Tech
Who was Ed Gein? The new Netflix Monster was the inspiration for Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The third season of Netflix’s true crime anthology Monster dives into the life and crimes of serial killer and grave robber Ed Gein. The Wisconsin-born farmer gained national infamy in 1957 after police, investigating the disappearance of local store owner Bernice Worden, discovered her body — and the remains of nine others — inside his home. Many of those bodies had been exhumed and turned into grisly keepsakes, including lamps, bowls, and masks.
Gein ultimately confessed to one additional murder and was suspected in as many as seven others, including the deaths of his brother and a missing babysitter from a nearby town. Though never charged beyond the two murders, the horrifying details of his crimes turned him into a macabre household name. His story would go on to inspire some of horror’s most iconic villains: Norman Bates (Psycho), Leatherface (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), and Buffalo Bill (The Silence of the Lambs). Gein was later convicted of first-degree murder but found legally insane, leading to his confinement to a series of mental institutions. He remained there for the rest of his life, passing away in 1984 at the age of 77 from lung cancer and respiratory failure.
Given America’s obsession with true crime, it was only a matter of time before Netflix — and producers Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan — turned their lens toward the man who inspired so many fictional monsters.
Released on Oct. 4, the new season has been met with largely unfavorable reviews. Critics have taken issue with its unfocused storytelling and what they describe as a grotesque, "pulpy and sloppy" portrayal of Gein’s crimes and personal life. The show also takes significant creative liberties, depicting graphic acts that Gein was accused of but never proven to have committed.
With Monster’s history of blurring fact and fiction in its dramatizations of real-life killers, the question remains: what’s true, and what’s invented, in the story of Ed Gein?
Who was Ed Gein?
Credit: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
Ed Gein was born in Plainfield, Wisconsin, in 1906, the youngest of two sons to George and Augusta Gein. According to Harold Schechter’s book Deviant, Augusta was a "devoutly — even fanatically — religious" woman who often preached to her sons about the evils of the world, particularly the corrupting influence of women. Schechter writes that Augusta viewed her husband as "feckless and worthless" and believed sex — indeed, the very act of it — was a “loathsome duty to be tolerated for the sake of procreation.” When she gave birth to Ed, her second child, and learned he was a boy, she reportedly "felt bitter and betrayed." Determined to protect her sons from temptation and sin, she devoted herself to raising them into what she considered "good" men—at least as good as men could be in her eyes.
Growing up, Ed idolized his mother. “In his eyes, she was no less infallible than God,” Schechter writes. Other accounts describe George Gein as a violent alcoholic who regularly beat his sons, while Augusta was also known to physically harm and humiliate Ed.
The only time Ed left the family’s isolated farm was to attend school. Augusta used their remoteness to her advantage, keeping outside influences away and punishing Ed whenever he tried to befriend other children.
George Gein died of heart failure in 1940 at the age of 66. Four years later, Ed’s brother Henry died at 43, also from what was ruled heart failure—though the circumstances around his death remain murky (more on that later). The following year, Augusta suffered a stroke, leaving Ed to care for her. According to The Milwaukee Sentinel Journal, about a year later, Augusta suffered a second, fatal stroke after flying into a rage upon seeing a neighbor with a woman who wasn’t his wife.
After his parents’ deaths, Ed stayed on the farm and supported himself with odd jobs around town. During this period, as described in Laurence Rickels’ The Psycho Records, he began reading pulp magazines and lurid adventure stories — many focused on cannibalism and Nazi war crimes, particularly crimes committed by Ilsa Koch.
It’s unclear how Gein first encountered these materials or his connection to Koch, though Monster suggests he was introduced to them by a woman named Adeleine Watkins — a detail that, like much of the show, shouldn’t be taken as fact.
Who is Adeline Watkins?
Credit: Netflix
In Netflix’s Monster, Suzanne Son portrays Adeline Watkins, Gein’s love interest and the woman who introduces him to the lurid pulp magazines that supposedly inspired his later crimes. In reality, though, Watkins appears to have been nothing more than a longtime friend and neighbor.
In a 1957 interview with the Minneapolis Tribune (now the Wisconsin State Journal), Watkins — then 50 years old — claimed she had dated Gein for about 20 years. She described how the two would often go to movies and taverns together and shared a fondness for reading. In that same interview, Watkins reportedly called Gein “good and kind and sweet,” adding that he had once proposed marriage, but she turned him down.
