It’s the spooky season, and this episode is a doozy and an oozy, as in the oozing of decomposing bodies. Ed Gein, the inspiration behind characters Norman Bates, Leatherface and Buffalo Bill, is the topic of today’s Strange Country. Cohosts Beth and Kelly have an especially important PSA before you press play: Don’t eat while listening.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands.

Cite your sources:

Bloom, John. “They Came. They Sawed. – Texas Monthly.” Texas Monthly, November 2004, https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/they-came-they-sawed/. Accessed 11 October 2024.   Dimitropoulos, Stav. “Serial Killer Ed Gein Was a 'Model Patient' After Being Incarcerated for His Gruesome Crimes.” A&E, 11 January 2018, https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/serial-killer-ed-gein-was-a-model-patient-after-being-incarcerated-for-his-gruesome-crimes. Accessed 12 October 2024.   Hanneman, Joe. “A Look Back at the 'Plainfield Butcher,' Grave Robber Ed Gein.” The Hanneman Archive, 4 November 2014, https://hannemanarchive.com/2014/11/04/plainfield-butcher-ed-gein/. Accessed 6 October 2024.   Keller, Robert. Unhinged: The Shocking True Story of Ed Gein, the Butcher of Plainfield. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017. Accessed 6 October 2024.   Piccotti, Tyler. “Ed Gein: Biography, Murderer, Grave Robber, 'Monster' Season 3.” Biography (Bio.), 17 September 2024, https://www.biography.com/crime/ed-gein. Accessed 6 October 2024.   Sutton, Candace. “The mother of the most depraved serial killer of all time.” NZ Herald, 24 October 2020, https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/who-was-the-mother-of-the-most-depraved-serial-killer-of-all-time/T75XZ2O7K7AGAP5LBGPKDKHVV4/. Accessed 12 October 2024.