Netflix’s Monster: Ed Gein, the third season of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s Emmy-nominated anthology, premieres October 3, 2025, plunging into 1950s Wisconsin’s frozen fields to unearth Ed Gein—the reclusive mortician whose corpse-crafting crimes birthed Psycho, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs. Charlie Hunnam, 45 and Sons of Anarchy‘s brooding biker, morphs into Gein, a “singular ghoul” whose “keepsakes” (lampshades from faces, vests from vulvas) turned a quiet town into a nightmare. “It’s Mindhunter on a meat hook,” Hunnam tells Tudum, his high-pitched giggle and “tormented” turn a skin-crawling spiral that’s racked 2.5 million pre-premiere views and 92% Rotten Tomatoes buzz. Laurie Metcalf’s Augusta Gein, the domineering mama, molds his madness, while Tom Hollander’s Hitchcock cameo adds meta menace. Fans frenzy on X (3.1 million posts): “Darker than Dahmer, grosser than Broadchurch!”
The depravity’s depth? Diabolical: Episode 1’s “Plainfield Prelude” paints Gein’s farm life—baking pies by day, exhuming graves by night—as Augusta’s Bible-thumping bigotry fuels his “ghoulish gifts.” Hunnam’s Ed? A chilling chameleon, his “friendly recluse” mask cracking into a cleaver-wielding creep. Metcalf’s Augusta? A monstrous matriarch, her “God-fearing” grip a grenade.
Supporting stars sear: Addison Rae’s babysitter Evelyn (Gein’s alleged victim, trailer tease a TikTok terror), Suzanna Son’s friend Adeline, Billie Lourd’s sheriff’s sister, Jessica Barden’s nosy neighbor, Joey Pollari’s coroner. Directors Carl Franklin and Max Winkler wield wintry whites and blood-red flashbacks, a score shrieking like scraped skin. Variety hails the “gripping” gasp of “gruesome authenticity,” EW the “haunting atmosphere” that outshines The Sinner.
Plot propulsion? Paranoia in parts: Gein’s 1947 grave digs escalate to 1957’s hardware store horror—Bernice Worden’s headless husk—unspooling a trial where his “not guilty by insanity” plea pits pity against press panic (“Plainfield Ghoul” headlines). Twists tangle: A “mama’s mask” reveal, a “graveyard gala” gone gruesome. Filmed November 2024 in Vancouver’s veiled valleys, it’s Murphy’s “most meticulous monster,” per Brennan, with 37 million Fool Me Once fans primed. Socials seethe: #MonsterS3 clocks 2.8 million posts—”Hunnam’s horror hits harder than Lecter!” vs. “Too gross—pass!” Skeptics sniff “shock schlock,” but Nielsen predicts outpacing Dahmer’s 856 million hours.
This isn’t slasher fluff; it’s a surgical strike, Monster‘s Gein a ghoul’s gospel—depravity’s dawn, obsession’s origin. Hunnam’s horror? Harrowing. Metcalf’s mama? Monstrous. October 3? Not a drop—a dissection. Binge it; the graves gape, the keepsakes creep. The anthology’s apex? Atrocious, alluring. Trust us: This obsession? Overnight, inescapable.