However, just two weeks after the story was published, Watkins walked back much of what she had said. She told reporters that the article had exaggerated both the nature and duration of their relationship. While she confirmed she’d known Gein for more than two decades, she clarified that they had only been romantically involved for about a year. According to Watkins, during that brief time they dated, Gein would occasionally stop by her home (she claims to have never been to his home) and they'd go to shows at the theater. Watkins also denied ever describing Gein — or her mother’s opinion of him — as “sweet.”
Did Gein kill his brother?
While Ed Gein ultimately confessed to only two murders — Mary Hogan in 1954 and Bernice Worden in 1957 — the gruesome discovery of flesh lamps, masks, and other human remains led authorities to suspect him in several unsolved cases in the area. Gein denied any further killings, and lie detector tests at the time cleared him of additional charges — though, as always, the reliability of polygraph results is questionable.
Netflix’s version of Gein, however, takes a different stance. The series implies he was also responsible for the deaths of local babysitter Evelyn Grace Hartley (portrayed by Addison Rae), a deer hunter named Victor Travis, and even his own brother.
As mentioned earlier, official records state that Gein’s brother, Henry, died at age 43 in 1944 from heart failure after going missing during a brush fire on the family farm. According to reports, Gein had been burning marshland when the flames spread out of control. After the fire was extinguished, he told firefighters that Henry was missing. They later found Henry lying face down, with no significant burns or visible injuries. Authorities ruled the death as heart failure, though many — including some investigators —found the circumstances suspicious.
Gein’s biographer, Schechter, later noted that Henry’s body was found with bruises on his head — an odd detail that didn’t align with the official story. Despite this, no autopsy was ever performed. The county coroner ultimately listed the cause of death as asphyxiation.
Adding to the mystery, although Gein told authorities his brother was missing, he led them straight to Henry’s body. While theories vary about what might have motivated him, most center on the brothers’ strained relationship over their mother. Henry reportedly wanted to leave the farm and move in with the woman he was dating — a plan that clashed with Gein's deep, almost fanatical devotion to Augusta.
British brand Nothing has been on a roll in 2025. The brand's more affordable budget line, known as CMF, has been particularly impressive. And over at Amazon, the just-released Nothing CMF Headphones Pro are on sale for just $84, and we're seriously tempted. These headphones are the companion to the Nothing Headphones (1), which we raved about over the summer.
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The new CMF headphones have a slick, circular design, but what really caught our attention is the battery life. These headphones pack a 100-hour runtime, which is mightily impressive, especially for headphones with a regular retail price of only $99. It's rare to find an extremely long battery life and genuine Active Noise Cancellation in a pair of budget headphones. It's even rarer still to find budget headphones that don't look like ass.
The $15 discount at Amazon won't last much longer. It's a Lightning Deal and scheduled to end tonight. So, if you're looking for a replacement pair of headphones, you have a limited window to get in on this discount.
Here's what you get with the new Nothing ANC headphones:
Credit: Nothing
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Support for Hi-Res and LDAC codecs
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40mm drivers
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Up to 40db of adaptive noise cancellation
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Up to 50 hours of ANC listening, 100 hours without ANC
Earlier this year, CMF by Nothing released the Watch 3 Pro, an under-$100 AMOLED smartwatch that Mashable readers have been obsessed with (so have we). We recently published a full review of the Watch 3 Pro, and our reviewer said that Nothing should be charging two or three times as much for this smartwatch. Like these new wireless headphones, that smartwatch has an insane battery life in our testing.
CMF will soon be spinning off into its own brand, and if its latest product launches are any indication, we're excited to see what they come up with on their own.
SAVE $10: As of Nov. 6, the Nothing CMF Watch 3 Pro is down to as low as $88.50 at Amazon. That's an 11% discount on an already budget-friendly smartwatch.
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The Nothing CMF Watch 3 Pro launched back in July 2025 and has been blowing our minds ever since. Surely a smartwatch worth its salt should cost at least a couple hundred bucks, right? Wrong. At an outrageously low $99, the CMF Watch 3 Pro is an anomaly — and somehow, it's on sale once again for $10 cheaper.
As of Nov. 6, Nothing's famous AMOLED smartwatch is as low as $88.50 depending on which color option you choose. Sure, that's only 11% off, but every dollar counts in this economy. And the price is so good to begin with, that every extra dollar off is just icing on the cake. Every color besides the light green is currently on sale (dark gray, ash gray, and orange).
