The Real People Who Inspired Timeless Fictional Characters

Grave Robber Ed Gein Inspired Three Classic Killers

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Ed Gein, also known as the Butcher of Plainfield is an American serial killer and grave robber. He murdered at least two women and was known to steal bodies from graves only to fashion furniture and keepsakes from their body parts. His horrific acts helped to inspire not one but three fictional murderers.

The characters include Norman Bates from Robert Bloch’s novel and Alfred Hitchcock’s film Psycho. He also inspiredBuffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs, and Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Each of these characters resembled some aspect of Gein’s life whether it was an obsession with their mother, making trophies from body parts, or being uncontrollably disturbed.

J.K. Rowling had her own Professor Snape when she was a student.