Ed Gein changed everything. Without the murderer and his ghoulish crimes, there would have been no Psycho and Norman Bates, no Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Leatherface, and no Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs.

Ed Gein hiding in an open grave, in a panel from Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?

But it goes beyond popular culture too. Back in 1957, Ed Gein transformed the face of monsters in reality as well. No longer was evil and horror obviously “other.” No problematically handsy creatures from the Black Lagoon. No fanged foreigners in their pretentious capes. Americans had to face up to the fact that their polite, mild-mannered neighbour – someone they invited over for dinner on occasion, and turned to for help with odd jobs and even babysitting – could be capable of the most depraved and disturbing acts. Trust in quiet little communities just like Plainfield, Wisconsin was shattered forever.

That’s at least part of the story told in Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?, the new graphic novel collaboration between acclaimed true-crime writer Harold Schechter (Deviant, The Serial Killer Files) and multi-award winning comics creator Eric Powell (The Goon, Hillbilly).

Cover and page example from Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?

Published under Powell’s Albatross Funnybooks label, Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? does more than spotlight the social and cultural significance of Ed Gein, and what he got up to on his remote farmstead. Over 222 pages, the graphic novel explores how human monsters are born of monstrous treatment, and poses its own psyche-centred theory about why Gein’s actions took the stomach-turning form that they did.

What is possibly most surprising is that the book does all of this by side-stepping and, in some instances, pointedly slicing away the sensationalism that has always surrounded the Gein case. Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? is based on meticulously researched fact, not trumped-up folklore, and it shows. 

Supporting this approach is the book’s art. You may expect Powell to wallow in lurid detail, as his creator-owned work has explored the full spectrum of pulp convention, and includes characters with catchphrases like “Knife to the eye!” However, it’s quite the opposite. For one thing, it’s unnecessary. Gein’s handiwork is horrifying enough without further creative embellishment.

Interior pages from Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?, showing Gein's home.

Powell’s signature greyscale illustrations combine pencils and loose painted shading in a way that grounds the legend, and places it in the recognisable real-world past.

While human remains appear in the book (don’t for one second think this is a sanitised tale), the grisly imagery is mostly off-frame. Alternatively, body parts and flayed skin are used like jump scares, popping up in otherwise mundane scenes as a stinging reminder about the nature of real-life horror – its often unnerving quietness and matter-of-factness. The grotesque has its place in Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?, and it’s prominent in the form of increasingly hag-like Augusta Gein, but its treatment is understated for the most part.

Panel from Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?, showing Ed Gein's mother Augusta.

Tonally closer to Powell’s work in Hillbilly, Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? is sombre and sad, petering out in much the same way Gein’s life did post Plainfield. It’s never an exploitative celebration of the macabre.

On another level, you’ll find a graphic novel that’s an utterly engrossing and sophisticated demonstration of comics as an art form, speaking to mature readers. It wouldn’t be surprising if there were award nominations in the book’s future.

The standard edition of Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? is available as of today, August 11, at comic shops. This is a welcome opportunity to get hold of the book if you missed out on supporting last year’s successful special edition Kickstarter. In the coming weeks, the graphic novel will also arrive at book stores on August 24, and becomes available digitally on the same day.