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Summary: A brilliant biography.
Review: This book made me want to read. i could not put this book down. I loved this book and i recommend it to every one. I also recommend "the A to Z Encyclopedia Of Serial Killers" also by Harold Schechter.
Rating: 
Summary: Back off Ma
Review: This is a fascinating case study, a chilling and let's face it an oddly funny exploration of the dangers of being too dependant on Ma. The original Norman Bates, Ed Gein, committed some grusome crimes and yet not unlike the Hitchcock creation, we feel a certain sympahty for him. Gein was a lonely damaged man who found some rather eccentric ways to fill his void. It is impossible to hate this man despite the lives he took. There is a naive quality about Gein that make even his most bizarre actions, such as making a vest out of corpse's breasts, oddly touching. As with all of Schecter's books this is high end trash, it doesn't delve as deep as one might want but it dishes the atrocities in a suitable droll manner. The only downside is that some people find it a mite disturbing that I own a book called "Deviant", or that I find a certain aesthetic quality to his acts, but this material is not for the prudes...eh?
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Summary: OUT OF AMERICA'S HEARTLAND....
Review: This is a well-researched book about Ed Gein, the mild mannered, Midwestern psychopath from Plainfield, Wisconsin who, in the nineteen fifties, would shock the nation with his gruesome crimes. Ed Gein would become the basis for the best selling book by Robert Bloch, "Psycho", as well as for the Hitchcock film of the same name. Accounts of Ed Gein's heinous crimes would also enter the consciousness of a young Tobe Hooper who, as an adult, would write and direct the classic cult film, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre".The author writes a cogent, factual account of the life of Ed Gein and the grisly crimes that shocked the nation at the time of their discovery. It details the hold that Ed's domineering mother had on him, a hold that would manifest itself in unimaginable ways. It is almost hard to believe that this small, inoffensive man could be such a madman, but who but a madman would do what he did? Ed Gein, it was discovered, had turned his small farmhouse into a gruesome charnel house, replete with furnishings adorned with human flesh and bones. Aficionados of true crime will find this book fascinating, as it is a well-written account of one of the most horrifying and bizarre series of crimes ever to be committed. Eight pages of photographs are included in the book and serve to provide the reader with a brief, visual glimpse into the life of Ed Gein, a man with a secret hobby so depraved that it would shock the entire nation when it came to light. Lovers of true crime accounts will be fascinated by this well researched foray into the life of a seemingly innocuous man from America's heartland who ended up being so deviant from the norm.
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Summary: Deviant
Review: This is one of only about two books written about Ed Gein, this is also the best. Schechter is able to tell the whole story of Ed Gein from all aspects while being totally truthful and not just trying to cash in. We get much insight about Ed Gein and get to find out what he was really like. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in finding out about this man.
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Summary: Edward Gein, the real "Psycho"
Review: This is the story of a man obsessed with his mother, Augusta. Hating her and loving her at the same time. From the time he was born, he revered her like a saint. Following in her views of the town they lived in and her views of women. To her, everyone was living in sin and all women were harlots who should never be looked at much less spoken to. When she died, Eddie Gein's world fell apart. Before he would be caught, Ed Gein would kill two women and rob the graves of at least nine other women. He would rob them of their genital areas, the head, and the skin off other parts. He'd also parade around in the skin dressed like a woman because that is what he secretly wanted to be. No one could believe that this slight, shy litte man could be capable of such heinous crimes against the dead. He was a true deviant in every sense of the word. This book takes you on a journey from birth to death to everything in between in the life of Ed Gein, the real "Psycho". This book is recommended to anyone who is a fan of true crime novels.
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Summary: A Facinating Read!
Review: This was a really well-written account of the Gein murders. I got into it very quickly and didn't want to put it down, even though it was getting near bedtime...gave me nightmares! You really felt as though you were in Plainfield, Wisconsin dealing with the grimness of the landscape and that Gein farmhouse. I thought the implied murder of his brother by Gein years before all the grave-robbing started was fascinating, and the depiction of Gein at the end as giving the impression a mild mannered old guy was interesting. Can't wait to read Schechter's story of H.H. Holmes!
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Summary: A Tragic and Mythic Figure!
Review: What hath Ed Gein wrought? If he had gotten a cut of the profits of all the books and movies containing variants of his unique persona, he'd have died a millionaire. Schechter's book cuts through one myth about Gein in presenting the facts of his tragic life--- namely, he was not a serial killer. He may have killed his own brother, and certainly killed two middle-aged women, but only when he ran out of fresh graves of middle-aged female corpses to rob! Technically, he is a necrophile who was driven to murder, not a serial killer. A typically well-researched book by this praiseworthy author.
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Summary: Eddie Gein the true fiend?
Review: You've heard of him, you've seen the movies, now read the true results of Eddie. Though I am an avid horror/ true crime fan, I found this book quite well put together. Some from the era may not find it as interesting as it doesn't truly portray Ed as a homicidal maniac. In reality (best of our knowledge) he only killed two people. Psychotic, yes, lonely drifted man. Great book, I tore right through it!
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