Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Netflix, True crime, Psychology, Film and TV
Callum Jones
If you binged your way through Monsters: The Ed Gein Story and found yourself enjoying the gory drama, you might want to heed this expert's warning.
Having dropped on Netflix on October 3, Ryan Murphy's third series of Monsters, which stars Charlie Hunnam as killer Ed Gein, has found itself the hot topic of conversation in the true crime world.
Gein brutally murdered two women and created a 'house of horrors' in his home after robbing graves and dismembering bodies in the 1950s.
His dreadful crimes were uncovered when a woman named Bernice Worden went missing in 1957, which led to police investigating Gein's home.
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They found the missing woman decapitated and hanging from the ceiling, and further investigations saw officials discover Gein had been turning body parts into clothes and furniture made from human skin.
The killer also had organs in jars and skulls, which he used as bowls.
Upon being arrested for the killing of Worden, Gein also admitted to taking the life of Mary Hogan, as well as digging up bodies to cut off body parts.
Many Netflix viewers are enjoying the series depicting the horrid real-life case, and it turns out there may be a reason to worry if you've got a particular liking for violent media.
Speaking on The Mel Robbins Podcast back in 2023, mental health specialist Dr Thema Bryant warned: "If your idea of relaxing before you go to sleep is to watch three episodes of Law and Order, [then] I would encourage you to think about 'why is trauma relaxing to me?'"
The expert continued: "Some of us grew up in high stress [situations], so people mistake peace for boring. To come home to yourself, you have to lean into the discomfort because it’s gonna feel unfamiliar."
While true crime certainly has a big following, such comments from experts may make a lot of viewers rethink what they binge-watch at the weekend.
Dr Jeglic, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, backed up the claims made by Dr Bryant.
"Similarly, I think it might be likely that people who have a history of trauma might be drawn to true crime to kind of re-experience those traumatic situations in a safe environment where they have more control," the expert added.
Ahead of the release of The Monster: The Ed Gein Story, writer Ian Brennan told Tudum: "Once we talked about how influential he was and how his crimes, you can find threads of them through pop culture and through horror films — I think that’s when we knew we had a show."