The Real Psycho

A couple of points about “Hitchcock’s Throwaway Masterpiece,” Marc Shapiro’s May 27 article about the movie “Psycho”:

Ed Gein, the murderer on whom director Alfred Hitchcock’s classic horror thriller was loosely based, wasn’t from Michigan (as indicated in the article). He lived on a farm outside Plainfield, a town of about 600 people in central Wisconsin.

While I’m a Hitchcock fan and thoroughly enjoyed “Psycho,” the true story of Gein is at least as interesting as the movie’s story.

Gein precipitated as much interest in the mid-1950s as Charles Manson did later. His activities included murder, mutilation, grave robbing, possible cannibalism and keeping parts of his victims in his house.

He was not executed because Wisconsin doesn’t have the death penalty. I don’t know if he is still alive today.

The horror of Gein is that he lived a quiet, unassuming life and got away with what he did for quite some time.

I have heard Robert Bloch--the author of the novel that ultimately resulted in the movie--say that like many people in the Midwest, he was fascinated with Ed Gein. If not for Gein, “Psycho” might not have been written.

DAVID HILTS

La Palma