Monday, October 30, 2006

Halloween Hype


There’s yet another version of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre in the theaters just in time for Halloween. But, do you know the real story? There wasn’t really a Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but the Daily Variety (October 25, 1974) reports that the horrifying deeds of Wisconsin farmer and serial killer Ed Gein may have helped "inspire" the film.

"Texas Chainsaw Massacre never happened," says Austin Robert Burns, who was art director for the movie. "Parts of it were vaguely suggested by a fellow named Ed Gein. In 1957, Ed Gein, who lived in a small town in Wisconsin, murdered and decapitated two women and wrapped their heads in wax paper and put them on a shelf. He also robbed 10 or 12 graves. He was a weird guy. He's in a home for the criminally insane right now. But there was no such event as the Texas Chainsaw massacre."

For more about the movie, check out:
You can also find other fictional horror stories to keep you up all night on the Library's Good Reads page.

2 comments:

MDG said...

As a native of Wisconsin (and because of the diligence of Hoodoo of weird WI) I feel the need to inform you that Ed Gein died quite some time ago. From what I have heard, although he was indeed in the Mendota "asylum" in Madison WI, he was a free man at the time of his death and could have left at any time.

Evelyn Carnahan said...

Ah, thanks for the update mdg.