may be studying criminology but also to those who, like me, who have an interest in the mind of these people. show less

Interesting but very slow. And if there was a drinking game for everything Schechter mentioned the small man or some other term relating to Gein's stature, I'd have died from alcohol poisoning.

I don't regret listening to the book but I could have dropped it halfway through and been fine.

Meh.