Everything to Know About Monster Season 3: The Ed Gein Story

The Ryan Murphy true crime anthology series Monster, which dropped its Menendez Brothers-focused Season 2 on Netflix in 2024, is returning for a third season this fall that's all about Ed Gein, a killer whose pop culture legacy has severely outshone the actual crimes he was convicted of in the 1950s. Gein, who will be played by Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam, has been the inspiration for many horror films, including Psycho and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Because of his outsized impact on Hollywood, Gein might just be a perfect Ryan Murphy subject.

Oddly enough, Season 1 — which focused on Jeffrey Dahmer — actually featured a brief Ed Gein appearance, with the series floating the idea that Gein might have inspired Dahmer. Now, Murphy and co. have the chance to really dive deeply into this character and how he morphed into the legend that he's become at this point.

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Monster Season 3 premiere date

Monster: The Ed Gein Story is slated to drop its entire run of eight episodes on October 3 on Netflix.

Monster: The Ed Gein Story trailer

This teaser is all about setting the vibe, with the help of a gravelly-voiced Aflred Hitchcock (Tom Hollander) narrating ominously. "What shocks you most about him?" Hitchcock says. "Let me show you something worse." It's a solid scene setter — take a look below.

Monster Season 3 story and plot

In 1957, Ed Gein was arrested for the murder of Bernice Worden, the owner of a local hardware store in Plainfield, Wisconsin. When the police searched Gein's house, they found all sorts of horrific stuff that had been made from human remains, like chairs covered in human skin, bowls made from human skulls, a belt made of nipples, and so on. 

It's that first impression that we remember Gein for, with movies like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre cementing our image of Gein being a long-term butcher and serial killer. In reality, however, Gein was only convicted of two murders. Most of the human remains that he had been using for his arts and crafts projects came from the local graveyard that he had been robbing for years, rather than being trophies from his murder victims. That said, there are a number of other missing persons cases from that time that Gein has been linked to, but a lot of that is simply the result of folks associating every nearby missing persons case from the time to Gein. Nearly 70 years later, it's not easy to parse it all.

The series will clearly have its eye on how Gein's legend came to be, since Alfred Hitchcock will be a character on the show. Psycho, based on a 1959 novel that was inspired by Gein's crimes, was released in theaters during the summer of 1960, less than three years from when Gein was arrested in late 1957 — that's a pretty quick turnaround considering the studio straight up didn't want to make it and forced Hitchcock to self-finance it. So, yes, this new season of the Ryan Murphy series will almost certainly do a little bit of Hollywood deconstruction. Not the most shocking news, I know.

Monster: The Ed Gein Story cast and crew

Monster is co-created and co-run by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, who have worked together frequently since they co-created Glee with Brad Falchuk. Brennan has also worked with Murphy on Hollywood, Halston, and Ratched, among others.

As for the cast, Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam will play the killer himself, Ed Gein, and Laurie Metcalf (Roseanne) will play his mother. The rest of the cast includes folks playing some major celebrities who were involved in Ed Gein-inspired productions, most notably Psycho director Alfred Hitchcock (Tom Hollander) and his creative collaborator and wife Alma Reville (Olivia Williams), who will apparently have prominent roles. But there are some other Hollywood types included here, too, with Joey Pollari playing Anthony Perkins, the actor who played Norman Bates in Psycho, and Will Brill appearing as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre director Tobe Hooper.

• Charlie Hunnam as Ed Gein
• Laurie Metcalf as Augusta Gein
• Tom Hollander as Alfred Hitchcock
• Olivia Williams as Alma Reville
• Suzanna Sonas Adeline Watkins
• Vicky Krieps as Ilse Koch
• Joey Pollari as Anthony Perkins
• Tyler Jacob Moore as Sheriff Schley
• Charlie Hall as Deputy Worden
• Will Brill as Tobe Hooper
• Mimi Kennedyas Dr. Mildred Newman
• Robin Weigertas Enid Watkins
• Lesley Manvilleas Bernice Worden

Where to watch Monster

The first two seasons of Monster are streaming only on Netflix.