Nothing is known for its quirky products, but the Watch 3 Pro design doesn't venture too far from the norm. It's sleek and modern with slim bezels, a round watch face, and a soft silicone band, and it offers over 120 custom watch faces for personalization. It is a bit on the large side, though — fair warning for anyone with tiny wrists.
Although CMF is Nothing's budget brand (which will soon be spinning off into its own company), Mashable's reviewer says the smartwatch's specs are far beyond a budget pick. She praised its sleep tracking accuracy, hella good battery life (nearly two weeks), dual-band GPS tracing for athletes, intuitive design, and advanced workout metrics. "The watch feels, looks, and functions like it costs a few hundred dollars," she writes, "Please, no one tell Nothing they should be charging a lot more for this watch."
Hands down, the CMF Watch 3 Pro takes the cake as the best smartwatch under $100. And at only $89, it's hard to think of a reason not to buy it.
Up until now, Xbox was the only major platform left out of the gaming handheld space. Valve’s Steam Deck lets players play their Steam library on the go. Nintendo has the hugely successful Switch and Switch 2. And Sony recently made a comeback into the handheld space — harkening back to the PSP and Vita days — with the disappointing PlayStation Portal.
Now, Microsoft has finally stepped up to the plate with the ROG Xbox Ally X, the long-awaited collaboration between ASUS ROG and Microsoft’s Xbox division. The new Xbox handheld promises to let you play your Xbox and PC games on the go, and it even features a new processor, the AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme, which offers more power than previous ROG models. It’s also a whopping $1,000 — $350 more than the Steam Deck and $550 more than the Nintendo Switch. However, it’s still cheaper than the starting price of the new Lenovo Legion Go 2 at $1,099, which is also a Windows handheld.
So, after all the hype, is the ROG Xbox Ally X worth it? Here’s our in-depth review of the ROG Xbox Ally X after spending over two weeks with it. You can also check out our interview with Sarah Bond, the President of Xbox, who told Mashable the new handheld is a preview of the future of Xbox consoles.
How does the ROG Xbox Ally X feel?
Credit: Matt Fornwald / Mashable
I love the ergonomics of the ROG Xbox Ally X, and I'm sure Xbox gamers will agree. The integrated grips simulate the feel and comfort of a standard Xbox controller. Previous ROG Ally iterations didn’t have these kinds of grips, so that makes this a step up already in that aspect.
Right out of the box, the ROG Xbox Ally X is a bit on the heavier side at 1.5 pounds, more similar to the Steam Deck rather than the lighter Switch 2 or PS Portal. Its dimensions are comparable to the Steam Deck and PS Portal. However, the Switch 2 is superior with its slightly more compact design, especially when its Joy-Cons are detached.
Credit: George Yang / Mashable
The buttons are perfectly spaced out and have a satisfying, clicky feeling when pressed. The direction pad is excellent as well, which makes this gaming handheld a great way to play platformers. The thumbsticks are slightly diagonal from each other, similar to an Xbox controller.
The RGB lighting beneath the thumbsticks is a nice aesthetic touch as well, adding a splash of color against the all-black exterior.
Overall, the ROG Ally X will feel very familiar to gamers in the Xbox camp, in a good way. The device even has a fingerprint reader, adding a layer of security while providing an easy way to jump right back in and play. Overall, we loved the design, ergonomics, and controllers.
Setting up the ROG Xbox Ally X
Credit: Matt Fornwald / Mashable
When booting up the Ally X, it wastes no time telling you that it’s primarily a Windows PC handheld. The familiar blue Windows user interface had me select a language, install some updates, and then finally took me to the Xbox app called the “Xbox Full-Screen.” It’s a new interface for the handheld that is designed to be more streamlined, like a console, but it looks strikingly similar to the Xbox app on PC. I wish it were more unique to the Ally X, something the Steam Deck does well.
The Xbox UI is easy to navigate, but it seems to suffer from a bit of lag and is prone to freezing. Sometimes, I’d try to open up the Microsoft Store or Xbox Game Pass App, and the handheld would remain unresponsive.
