Deviant

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

By: Harold Schechter

Narrated by: R.C. Bray

Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

From "America's principal chronicler of its greatest psychopathic killers" (Boston Book Review) comes the definitive account of Ed Gein, a mild-mannered Wisconsin farmhand who stunned an unsuspecting nation - and redefined the meaning of the word psycho.

The year was 1957. The place was an ordinary farmhouse in America's heartland, filled with extraordinary evidence of unthinkable depravity. The man behind the massacre was a slight, unassuming Midwesterner with a strange smile - and an even stranger attachment to his domineering mother. After her death and a failed attempt to dig up his mother's body from the local cemetery, Gein turned to other grave robberies and, ultimately, multiple murders.

Driven to commit gruesome and bizarre acts beyond all imagination, Ed Gein remains one of the most deranged minds in the annals of American homicide. This is his story, recounted in fascinating and chilling detail by Harold Schechter, one of the most acclaimed true-crime storytellers of our time.

©1989 Harold Schechter (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Big Surprise to Me

Many times while watching TV I've caught little things about Ed Gein but have never understood why such a big deal was made of him. This book told me! It does a very good job of telling his whole story without getting dry & boring. it was also nice that it didn't get too technical when it came to explaining why he did what he did.

UNSETTLEINGY

I listened to this book three times; it is a very Unbelievably ! Horrifyingly m

Weird story, written as a documentary with fluff - graphic

The story was weird to say the least. The writing style meant to be reporting but I felt like it had a bit of fluff added. I'd not heard of Gein nor his crimes so found the telling interesting. Sad, yes, but fascinating too. I appreciated the detached reporting style it made the read a bit easier given the subject matter. If you like true crime then you should like this one. Be warned though, it is pretty graphic.

ddddddaaaaaannnnngggggg!!!!!!

this is crazy. this book is great and entertain wish it was not true but I guess you have to watch out.

Plainfield

My take away is the danger's of small backwards communites. There willingness to not question the world and people around them much less themselves is quiet scary.

pretty good but hard to get into

I loved the narrator's voice ,but this was hard to get into. I found myself skipping chapters, chapter 12 is where it really gets good, and where they talk about Ed Bien. I really don't want to hear about the past I want to hear about gien.

Addicting

This is a very addicting story but there are some very gruesome detailed ares that are hard to listen to. I had to break a few times while listening when it got really intense.
But a wonderful descriptive story of this madman!
Put many questions and rumors to rest for me!!

Gore

We all know the movie Phsyco. We don't know the real "little man" who inspired it. Take listen...and nightmares will haunt you.

Typically like Schechter’s Books

He already covered this killer in a precious book. There’s been so many authors who have discussed the man behind Psycho that it gets old at some point. In his book entitled Psychos, he does a wonderful job discussing the nemesis behind that movie. Enough already.

Clinical

I'm not sure what I expected when I selected this book and I'm not sure whether this was it or not. First, I had the wrong murderer in mind, so that could have swayed my feelings. I think the book gave a very clinical account of Ed Gein's life. Some of the descriptions were graphic and shocking, but I suppose that was the intention of the book. It bothered me a bit that the author was somewhat fat-shaming Mary Hogan - the number of times that her weight was mentioned was way over the top for me. And the narrator sounds like the type of man who would narrate a Discovery ID documentary/a really old timey detective. He didn't have an unpleasant voice but it was a little flat to me. Overall, if you're interested in the story of Ed Gein, this is a good book for you. It lays out from his beginnings to his end, a true life story.