Month: October 2025

• Ryan Murphy’s “Monster” series returns to Netflix Friday with “The Ed Gein Story.”
• Ed Gein’s 1957 arrest revealed gruesome murders that inspired horror classics.
• Gein’s story influenced films like “Psycho” and “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.”

The third season of Ryan Murphy’s “Monster” anthology series focuses on a serial killer whose startling crimes live up to the title.

In “Monster: The Ed Gein Story,” streaming on Netflix Friday, Charlie Hunnam plays Gein, the notorious serial killer and grave robber whose 1957 arrest led to the discovery of scenes at his home that were so gruesome, they became inspiration for a slew of famous horror movies in the ensuing decades.

The season marks the smash anthology series’ return to focusing on serial killers since season one’s “Dahmer;” season two instead focused on Lyle and Erik Menendez, who killed their parents.

Here’s everything to know about the real Ed Gein, his crimes, and how they inspired movies like “Psycho” and “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.”

Ed Gein’s house was filled with human remains and furniture made of body parts when he was arrested in 1957.

On November 16, 1957, Bernice Worden, a hardware store owner in Plainfield, Wisconsin, disappeared. In the store, police found an open cash register, blood stains on the floor, and a receipt Worden wrote for a sale of antifreeze to Ed Gein the night before.

Gein — who lived in a farmhouse on the outskirts of town, worked odd jobs, and grew up mostly isolated and under the overprotective watch of his mother until her death — was arrested that evening, and police found Worden’s body hanging upside down in Gein’s shed with her head decapitated.

But that was far from the only gruesome scene police would discover on Gein’s property.

While searching Gein’s house, they found body parts that had been made into furniture and housewares, like a lampshade, kitchen utensils, and a chair made of skin. Police would later learn Gein wore a mask made from the skin of one of his victims.

Gein, who the press dubbed the “Butcher of Plainfield” and the “Plainfield Ghoul,” later admitted to murdering two women, as well as exhuming numerous graves from a nearby cemetery to cut off body parts. In 1958, he pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and was was deemed unfit to stand trial because he was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Ten years later, Gein was re-assessed, stood trial, and was found guilty of Worden’s death. However, he was also judged to be legally insane and was sent to a psychiatric hospital where he lived out the rest of his days. He died of cancer in 1984.

Gein’s crimes inspired a slew of horror movies, including ‘Psycho’

“Psycho” author Robert Bloch lived just 35 miles from Gein and was working on a story about a quiet man with a dark side when he heard the news of Gein. It was the inspiration Bloch needed to finish his twisted tale of a motel caretaker named Norman Bates, a mother-loving serial killer.

A year later, Alfred Hitchcock would become the master of suspense when he adapted the book for the big screen. Bringing the book’s shocking ending, the discovery of Bates’ mother’s mummified corpse, to the masses is a reason why “Psycho” is regarded as one of the all-time greatest horror movies.

Fourteen years later, director Tobe Hooper would be more on the nose with using Gein for his movie “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.” The villain in the movie, Leatherface, doesn’t just wear a skin mask, but also hangs his victims upside down.

Hitchcock, Hooper, and Anthony Perkins, who played Norman Bates in “Psycho,” will all be characters in the “Gein” series.

Elements of Gein’s story were also the inspiration for Buffalo Bill in 1988’s “The Silence of the Lambs,” the early 2000s Rob Zombie horror movies “House of 1000 Corpses” and “The Devil’s Rejects,” and the Patrick Bateman character in the 1991 novel and 2000 movie adaptation of “American Psycho.” Gein’s story was even made into a horror musical in 2010.

• Daniel Lubetzky says business success comes down to community, values, reflection, and grit.
• The KIND Snacks founder urged leaders to hire for values since skills can be taught.
• At a Vegas summit, he told founders to embrace failure and take time for self-reflection.

Think résumés can give you a leg up as a business leader? It hardly makes Daniel Lubetzky’s list of what really matters.

The KIND Snacks founder and “Shark Tank” investor told an audience at the Clover x Shark Tank Summit in Las Vegas this week that the real keys to success have little to do with credentials.

Instead, he outlined four principles that he says separate thriving businesses from those destined to fail.

Community is the foundation

For Lubetzky, business begins with people.

He recalled a South African proverb that says, “We’re only human because of other humans,” and argued that the same applies to companies.

“Community is what makes us human,” he said. “Create a community where everyone is in it together.”

Rather than focusing narrowly on profits, he believes leaders should prioritize building a sense of belonging among employees and customers alike — the kind of trust that sustains a business in good times and bad.

Hire for values, not résumés

Lubetzky’s second principle challenges one of the most common business practices: hiring based on credentials.

While many executives obsess over résumés and technical skills, he said those are secondary.

“Skills can be taught, but it’s harder to teach values,” he said.

At his companies, he said, the hiring process is built around screening for alignment with a clear set of values, which he defines at the outset of every venture.

The KIND founder argued that character and values are far more important indicators of success than skills.