In the menu on the right, you’ll see your three primary sources of games: Game Pass, your current library, and Cloud Gaming. Game Pass is Xbox’s signature gaming subscription model, which recently saw a price hike. I’m an Ultimate tier subscriber, so I have access to Microsoft's first-party games. Through it, I downloaded several games, including Doom: The Dark Ages, Avowed, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. I also downloaded several games I already own — Lies of P and Hotel Barcelona — both of which are Play Anywhere games.
Credit: George Yang / Mashable
It’s important to note that the only games that can be directly downloaded are ones available through Game Pass and Play Anywhere titles. The latter is a program that allows you to buy a digital game once through Microsoft, and play it on both an Xbox console and a Windows PC. Normally, you’d have to have to pay twice if you want to play a game on different platforms, but the Play Anywhere program is a convenient and consumer-friendly initiative. Unlike the Steam Deck, you can’t carry your entire library on the go, unfortunately.
On the left side of the device, there’s a button with the Xbox logo on it. By pressing it down, you can switch between different launchers, including Xbox, Steam, and Epic. As a Windows-based handheld, it supports all PC launchers so if you want to play launcher games like Steam’s Counterstrike 2 or Epic Games’s Fortnite, you’re able to do so. Having access to all of these different launchers greatly expands the Xbox ROG Ally X’s library of games compared to its competitors.
For example, the Steam Deck is Linux-based, meaning the only access it has to Xbox games is through Xbox Cloud Streaming through a web browser in its Desktop mode. This gives the Xbox ROG Ally X a huge leg up, being able to download both Xbox and Steam games natively, whereas the Steam Deck can only do the latter.
Playing games on the ROG Xbox Ally X
Credit: Matt Fornwald / Mashable
When it comes to playing games, I've found so far that performance between titles is inconsistent. Doom: The Dark Ages and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle performed flawlessly. Doom is the fastest-paced game out of all of the ones I’ve tried on the handheld so far, and having the power to kill demons in the palm of my hands felt immensely gratifying. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle’s framerate held steady and was buttery smooth, making it the most immersive experience I’ve had yet.
Lies of P played impressively well. Despite some initial lag when transporting and loading through different areas, my gameplay eventually smoothed over. There are plenty of challenging Soulslike games on Xbox, as their fast-paced nature and difficult fights demand precise performance. So Lies of P running in top shape really demonstrated how much power the Xbox ROG Ally X had.
On the other hand, games like Expedition 33 and Avowed had framerate and stuttering issues. Expedition 33’s battles require precise timing to dodge enemy attacks, so when I missed button presses due to these performance problems, it negatively impacted my gameplay. Avowed is a real-time action game, where a more stable framerate would allow me to react faster.
While it’s a bit of a disappointment that the ROG Xbox Ally X has an LED screen instead of an OLED one, that doesn’t mean games don’t look great. I booted up Metaphor: ReFantazio, and the game’s incredible art direction and bright color palette really pop through the device’s display. I also played A Plague Tale: Innocence, and the game’s more muted and dark tones were richly saturated. The thousands of generated rats crawling around looked menacing, even through a handheld screen.
Credit: Matt Fornwald / Mashable
This is where the Lenovo Legion Go 2 outshines the ROG Xbox Ally X. It features an OLED screen that makes colors more vibrant, which helps justify its higher price tag compared to the ROG Xbox Ally X.
I also tried out the Cloud Gaming capabilities for a bit and played about 30 minutes of Borderlands 4. With a solid WiFi connection, Borderlands 4 performed just fine with minimal hiccups. Borderlands 4 is not available on Game Pass, and it’s also not a Play Anywhere title. If you’re a Game Pass subscriber, using Cloud Gaming is a fantastic way to circumvent the ROG Xbox Ally X’s library limitations by letting you directly stream games from your Xbox account. However, the caveat here is that cloud functionality is only available on a case-by-case basis, so you’ll need to check whether the game you want to play through Cloud Gaming is possible by checking its page on the Microsoft Store.
As for the battery life, it really depends on the game you’re playing. More graphically intensive games will drain the battery faster. I left Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 continually running on the device’s Performance mode (17W), and it came around to be just around 3 hours. You can also go into the Armoury Crate, ASUS’s software managing app, and enable the ROG Xbox Ally X’s Turbo mode (25W) to squeeze the maximum amount of graphical fidelity out of it. Doing so cuts down the device’s battery life (with Expedition: 33 playing in the background) down to about two hours.
