A recent installment in a popular Netflix series has raised interesting questions about an infamous serial killer’s supposed influence on the work of Alfred Hitchcock, including his critically acclaimed hit, Psycho. The idea of there being a connection between the two was addressed directly in Netflix’s crime anthology series, Monster: The Ed Gein Story.

In the second episode of Monster’s Ed Gein saga, the show tells a story where “The Master of Suspense” speaks to the future villain actor of Pyscho – Anthony Perkins – about Ed Gein, and essentially uses the serial killer as a blueprint for the character of Norman Bates.

This obviously links Ed Gein to a key part of popular culture, but the link isn’t quite as significant when it comes to real life, even if the similarities between Norman Bates and Ed Gein would make such a connection easy to believe.

Psycho’s Author Was Only Partially Inspired By Ed Gein When Creating Norman Bates

The 1959 Robert Bloch novel that the 1960 Hitchcock classic is based on does reference Gein – and therefore acknowledge the connection – by making note of “that fellow in Wisconsin,” but comments from the author significantly downplay his influence on the Norman Bates character.

It would seem that the concept behind Psycho came about a response to some of the earlier reporting on Gein, whose crimes were committed not far from where Bloch had lived. During an interview with David J. Schlow at the 1991 World Horror Convention, Bloch claimed that only “the circumstances” were relevant to the thought process he went through creating Bates.

In other words, Gein living in a small community and managing to commit murders without people becoming wise to him was really the extent of the influence he had on Bates. That’s because the story was mostly written before Robert Bloch had become aware of the details of Ed Gein’s crimes. He clarified that he “did not use Ed Gein as a basis for Norman Bates at all.“

He pointed out that at the time, much of what was established about Gein’s activities and background that had drawn comparisons to Bates were not considered fact when he first came up with the story. What’s more, the true story of Ed Gein didn’t really match with what he wanted to do anyway, considering that much of Bates’ story, such as the motel, differed from what is known about Gein today.

Psycho’s ᴀssumed Connection To Ed Gein Makes Norman Bates A More Intimidating Character

As Bloch has noted about Gein and Bates, “people like to believe the legend.” He’s not wrong, given that so much about Gein became public knowledge that he was often on the minds of those watching Psycho, both when it released and after. In some ways, this was to the benefit of the film, as it added to the insidious undertones of the Norman Bates character.

Knowing about Ed Gein and what he did helped audiences believe that someone like Norman Bates – as unusual as he was as a character – could actually exist in real life. That notion added a sense of realism to Psycho’s story, even though the connection was more coincidental than anything else.

A presumed link to a real-life murderer and the idea that his character in Psycho isn’t far-removed from reality lent itself to the menacing and even terrifying nature of the character, and could even be attributed at least partially to Norman Bates’ status as one of the greatest movie villains of all time.