Take time to reflect, even in the shower

Lubetzky also made the case for introspection in a hyper-connected world.

With everyone tethered to their devices, he believes entrepreneurs risk losing the clarity that comes from quiet time.

“Spend more time with yourself,” he said.

He said that can be taking a walk, lying down without distractions, or even showering without music.

He said the point is to ask yourself difficult but essential questions, like “What gives you meaning, what did you do wrong and right today, what should you love yourself for.”

Resilience beats perfection

Finally, Lubetzky stressed resilience.

He was candid about his failures, admitting that many of his ventures flopped before KIND became a success.

But he insists those stumbles are what forged him.

“Difficult moments are what forge you,” he said. “I had so many ventures I started and so many things I failed at, but you only need one to succeed.”

He argues that the key is not avoiding mistakes but learning from them and being willing to pivot when feedback shows an idea isn’t working.

• The last time I visited Las Vegas was three years ago, when I was deep in my drinking days.
• Recently, I visited Vegas for a solo trip and found the town surprisingly sober-friendly.
• There’s a lot to do in Las Vegas that doesn’t involve alcohol, and I’d definitely go back.

The last time I was in Las Vegas was over three years ago. My life back then is unrecognizable compared to now: I’ve lost a significant amount of weight, started therapy, and stopped drinking alcohol. I feel happier and healthier than ever, so when I made plans for a solo trip to Sin City recently, I knew it’d look way different than the last time.

The idea of returning to Vegas sober and solo sounded exciting to me, especially since there were new things in town since my last trip that I wanted to see and do, none of which centered on booze. Here’s what it was like to visit Sin City for a quick, two-night trip as a non-drinker, and why I’d totally do it all over again.

My last trip to Las Vegas was completely centered on alcohol.

I last visited Vegas in 2022, when I was deep in my drinking days. The trip revolved around my next alcoholic beverage, and because I was mentally and physically unhealthy, I did little in the way of physical activity. My days were spent nursing hangovers in casinos, and my nights involved drinking cocktail after cocktail at dinners and shows until I finally passed out in my bed.

This time, I planned plenty of non-alcohol-centered Vegas activities.

Determined to do Vegas differently, I planned activities on this trip unrelated to alcohol, like walking tours and entertaining shows and experiences. I’ve been sober for nearly two years, and I find I don’t struggle with turning down a drink, so while I spent time in places where alcohol was served, I avoided it completely without issue.

On my first night in Sin City, I treated myself to dinner and a movie, Vegas-style.

On my first night in Las Vegas, I headed to The Sphere, the all-new entertainment venue shaped like a giant globe in the Nevada desert. Before the show, I went to dinner solo. The Sphere was showing a revamped version of “The Wizard of Oz,” complete with special effects like blowing wind and vibrating seat haptics, and I was eager to take it all in.

The show was impressive, and because I wasn’t obsessing over partying the night away, I was back to my hotel and in my pajamas by 10 p.m., ready for a good night’s sleep.

Hangover-free, I woke up the next morning and went sightseeing.

I woke up early the next day, dressed in comfy workout gear, and went sightseeing. I’d found a few TikToks showing self-guided walking tours of free things to see and do in Vegas, and I took some of their suggestions, stopping to see the botanical garden at the Bellagio, the flamingo exhibit at the Flamingo, and more.

In total, I walked 10 miles that day, shopping, being a tourist, and grabbing lunch at another TikTok-recommended spot, Netflix Bites. It felt amazing to move my body without a hangover all day and to truly enjoy seeing the Las Vegas Strip.

Afternoon naps, bubble baths, and coffee runs were my go-to ways to recharge each afternoon.

My hotel room at Aria Resort and Casino had a giant-sized bathtub, so both of the afternoons I was in town were spent napping, then hitting the hotel lobby’s Starbucks for a coffee that I drank while reading in the bath. Taking a beat to recharge each afternoon was freeing, since usually on a trip to Vegas, I’d be hanging out in casinos all afternoon for the “free” cocktails.

I love Halloween, so I visited Vegas’ newest haunted houses all alone on night two.

I’ve long been a fan of haunt events, like Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights, which I attended sober for the first time last year. Universal recently opened a year-round attraction in Vegas, called Horror Unleashed, with four haunted houses I knew I had to see.

Just like in my home state of Florida, being jump-scared in haunted houses in Sin City as a sober person was incredibly fun. It felt amazing to realize again that I did not, in fact, need a buzz to enjoy something I had always thought I needed a few drinks to attend.

I loved experiencing Sin City sober and solo, and I’d go back again.

Visiting Las Vegas sober and solo was an incredibly empowering experience. Each time I travel to a new spot where I used to drink, whether it’s an all-inclusive resort or the streets of Italy, I’m reminded that life really is better sober. I’d definitely return to Vegas for a solo trip, or with friends or family: I didn’t miss alcohol at all while I was there, and felt happy and healthy throughout the trip without booze in the mix.