Written By: Sam Santiago
More than six decades after authorities uncovered the horrifying crimes committed on a quiet Wisconsin farm, Ed Gein remains one of the most influential figures in horror history. His crimes inspired some of the genre's most iconic killers, including Norman Bates in Psycho, Leatherface in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs. More recently, Gein found a new generation of viewers through Netflix's Monster, proving that his disturbing legacy continues to fascinate audiences.
Now, fans of true crime and horror history will have another reason to revisit one of America's most infamous murder cases.
Dark Horse Books has announced "Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? Expanded Edition", the return of Harold Schechter and Eric Powell's critically acclaimed, bestselling true crime graphic novel. The new paperback edition includes an assortment of brand-new material, including creator commentary, research photographs, historical insights, and an eerie new cover illustrated by Powell.
Originally praised for separating fact from fiction, Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? examines the Gein family history and the events that shaped one of the most notorious criminals of the twentieth century. Rather than leaning into sensationalism, the graphic novel presents a carefully researched dramatization of the crimes that shocked 1950s America and forever changed horror fiction.
The expanded edition also introduces an entirely new feature that explores the history of necrophilia through the story of Sergeant François Bertrand, a nineteenth-century French soldier whose crimes helped coin the term "necrophile."
Author Harold Schechter explained why the addition was important.
"Though Eddie Gein is commonly described as a serial killer, he was not motivated by the same sadistic bloodlust that drove such sex-murderers as Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, and Jeffrey Dahmer. He was, in essence, a necrophile: a sexual deviant with a perverted attraction to corpses. The word 'necrophile' was coined in the early 1800s to describe a French soldier, Sergeant Francois Bertrand, a ghoulish lover of the dead and Gein's most notorious predecessor. His story, illustrated by Eric, is a major new feature of our expanded edition, shedding light on the psychopathology that underlay Gein's crimes and obsessions."
Whether you're interested in true crime, horror history, or the real-life events that inspired some of cinema's most unforgettable monsters, this expanded edition looks to offer the most complete version of Schechter and Powell's work to date.
Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? Expanded Edition arrives in bookstores and comic shops on February 2, 2027. The 248-page paperback is available for preorder now and carries a retail price of $24.99.