Editing Ed Gein (section)

==Early Life==
Edward Gein had a hellish childhood; his mother, [[Augusta Gein]], was a pious woman who would read Gein and his brother Henry handpicked Bible verses from the Old Testament, often of a [[Misogyny|misogynistic]] or grotesque context. Ed's father, George, was an alcoholic which caused a significant amount of tension in his family. Augusta detested her husband due to his alcoholism and inability to hold down a job, which many speculate may have been a contributing factor in Gein's descent into insanity.

Edward was extremely close to his mother, who tried to control every aspect of his life, when at school she would punish him for establishing friendships with any of his classmates. Many of the staff at his school saw Eddie as abnormal, he was shy and possessed a rather eccentric personality, which included him randomly laughing for no apparent reason and strange mannerisms.

Gein's father died in 1940 at the age of 66 from heart failure attributable to his lifelong alcoholism, Gein and his brother Henry had to work various odd jobs in order to sustain a suitable income for themselves and their mother. Gein, unlike his brother Henry, was particularly close to his mother, who even when Gein was an adult, tried to control every aspect of his life due to his naivety. In 1944, Gein and Henry were burning away vegetarian marsh which went out of control, and drew the attention of the local fire brigade; Henry's body was found later that day and his death was attributed to choking to death in the fire. Gein now devoted his entire time to looking after his mother, whose health was significantly ailing after suffering a stroke following Henry's death. Gein was diagnosed schizophrenic and it has been speculated his mother suffered from a similar condition.

In 1945, Gein and his mother visited the home of a man named Smith who was beating a dog to a bloody pulp, and he eventually beat the dog to death despite a woman coming outside and yelling to stop. Augusta seemed to be more appalled by the sight of a woman rather than the shocking attack of animal cruelty that had just occurred. Augusta, as a religious zealot, always took a misogynistic outlook on the world and hated women despite being one herself; she told her son Smith was unmarried and so the woman had no business commanding him to do anything and referred to her as "Smith's Harlot" a slang term for a whore.

Augusta died from a second stroke later in 1945 at the age of 67, leaving Gein distraught. The author Harold Schechter, who wrote a book documenting Ed Gein's life, said regarding her death, Gein had "lost his only friend and one true love. And he was absolutely alone in the world." Following her death, Gein worked a series of odd jobs.