Meet Ed Gein, the true monster behind Psycho, Silence of the Lambs, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Disturbed loner Ed Gein inspired some of the most shocking slasher and horror films of all time. Warning: some viewers may find content disturbing. Leatherface on the rampage in a scene from the 1974 film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. ED Gein's crimes have offered a gruesome feast for filmmakers for decades, and is the first in our True Crime Scene series - Crimes on Celluloid. The extent of Gein's deviancy was shocking enough, but his horrific activities spawned some of the most graphic slasher films of the 1970s. And a warning, of the content in this article may - not surprisingly - disturb some readers. One of America's most notorious killers, Gein and his gruesome crimes "inspired" fare such as Psycho, Silence of the Lambs and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Born August 27, 1906, in Plainfield Wisconsin, Edward Theodore Gein was a shy and quiet young man. Ed Gein at the time of his arrest in 1957. Gein, who was also a grave robber, would dig up women's bodies and take home their body parts. He was 77 when he died in a mental hospital in 1984. Gein grew up with his older brother Henry, a drunken father, George, and a religiously fanatical mother, Augusta. His father, who was despised by his mother, died in 1940. Gein looked up to his brother Henry, who died in a bushfire in 1944. It was rumoured that Gein killed Henry. But it was his mother Augusta's death the following year that left him devastated and truly alone. Harold Schechter, in his book Deviant, explained Gein had "lost his only friend and one true love." It was this devotion to his overbearing mother even after her death that became the subject of Gein-themed movies such as Psycho. After her death he became increasingly lonely, and buried himself in crime magazines and anatomy books. But he enjoyed babysitting children, as he felt much more comfortable in their company. So much so that he allowed them to see his vile handiwork: his collection of body parts, including human heads. The children told their parents, but they were not taken seriously. Although Gein was considered "weird," no one imagined he was capable of such heinous acts. Police escort killer Ed Gein Source: Supplied On the morning of November 17, 1957 he was spotted loitering outside a hardware store, one of three stores in town. The locals knew that something had gone wrong, as Mrs Bernice Worden, the owner of Worden Hardware store, didn't open the shop. The neighbours peeked in through the glass door to spot a pool of blood on the floor. Police were called and they arrested Gein. Later that day they arrived at Gein's property. A policeman lit a darkened room with a torch. It was a town of hunters, and most locals had seen a gutted carcass before. But the reality did not sink in until the policeman realised that it was not a deer, but the headless body of Ms Worden, hanging by her ankles. Revelations of what they found inside the house shocked the world. The property where Ed Gein was arrested and where body parts and clothing made from human skin were found in Plainfield, Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Mike Fisher) Source: AP Police found cut and cured body parts, masks made of women's skin and several human heads. Behind bars, Gein was calm and relaxed. He denied murder, but intense pressure forced him to confess. He admitted to killing two women, Mrs Worden and Ms Mary Hogan, a tavern owner who had gone missing in 1954. He didn't remember shooting Ms Hogan, whose body parts were found in his home. He denied murdering the other eight women whose body parts were also discovered in his house. Further investigation revealed that he had dug up the bodies from the cemetery. Gein told the police that he would use skin from the exhumed corpses as costumes and wanted to see how it felt to have female body parts. Poster for the film "Ed Gein." Critics branded it a bore. The defence suggested he plead not guilty, by reason of insanity. And a battery of psychological tests supported his claim. Gein was diagnosed as a schizophrenic and a "sexual psychopath." He spent his jail term in a psychiatric hospital. As well as thrillers like Psycho and The Silence of the Lambs, Gein's crimes also provided fodder for black comedies and even a musical. The most recent film is Child of God, directed by actor James Franco and adapted from Cormac McCarthy's 1973 novel about serial necrophiliac Lester Ballard. Actor Anthony Perkins in scene from film Psycho. /Films/Titles/Psycho Picture: Supplied Source: News Limited Gein died of cancer on July 26, 1984 and was buried in Plainfield cemetery next to his mother. In 2000 his headstone and some dirt from his grave were stolen. Vials of the dirt were offered for sale on eBay. A tip-off led police a year later to Seattle, where a rock band promoter was selling rubbings from the headstone for $50 each. He claimed he had made them when he visited Plainfield cemetery, but police found the granite marker at his property.