Netflix has once again stirred the true crime and horror communities with the release of its latest entry in the acclaimed Monster anthology series. Monster: The Ed Gein Story, which premiered on October 3, 2025, is already making waves for its chilling dramatization of one of America’s most notorious serial killers and the cultural echoes his crimes left in their wake.
Following the success of The Jeffrey Dahmer Story in 2022 and The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story in 2024, this new eight-part series dives deep into the twisted life of Ed Gein, a name that has haunted the American psyche for decades. The show stars Charlie Hunnam in a transformative role as Gein, a performance that demanded not just emotional intensity but also a dramatic physical transformation—Hunnam reportedly lost about 30 pounds to embody the gaunt, haunted figure at the story’s center. As Hunnam told Entertainment Tonight, the process was grueling: “[It] was not a pleasant process.”
Monster: The Ed Gein Story sets itself apart by not only chronicling Gein’s grisly crimes but also examining the profound influence his case had on Hollywood’s horror genre. According to the Mirror, the show draws direct lines from Gein’s real-life atrocities to the creation of iconic films such as Psycho, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs. The series weaves Gein’s story with the birth of these classics, exploring how fact and fiction have become inextricably linked in the public imagination.
The cast is a veritable who’s who of contemporary film and television, assembled under the guidance of super-producer Ryan Murphy. British actor Charlie Hunnam leads as Gein, but he’s far from the only standout. Addison Rae, the pop singer and social media star, delivers a surprisingly haunting performance as Evelyn Hartley, a babysitter who becomes the object of Gein’s obsession in the series. Rae’s role, though brief, has already generated buzz for its intensity and for the way it blurs the lines between fact and speculation surrounding Hartley’s real-life disappearance in 1953.
In the dramatized account, Evelyn, played by Rae, is a babysitter in Wisconsin who is forced to step away from her job due to a polio diagnosis. Ed Gein, awkward and socially isolated, is encouraged to take over her position in a misguided attempt to help him connect with others. As depicted in Episode 3, aptly titled “The Babysitter,” Gein’s ineptitude with children leads to his dismissal. When Evelyn returns, his fixation escalates, culminating in a harrowing sequence where he kidnaps and kills her in his barn—an act witnessed by the corpse of his mother, Augusta, played with chilling gravitas by Laurie Metcalf. This scene, as reported by NJ.com and other outlets, is both disturbing and emblematic of the series’ willingness to probe the darkest corners of Gein’s psyche.
But how much of this is rooted in reality? In truth, Evelyn Hartley was a real 14-year-old girl who vanished on October 24, 1953, while babysitting in Wisconsin. Gein was indeed questioned about her disappearance, having been in the area at the time, but he was cleared of involvement after passing two lie detector tests. No evidence was ever found linking him to the crime, and he steadfastly denied any role. The show’s decision to depict Gein as Hartley’s killer is a creative leap—a choice that, while controversial, underscores the enduring fascination with unsolved mysteries and the way they become entangled with myth over time.
Other casting choices further enrich the series. Tom Hollander is nearly unrecognizable as Alfred Hitchcock, the legendary director whose own work was directly inspired by Gein’s crimes. Olivia Williams takes on the role of Alma Reville, Hitchcock’s wife and collaborator, while Suzanna Son portrays Adeline Watkins, a character with a complex relationship to Gein. The supporting cast includes Vicky Krieps as Ilse Koch, Lesley Manville as Bernice Worden (one of Gein’s confirmed victims), and Joey Pollari as Anthony Perkins, the actor who brought Norman Bates to life in Psycho. Laurie Metcalf’s portrayal of Augusta Gein, Ed’s domineering mother, has been singled out for praise, with writer Ian Brennan calling her “as close to a theater goddess as actually exists in real life.”
Ryan Murphy, the series’ co-creator, has been candid about his creative approach. In an interview with the New York Times, Murphy remarked, “To me, what’s interesting is not so much the crimes, but everything else that surrounds the crimes.” His collaborator, Ian Brennan, echoed this sentiment in Variety, noting that the show turns the camera on both its creators and its audience, inviting viewers to reflect on their own fascination with figures like Gein. “The most interesting layer was turning the camera on ourselves—on Ryan and I, and on the audience—[and realizing] ‘Oh, look, we’re doing the same thing. We’re obsessed with this guy.’”
Monster: The Ed Gein Story is the latest installment in a franchise that has redefined the true crime genre for streaming audiences. Previous seasons focused on Jeffrey Dahmer and the Menendez brothers, and a fourth season centered on Lizzie Borden is already in the works. The series’ blend of meticulous research, high-caliber performances, and provocative storytelling has made it a staple for viewers drawn to the intersection of crime, psychology, and pop culture.
For those eager to dive in, the show is available for binge-watching on Netflix, with Sky offering bundled subscriptions through its new Sky Stream TV packages. The series is not just a retelling of grim events but a meditation on how stories—both true and imagined—shape our understanding of evil, trauma, and the shadows that linger long after the headlines fade.
In the end, Monster: The Ed Gein Story stands as a testament to the enduring power of storytelling, for better or worse. It compels viewers to confront not just the horrors of the past, but also the ways in which we continue to revisit, reinterpret, and sometimes even mythologize those horrors in our collective consciousness.
