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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Bizarre wicked account of a truly diabolica fiend,
By buhweep@webtv.net (Cincinnati, OH.) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Edward Gein, America's most bizarre murderer (Hardcover)
Ed Gein is perhaps one of the weirdest "psychos" of the 20th century, and his dastardly doings are unparalleled as Robert Gollman does a fairly decent job of bringing Gein's attrocities to light.The book's title America's Most Bizarre Murderer, lives up to it's name as we find Gein dancing in the moonlight with a self exhumed corpse, and the various human-made furniture pieces ie., human skin lamp shade and chair seat, skull bed posts, and bones galore. Gein served as a future role model for film makers Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho), and Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre). The book also focuses on the disappearance and murder(butchering) of local hardware store owner Bernice Worden. Ole Ed keeps busy alright! Gollman's writing is a little slow at times, but does the job of bringing the gruesome details we true crime fans crave. Coincidentally, he was also the judge who presided over Gein's case. This is one true crime to have in your collection, especially if you love the unusual, and I do mean UNUSUAL!
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
truly frightening,
This review is from: Edward Gein: America's Most Bizarre Murderer (Paperback)
This book is not for the weak of stomach or heart. It is the true account of the man who inspired Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" _and_ Tobe Hooper's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". The book is written by the judge of the trial and contains transcripts of the trial. It is a well written book but it is extremely disturbing to realize this was a real person, a man who was regarded as "the quiet type" before his horrible crimes were discovered. If you are interested in true, bizarre crimes, this is an excellent book. My advice is to make sure you have some lighter reading before your bedtime or you could very well have nightmares from this book. I know I _did_ and I don't consider myself as one who frightens easily. But the sheer catalog of atrocities, done by a real person on real people is truly disturbing.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
OUT OF AMERICA'S HEARTLAND...,
By Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (COMMUNITY FORUM 04) (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)
This review is from: Edward Gein (Paperback)
This is a book about Edward Gein, the mild mannered, Midwestern psychopath from Plainfield, Wisconsin who, in the nineteen fifties, would shock the nation with his gruesome crimes. Edward 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 Edward 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, who was the judge who presided over Edward Gein's trial, writes a cogent, factual account of the last grisly crime perpetrated by of Edward Gein, that of hardware store owner Bernice Worden, who was a widow of fifty-eight at the time of her murder. He also touches upon Edward Gein's other grisly crimes and bizarre practices, all of which shocked the nation at the time of their discovery. The book contains many police reports and court transcripts. It details Edward Gein's "confession" to the Bernice Worden murder, as well as the author's judicial review of that statement. Ms. Worden's autopsy report is included in the book, as is Edward Gein's personal and medical history, as well as his psychiatric evaluation. It is clear the Edward Gein had an abnormal attachment to his deceased mother. It was an attachment that would manifest itself in unimaginable ways. It is almost hard to believe that such a diminutive, seemingly inoffensive man could be such a madman, but who but a madman would do what he did? Edward Gein, it was discovered, had turned his small farmhouse into a gruesome charnel house, replete with furnishings adorned with human flesh and bones. The book also includes a chapter on the judicial decision that determined Edward Gein was insane and caused him to be committed to a hospital for the insane for an indeterminate period. Ten years later, Edward Gein was determined to be fit to stand trial for the murder of Bernice Worden, and the author became the presiding judge. One of the most curious aspects of the trial was Gein's request that his assigned counsel be the attorney who had presided over his sanity hearing years earlier. That attorney, however, had since become an assistant district attorney on the case against Gein. Notwithstanding that, he promptly resigned from his position as a state prosecutor and became Edward Gein's defense attorney. The book contains transcripts from the trial, which makes for somewhat dry reading. There is some hair-raising testimony, however, on what was found at Gein's home, as well as on some of the ghoulish practices in which Gein engaged. The trial, which took nearly a year from start to finish, resulted in Gein's return to the hospital for the insane. The book contains an interview with the forensic psychiatrist at the hospital, as well as the hospital superintendent, in order to include information on Ed Gein's years at the hospital to which he was confined. The book also includes a post trial, hospital interview with Edward Gein himself. Moreover, the book contains an appendix in which the forensic psychiatrist contributes what he labels as "Gein humor", which is typical of "community reactions to a horrifying event.", and he engages in a brief analysis of this phenomenon. This book is a pretty straightforward, although at times tedious, hodge-podge account by the author, which focuses more on the crime for which Edward Gein stood trial, rather than any in-depth summary analysis of Gein himself or his actions. Aficionados of true crime will find this book of some interest, as it is an insider's account of "the case of the century" and provides a birds-eye view into one of the most horrifying and bizarre crimes ever to be committed. The book promises "eight pages of blood-curdling police photographs", and this is an absolute understatement. I have never before seen such shocking photographs included in a true crime book. They are the stuff of nightmares and serve to provide the reader with a brief, visual glimpse into the life of Edward 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 find something of interest in this insider's comprehensive foray into a crime committed by a seemingly innocuous man from America's heartland who ended up being so deviant from the norm.
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