Of all the serial killers in all the towns in all the world, none has had more of a cultural impact than Edward Theodore Gein. Sometimes referred to as the “Butcher of Plainfield,” the Wisconsin native shocked the country in the late 1950s when authorities raided his secluded farmhouse and discovered an unimaginably sickening collection of dismembered body parts and clothing fashioned out of human skin.
Gein’s fascination with taking visceral trophies — as well as an unhealthy obsession with his late, overbearing mother — served as the basis for some of cinema’s most memorable maniacs: Norman Bates (Psycho), Leatherface (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), and Buffalo Bill (The Silence of the Lambs).
Whether movie lovers know it not, Ed Gein has held their macabre curiosity for more than six decades and now, the notorious murderer is taking the spotlight in a jumbo-sized graphic novel from comic book creator Eric Powell (Goon, Hillbilly) and Edgar-nominated true crime writer, Harold Schechter (The Serial Killer Files).
“I believe that what makes Gein so fascinating is that in the midst of sunny, Leave-It-To-Beaver, Eisenhower-era America, this slightly goofy, small-town milquetoast was secretly committing unspeakable rituals: dissecting corpses, dressing in flayed human skin, decorating his house with the body parts of his victims,” Schechter tells Forbes Entertainment. “It’s as though the citizens of Mayberry suddenly discovered that Barney Fife [Don Knotts’ character in The Andy Griffith Show] was a cross-dressing, homicidal psychopath.”
Schechter goes on to explain that Gein was unique, in that he was not a traditional serial killer forged in the mold of other heinous individuals who would make their own appalling headlines years later: Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, and Jeffrey Dahmer.
“The latter were extreme sexual sadists, who derived their perverted pleasure from torturing and murdering their victims,” he adds. “Gein was not a lust-killer. He was primarily a necrophile, driven to exhume the corpses of middle-aged women and fashion ghastly objects from their body parts. It’s true, he killed two women, but they were not tortured. They were executed swiftly before being brought back to his charnel house to serve as raw material for his ghastly handiwork.”
Hitting stores next month by way of Albatross Funnybooks, Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? clocks in at a whopping 200 pages that chronicle the life and times of the titular killer. But why tackle a story that’s already been interpolated so many times across pop culture?
“I believe Gein’s story continues to haunt us because he’s entered the realm of folklore,” answers Powell. “A real-life bogeyman who lived in a house of horrors. He’s become a truly American urban legend. A mid-century Vlad the Impaler.”
Forbes Entertainment has five exclusive pages from the graphic novel, which raised over $100,000 on Kickstarter by the end of June.
“Our Kickstarter went really well, which was a relief,” Powell recalls of the crowdfunding endeavor. “There is always a fear of failure when you put yourself out there. But the Kickstarter experience overall was really positive, and I think it will be a useful tool for us to finance large projects in the future.”
Touching on his collaboration with Schechter, the writer/artist continues:
“This collaboration was a truly great experience for me. I was able to pick the brain of my favorite true crime writer on a subject that has fascinated me since I was a kid. On top of that, I’m happy to say Harold turned out to be a really great person. A generous and selfless co-writer whose enthusiasm for the project alway kept me energized and excited.”
Check out the pages below:
“I’ve long been a fan of Eric’s The Goon and view him as arguably the finest illustrator of his generation. So, when he reached out to me about collaborating, I leapt at the chance,” says Schechter, a lifelong fan of the comics medium. “I should add that ever since Art Spiegelman demonstrated the artistic potential of graphic novels in Maus, I’ve had a high regard for the genre. I was unabashedly awestruck by Eric’s translation of the text into stunningly powerful illustrations. I couldn’t be more thrilled with the fruits of our collaboration.”
“This book presented a lot of challenges for me,” Powell admits. “I had never done a nonfiction book before and I quickly found out how easy it was to chase little bits of minutia down the rabbit hole. Several times I had to stop myself when I realized a certain detail I was researching wouldn’t even be featured in the book. Harold did a good job at pulling me back at certain points. He’s, of course, had years of experience working in true crime and knows how to focus on the relevant details of a story.”
Given the stomach-turning nature of Gein’s misdeeds, Powell worked hard to artistically walk the “fine line between exploitive and horrific.”
“Harold and I both wanted this book to take the subject matter very seriously,” he concludes. “Leaning into psychological horror rather than gore. But it’s impossible to convey the haunting events of this case without some gruesome visuals. But I think we did a pretty good job of knowing where to reign things in and where to push the visuals. I think we have some good shock moments that work because we didn’t beat the reader over the head with grotesque images.”
Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? arrives in comic shops Wednesday, Aug. 4 and bookstores Tuesday, Aug. 17. Alternately, you can also pre-order a hardcover version on Amazon and have it delivered to your door by Tuesday, July 27.
