Edward Theodore “Ed” Gein (August 27, 1906 – July 26, 1984), infamously known as the “Butcher of Plainfield” or the “Plainfield Ghoul,” was an American murderer, grave robber, and collector of human remains. In the late 1950s, authorities discovered his Norman‑Rockwell‑style farmhouse in Wisconsin filled with horrifying artifacts—lampshades made from human skin, bowls carved from skulls, chairs upholstered in flesh, and masks fashioned from human faces. Gein confessed to killing two women—tavern owner Mary Hogan in 1954 and hardware-store proprietor Bernice Worden in 1957—and admitted to robbing multiple graves of recently buried women he believed resembled his domineering mother. Found not guilty by reason of insanity, he spent the remainder of his life institutionalized until his death from respiratory failure caused by lung cancer in 1984 at age 77. His grotesque crimes left a lasting mark on popular culture, inspiring horror icons such as Norman Bates (“Psycho”), Leatherface (“The Texas Chain Saw Massacre”), and Buffalo Bill (“The Silence of the Lambs”)