Credit: Matt Fornwald / Mashable
Earlier this year, Microsoft introduced Copilot for Gaming, an AI-powered assistant for Xbox players. It’s still in beta testing, but its purpose is to help guide players through the games they play in case they get stuck. It’s a helpful tool for beginner gamers, as it can provide instructions or advice without having to close the game or open another device to search for a guide. For example, when I was playing A Plague Tale: Innocence, I was navigating a cave. When I asked Copilot what to do next, it simply told me to continue forward and make my way out of the cave. It’s sometimes rather vague and general, but offers just enough guidance.
However, if you’re experienced or a seasoned gamer, I'm not sure you'll get as much mileage from it. If you need very specific instructions on how to defeat a boss, then the general tips that Copilot delivers may not be very helpful. Of course, this could change as Copilot improves, and your mileage may vary.
What can the Xbox ROG Ally X improve on?
The biggest caveat to the Xbox ROG Ally X is that it doesn’t play every Xbox game, despite what the marketing material says. You can only download games that are on Game Pass or the Play Anywhere program. This means that even if you bought a digital game through the Microsoft Store, there’s no guarantee that it’s a Play Anywhere title. For example, if you purchased Monster Hunter Wilds on the Microsoft Store, you can’t play it on the Xbox ROG Ally X since it’s not part of the program. Other handheld devices like Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch 2 have it beat here, as you can download every game bought through their respective ecosystems. While Xbox Cloud Gaming can be a workaround, the gaming experience is dependent on your internet connection. Playing games natively will always be the better option.
Because of this library limitation, this also means you’re unable to download any backward-compatible Xbox 360 and original Xbox games. Backwards compatibility is one of the most enticing aspects of Xbox’s ecosystem, and it’s a shame that it’s not part of the Xbox ROG Ally X. Hopefully, a future software update can remedy this. If you’re able to download any Xbox game from your library, then the ROG Xbox Ally X would be a handheld behemoth.
Still, the ROG Xbox Ally X has an impressive library for a device that just launched. There are numerous indie and mid-tier games to play, and you also have other launchers like Steam and Epic Games at your fingertips on the Windows side. For Xbox gamers, it’s a bit of a mixed bag, but there's no shortage of titles you can download or play via the cloud. Just remember that only Xbox Game Pass and Play Anywhere games can be downloaded directly to the handheld, so check to see if your digitally purchased games are compatible.
The Windows 11 experience
Credit: Matt Fornwald / Mashable
As it stands, the ROG Xbox Ally still feels too much like a Windows PC experience. The Xbox Full Screen has stuttering issues. The reason why people gravitate towards consoles is that they’re easy to use. You don’t have to deal with updating drivers or figuring out what’s preventing your game from booting up. It just works.
I actually experienced this issue with Doom: The Dark Ages. I had installed the game through the Xbox app, but Windows error pop-ups kept occurring. For some unbeknownst reason, the game ended up booting up and playing fine, but those errors aren’t what I expect for this kind of experience.
For a staggering $1000, I expected a smoother experience navigating a premium handheld device. The frustrating lag impedes the flow of downloading games and updates, which ends up feeling like some time wasted.
Is the ROG Xbox Ally X worth it?
The ROG Xbox Ally X marks Microsoft’s long-awaited entry into the handheld gaming space. The ergonomics, build quality, and performance of many games are impressive, and the design feels comfortable and familiar to Xbox players. However, the overall experience is let down by software issues, such as interface lag, bugs, and Windows-related errors. Despite its great power and content variety, the price tag and limited Xbox library access make it feel like something of a work in progress.
If you love Xbox's Play Anywhere titles or want to play games on a long flight, then it may well be worth the splurge, especially as an alternative to an expensive Windows gaming laptop or PC. But $999 will be tough sell for a lot of gamers.
The new ROG Xbox Ally X launched on Oct. 16 for $999.99. You can purchase the handheld at Best Buy, Microsoft, and ASUS, though it's been hard to find in stock at times.
ROG Xbox Ally X gaming handheld: By the numbers
This gaming handheld has some impressive specs:
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Processor: New AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor
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RAM: 24GB
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Storage: 1TB SSD
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Operating System: Windows 11
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Refresh rate: 120Hz
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Ports: Dual USB-C, 3.5mm audio jack, microSD
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Display: 1080p LED
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Weight: 1.58 pounds
Our initial review of the ROG Xbox Ally X was published on Oct. 16; we've now published this full review after spending additional time testing the device.
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