Why the Netflix Monster Ed Gein Series Is Pushing Viewers Too Far
Netflix has just dropped its most unsettling true crime series yet—and audiences are reaching for the remote.
Monster: The Ed Gein Story, the latest installment in Netflix’s Monster anthology, digs into the grotesque life of a killer whose crimes inspired Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs.
But while those iconic horror films left much to the imagination, in contrast, Netflix’s Monster: Ed Gein leans hard into the visuals. And for many viewers, it’s simply too much to handle.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for something intense yet more narratively grounded, check out the Netflix movie with 171M views starring DiCaprio that you probably missed.
The Real Horror That Hollywood Couldn’t Make Up
Known as the “Plainfield Ghoul”, Ed Gein committed two confirmed murders—Bernice Worden and Mary Hogan—but was linked to several other disappearances. Yet what truly horrified the world were his post-mortem rituals.
“There are a lot of bizarre cases,” says criminologist James Alan Fox, “but this had the whole smorgasbord.”
When police entered Gein’s home in 1957, they were met with a scene straight out of a nightmare. Inside, they discovered:
- Masks and lampshades made from human skin
- A belt fashioned from nipples
- Bowls crafted from skulls
- A preserved human heart in a plastic bag
- A hand-sewn “woman suit” made from corpses
So, what drove Gein to such horrific extremes? His motives were rooted in a deep, pathological obsession with his mother, Augusta.
She was a religious fanatic who convinced him that women were evil. After her death, he began robbing graves, preserving body parts, and even exhuming her corpse to “keep her close.”
Netflix Monster Ed Gein Season: Psychology or Exploitation?
Netflix’s dramatization attempts to unpack the mind of a killer, painting a picture of a man shaped by trauma:
- An alcoholic, abusive father
- A domineering, hyper-religious mother
- Extreme social isolation and emotional dependency
Gein kept his mother’s bedroom untouched like a shrine and lived in filth elsewhere.
Diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1957, he was later declared not guilty by reason of insanity. He spent the rest of his life in mental institutions.
The series introduces terms like “gynophilia” and flirts with gender and identity themes.
But critics argue it often confuses queerness with pathology, a dangerous trope that’s rightfully being called out.
“It’s bleak, ugly, and wholly expected,” wrote The Guardian’s Richard Lawson. “A pure freak show.”
And it doesn’t help that the first half of the show leans heavily into gory spectacle without offering much in the way of insight.
For those craving psychological mystery in a horror setting but with a more surreal twist, Ash blends sci-fi, horror, and hallucinatory mystery in space.
A Slippery Slope into Sensationalism
Despite its true crime packaging, parts of the series feel blatantly gratuitous. One jarring example? The final episode features Ted Bundy abducting women, even though Bundy had no real link to Gein.
Another storyline suggests actor Anthony Perkins—who famously played Norman Bates—shared Gein’s psychosexual turmoil. Critics called that comparison reckless and unfair, arguing it falsely links sexual repression with serial violence.
It’s these liberties that make Netflix Monster: Ed Gein feel more like a stylized horror movie than the thoughtful exploration it claims to be.
If you’re looking for something that explores human complexity through emotion and memory, We Live in Time offers a quiet, powerful counterpoint to Netflix’s darkest fare.
Ed Gein Netflix Story Forces Viewers to Ask: Why Do We Watch?
At one point in the series, Gein breaks the fourth wall and coldly declares:
“You’re the ones who can’t look away.”
It’s not just dialogue — it’s a challenge. And it hits hard.
The show holds up a mirror to a culture obsessed with murder, trauma, and depravity, and questions our own role in feeding it. Are we learning something, or just consuming horror for entertainment?
Even lighthearted platforms are reckoning with darker themes — as SNL Season 51 proves, when farewells and surprises collide with emotional depth.
The Monster May Have Gone Too Far
While Netflix’s Monster franchise has previously walked the line between truth and taste, many say the Ed Gein season shatters it. What starts as a crime study ends in a blur of shock, sorrow, and self-indulgence.
“It’s hard not to see a more sinister, self-exonerating motivation behind it,” one critic noted. “The end product is crass where it tries to be elegant.”
But as more viewers report quitting mid-episode, feeling sick, or regretting they ever started, perhaps this time…
The monster went too far.
