Few true crime stories have cast as long a shadow over Hollywood as Ed Gein ’s. The Wisconsin murderer and grave robber horrified the nation in the 1950s and went on to inspire some of the most iconic horror films ever made. Alfred Hitchcock ’s Psycho (1960) famously drew from Gein’s twisted crimes, transforming real-life terror into cinematic history. But Psycho was only the beginning.

Over the years, Gein’s disturbing legacy has continued to influence filmmakers, from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to The Silence of the Lambs and, more recently, Netflix’s Monster: The Ed Gein Story . His name remains synonymous with the blurred line between fact and fiction in horror.

Below, learn how Psycho was inspired by Ed Gein, and see which other movies and TV shows were shaped by

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