The Shocking Case of Ed Gein Trivia Quiz

Answer: Augusta

Psychiatrists determined that Augusta Gein, Eddie's mother, was the root of his 'problems'. Fanatically religious and overbearing, she instilled her own strange sense of rigid morality in her two sons. She warned them of the 'evils of women' and their 'wicked ways'.

His father, George, played a very little role in Eddie's upbringing. Alcoholic and abusive, he paid little attention to his sons. Eddie grew up devoted to his mother, and despite her warnings, was interested in women. He was just interested in a far from normal way.

Answer: 2

Ed Gein confessed to killing Mary Hogan, a Pine Grove tavern keeper, in 1954. He also killed Bernice Worden, proprietor of the Plainfield Hardware Store, in 1957. After his gruesome crimes were uncovered, he was a suspect in the 1947 disappearance of 8 year-old Georgia Weckler and the 1953 vanishing of 15 year-old Evelyn Hartley. Also, it was widely rumored that he had killed two hunters, Victor Travis and Ray Burgess, who had disappeared in the Plainfield area in 1952.

It was later determined by doctors who examined him that Gein most likely did not commit these crimes.

His 'interests' were in middle-aged women, not children or men.

Answer: mummified corpses

Although his 'collection' was indeed beyond the imagination, Gein did not preserve whole corpses. He robbed graves from three cemeteries in the area; Plainfield, Spiritland and Hancock. After taking bodies from their graves, he removed the parts he wanted and either reburied or burned what was left over.

His bedposts were adorned with human skulls, and he had fashioned bowls out of several of them. Among his skin artifacts were a knife sheath, the surface of a tom-tom that had been stretched over a coffee can, and a vest made from a woman's body.

He had gathered these body parts by robbing local graveyards in the middle of the night. The entire farmhouse was filthy, with the exception of Augusta Gein's bedroom and the parlor. Eddie had sealed these rooms off shortly after his mother's death as a shrine to her memory. Among his more 'normal' collections were used chewing gum in a coffee can, two sets of dentures, old clothing, and various plastic toys from cereal boxes.

Answer: False

Many rumors and legends surround the Gein case. One story says that the police found a human heart in a frying pan (or a saucepan) on the stove and that Eddie's refrigerator was stocked with human organs wrapped in butcher paper. Despite these tales, there was never any solid evidence that Gein was a cannibal. Bernice Worden's heart WAS found in a plastic bag next to the stove, and Eddie hinted that he was interested in cannibalism and read stories about it, but no proof exists to state that he ate human flesh.

Answer: .22

Eddie went to the Plainfield Hardware Store to purchase antifreeze. Once there, he used a rifle from the gun rack in the store to kill Mrs. Worden. He then loaded her body into the store's panel truck and took her back to his farm for 'experiments'.

Answer: Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity

Gein was found to be mentally incompetent by the psychiatrists who examined him. As a result, he was committed to the Central State Hospital in Waupan, Wisconsin. In 1968, he was retried for the murders, but again was found to have been insane at the time of the killings.

He was returned to Central State. In 1978, Eddie was transferred to the Mendota Mental Health Facility in Madison, where he remained for the remainder of his life. Ed Gein died on July 26th, 1984 at the age of 78.

Answer: False

Another rumor surrounding Gein says that he stole his mother's corpse from its coffin. This simply is not true. While he did rob graves from the same cemetery that his mother was buried in, Augusta Gein's grave was left undisturbed. This legend stems from the fact that author Robert Bloch used Gein as a model for Norman Bates of 'Psycho' fame. Hitchcock's film fuels the legend even more. On a side note, Eddie did admit to visiting his mother's grave shortly after her death and attempt to 'lure her from the coffin with sheer willpower'.

Answer: It burned to the ground

In March of 1958, the Gein 'house of horrors' burned to the ground. Arson was the most likely cause, but no one ever was charged with torching the house. The citizens of Plainfield were glad to be rid of the place. When he was told what had happened, Eddie replied, 'Just as well.'

Answer: Arthur Schley

Sheriff Arthur Schley discovered Bernice Worden's dismembered body in Gein's summer kitchen. He led the investigation that uncovered the horrors in Eddie's house. Sadly, he died in 1968, age 43 of a heart attack. Many say that the stress of Gein's second trial led Schley to an early grave.

Answer: Henry

Henry Gein died while fighting a brush fire on the Gein property with Eddie. When his body was found, he had bruises on his head and the fire hadn't come near him. However, the coroner declared that he had dies of asphyxiation caused by the smoke. Years later, it was speculated that Eddie had killed his brother because he had criticized their mother. Gein was never charged with a crime because the people of Plainfield could not believe that he was possible of such a thing. Did Eddie kill Henry? He never admitted to it, so we must decide for ourselves.

Many thanks to Harold Schechter's well-researched book, 'Deviant,' which provided much of the facts used for this quiz.