What we know about Ryan Murphy's Ed Gein Netflix series, 'Monster: The Original Monster'

Get ready to binge another notorious Wisconsin murderer.

Megaproducer Ryan Murphy, whose series on Milwaukee serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer ("Dahmer: Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story") ranks as the fourth-most-streamed show ever on Netflix, has a new installment in his true-crime "Monster" series in the works. "Monster: The Original Monster" purports to tell the story of Ed Gein, whose notorious case in Wisconsin in 1957 helped shape some of the biggest horror stories ever.

Ed Gein of Plainfield, Wisconsin, is followed by a guard as he's taken from the Waushara County Jail on Nov. 18, 1957. Gein had admitted killing Bernice Worden; more grisly details surfaced soon after.

"Original Monster" is the third entry in Murphy's Netflix franchise. He followed the Dahmer series with "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story," about the Southern California siblings who murdered their parents and the sensationalized trial that followed.

Here's what we know so far about "Original Monster."

'Monster' Season 3 release date

Producer Ryan Murphy told California Gov. Gavin Newsom on the "This Is Gavin Newsom" podcast on July 21 that "Monster: The Original Monster" would stream in October 2025.

Where can I watch the Ed Gein series 'Monster: The Original Monster'?

Netflix is expected to stream the series, but the streaming service hasn't announced an official date yet.

Who is playing Ed Gein in 'Monster'?

Charlie Hunnam, best known for his starring role in the FX series "Sons of Anarchy," was confirmed as the actor playing Gein by Murphy in October 2024. A month later, photos made the rounds online of Hunnam wearing a red plaid outdoorsman's coat and a combover hairstyle similar to Gein's.

Who was Ed Gein?

In 1957, Gein confessed in the Wisconsin community of Plainfield to killing two local women, digging up bodies from graveyards, and using body parts and skin to make everything from trophies to lampshades. The details of his crimes — some of which were quickly exaggerated to include claims of cannibalism — helped inspire the 1959 horror novel "Psycho," by Milwaukee writer Robert Bloch.

Milwaukee author Robert Bloch, who wrote the novel "Psycho" loosely based on Ed Gein that went on to become the basis for the Alfred Hitchcock movie, is shown in this 1969 portrait.

The novel was made into the groundbreaking horror movie of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock, which accelerated the scope of Gein's notoriety. "Psycho" and Gein's story also helped shape other horror classics, including "The Silence of the Lambs" and "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" — which, like "Psycho," spawned scores of imitators.

Who else will star in Netflix's Ed Gein series?

In addition to Hunnam, cast members announced so far for "Monster: The Original Monster" include Emmy winner Laurie Metcalfe, as Augusta Gein, the murderer's religious, domineering mother; Tom Hollander as director Alfred Hitchcock; Olivia Williams as the filmmaker's wife, Alma Reville Hitchcock; and Addison Rae, Suzanna Son and Vicky Krieps, in so-far-unidentified roles. (Krieps also has been cast in the fourth edition of the "Monster" series, about Lizzie Borden.)

What is 'Monster: The Original Monster' about?

So far, Murphy hasn't detailed the plot for the Ed Gein series. But, in his interview with Newsom, Murphy suggested that "The Original Monster" would focus on how Ed Gein became Ed Gein.

"If you think about Season 3 — which is coming up, where Charlie Hunnam plays Ed Gein, which is not for the squeamish — really what this is about is this was a person who was mentally ill, who was an undiagnosed schizophrenic his entire life," Murphy tells Newsom. "So it really is sort of a story about mental health and awareness. …

"I think that story of Ed Gein, he was both (kinds of monsters) — he was born that way and he was made that way."

Ed Gein is surrounded by media while in a courtroom in Wautoma for a sanity hearing in 1968.

In an October 2024 interview with Collider, Murphy said his original interest in the story stemmed from a conversation with co-creator Ian Brennan about where the cultural interest in serial killers began.

“Based on our research, the very first one who became a celebrity at that level was Ed, who was an instant crazy celebrity from the moment he was arrested," Murphy said. "Nobody had ever heard of anything like that. Then we found out — he was motivated, obviously — but he was schizophrenic. How he became what he became was a very interesting story.”

Why is Alfred Hitchcock a character in Netflix's Ed Gein series?

It's not really clear yet why — or whether — the legendary filmmaker is a major character in "The Original Monster." But it appears that the movies that were inspired by Gein's story — the real story and the fictionalized version — will figure into it.

Among the characters mentioned in the in-progress cast list for Season 3 of "Monster" on IMDB.com are "Buffalo Bill" — the same name as the serial killer who's being pursued in "Silence of the Lambs" — and "Young Tobe," a possible reference to Tobe Hooper, who went on to direct the original "Texas Chain Saw Massacre."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What we know about Ryan Murphy's Ed Gein Netflix series, 'Monster: The Original Monster'