Short of Hannibal Lecter, is there a more iconic Hollywood serial killer than Norman Bates? This outwardly calm (but inwardly violent) hotel owner was like nothing moviegoers had ever seen. Unless they read the newspapers, that is. Robert Bloch’s 1959 novel was heavily inspired by notorious Wisconsin murderer/grave robber Ed Gein, who — like Bates — was also a cross-dresser and built a secret shrine to his dead mother.
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