Netflix has released a first look at Monster: The Ed Gein Story, and consider us deeply unsettled.
The streaming service announced Wednesday the hit Ryan Murphy anthology series, starring Charlie Hunnam as the infamous grave robber, will premiere October 3. Poster art shows the British actor in full costume for the first time, wielding a chain saw in one shot and removing an eerie mask in another.
“Serial killer. Grave robber. Psycho. In the frozen fields of 1950s rural Wisconsin, a friendly, mild-mannered recluse named Eddie Gein lived quietly on a decaying farm—hiding a house of horrors so gruesome it would redefine the American nightmare,” according to a post on Netflix’s in-house blog Tudum.
Gein and his macabre crimes have helped inspire a number of villainous characters, including Norman Bates in the 1959 novel Psycho and Alfred Hitchcock’s movie adaptation a year later. Taglines for Season 3 reference this link, as well as Gein’s connections to the popular horror movies The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991).
Now, Monster prepares to revisit the story of the murderer’s real life. Here’s everything you need to know about Gein and his upcoming portrayal in Monster Season 3.
Emmy-winning actor Laurie Metcalf also stars in the true-crime series as Gein’s mother, Augusta. British actor Tom Hollander will play Hitchcock in a supporting role.
Who was Ed Gein?
Gein, born in August 1906 in Wisconsin, became known as the “Butcher of Plainfield.” He admitted to the murders of two women, Mary Hogan in 1954 and Bernice Worden in 1957, but was believed to be connected to a number of unsolved cases.
While investigating Gein’s house following Worden’s disappearance, police gruesomely discovered he kept human organs in jars and had fashioned clothing items and furniture out of human bones and body parts. Gein also admitted to digging up corpses to practice necrophilia and to make masks and suits out of human skin. He was convicted of Worden’s murder in November 1968 but found insane at the time of the killing and committed to a psychiatric facility.
Gein died of complications from lung cancer and respiratory illnesses in July 1984 at age 77. His horrifying crimes at least partially inspired a number of notable fictional killers, including Norman Bates from Psycho (1960), Leatherface from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), and Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs (1991).
Who is playing Ed Gein in Monster?
Charlie Hunnam will portray Gein in Monster Season 3.
The 41-year-old English actor is best known for his role as Jax Teller on the FX drama Sons of Anarchy. Elsewhere, he played the legendary King Arthur in the 2015 movie King Arthur: Legend of the Sword and has appeared in 2019’s The Gentlemen, starring Matthew McConaughey, 2023’s Rebel Moon–Part One: A Child of Fire, and the 2024 continuation Rebel Moon—Part Two: The Scargiver.
Who else is in the Monster Season 3 cast?
Tom Hollander will appear as Alfred Hitchcock, the legendary director and “Master of Suspense” known for thrillers such as Rear Window (1954), The Birds (1963), and, of course, Psycho.
Monster Season 3 marks the 58-year-old actor’s second collaboration with showrunner Ryan Murphy. In 2024, Hollander played author Truman Capote in Murphy’s FX series Feud: Capote vs. The Swans and earned an Emmy Award nomination for his portrayal.
Expect to see Hollander alongside Joey Pollari, who portrays a fictional version of actor Anthony Perkins. Perkins played Norman Bates in the movie version of Psycho.
Also in the show’s cast is British actor Olivia Williams. She will play screenwriter and editor Alma Reville, Hitchcock’s wife of more than 53 years. Williams, 57, appeared in Seasons 5 and 6 of the Netflix royal drama The Crown as Camilla Parker Bowles.
Finally, 70-year-old Laurie Metcalf portrays Gein’s fanatically religious mother, Augusta. Known for her role as Jackie Harris on the TV sitcoms Roseanne and its spinoff The Conners, Metcalf has won four Emmy Awards and two Tony Awards in her career.
When will Monster Season 3 release?
Monster: The Ed Gein Story premieres on Netflix on October 3, 2025. Netflix previously shared that production began sometime in October 2024. According to Variety, this season will consist of eight episodes total: six directed by Max Winkler and two by co-creator Ian Brennan.
Even before the release of Season 3, Netflix has already begun work on the next installment of Monster. Season 4 stars Ella Beatty as acquitted ax murderer Lizzie Borden.
What other criminals have been featured in the Monster anthology?
The first season of Monster, which featured Evan Peters as serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, became Netflix’s third most-watched English language show in history. It eclipsed 1 billion hours streamed in its first 60 days.
Season 1 was also well-received by critics, despite its disturbing subject matter. Peters won a Golden Globe for his performance as Dahmer, and Niecy Nash received an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress for portraying Dahmer’s real-life neighbor Glenda Cleveland.
Murphy and the streamer manufactured similar buzz with the 2024 release of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. In addition to Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch as the Menendez brothers, the cast featured Academy Award winner Javier Bardem as their father, José Menendez, and Chloë Sevigny as their mother Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez. Koch received an Emmy nomination for his portrayal of the younger Menendez sibling.
Just weeks after the series release, an accompanying documentary, The Menendez Brothers, featured new interviews with the convicted killers and became the most-watched movie on the service with 22.7 million views from the week of October 7. The two titles created a surge of interest in the brothers’ criminal case, prompting a Los Angeles County district attorney to re-examine evidence and eventually recommend their resentencing. Lyle and Erik became eligible for parole in May but were both denied release this past week.
Watch Dahmer–Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story or Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story on Netflix
Gein died more than four decades ago, but it’s safe to say the modernized depiction of his crimes in Monster will spark similar interest in his disturbing legacy.
Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.
