No. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, the 1974 film by Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel, is made up. There was no massacre in Texas, no family of killers, and no real murderer with a chainsaw. What the two writers did take was a handful of details from the case of Ed Gein, a Wisconsin man arrested in 1957: masks made of human skin, furniture and bowls made from bones, and a lonely farmhouse full of human remains.
Gunnar Hansen, the actor who played Leatherface, put it plainly years later: "The story itself is entirely made up." Below is why so many people still believe it happened, where the chainsaw idea really came from, and which parts of the film trace back to Gein. If you came for the shirts, here is our Ed Gein merch.
Why people think it is a true story
Because the film told them so. The Handbook of Texas, published by the Texas State Historical Association, says the plot "is fictional, but it was marketed as being based on a true story, a tactic highlighted in its promotional poster and opening narration." The film opens with a slow, serious voice reading what sounds like a report on a real crime. That voice belongs to John Larroquette, in his first film job. PopMatters described the opening as "a news broadcast" guided by "documentary-style narration."
It was a cheap film to make. The Handbook puts the cost at around $140,000. The film premiered at the Riverside Twin Cinema in Austin on October 1, 1974, and opened across the country on October 11. Deadline later reported it grossed $31 million.
The claim came back in 2003, when the remake was sold with the tagline "Inspired by a true story." Snopes looked into it that year and rated the idea that the film was based on real events "Mostly False." Hansen heard from fans who told him they remembered when it happened. His answer: "it really didn't happen. Really. Believe me."
What the filmmakers told Leatherface
Hansen wrote about it in the frequently asked questions on his own website, which Snopes quoted in 2003. "Here's what Tobe (director) and Kim (writer) told me themselves one night during the filming," he wrote. "They had heard of Ed Gein, the man in Plainfield, Wisconsin, who was arrested in the late 1950s for killing his neighbor and on whom the movie Psycho was based. So when they set out to write this movie, they decided to have a family of killers who had some of the characteristics of Gein: the skin masks, the furniture made from bones, the possibility of cannibalism. But that's all."
He went on: "There never was a massacre in Texas on which this was based. No chainsaw either."
Where the chainsaw came from
A crowded department store in Austin. Hooper told the Austin Chronicle in 2000 that he was shopping at the Montgomery Ward in Capital Plaza around the holidays, stuck in a crush of people. "I was just standing there in front of an upright display of chainsaws," he said. The thought that came to him was how fast the crowd would clear if he started one up. "Of course I didn't. That was just a fantasy."
He told the same story to Interview Magazine in 2014, placing it in 1972 or 1973. The film was shot in the summer of 1973, mostly at a farmhouse in rural Williamson County, Texas.
What Hooper heard about Ed Gein as a boy
Hooper did not grow up reading about Gein. He heard about him from family. In an interview with the Belgian site The Flashback Files, given about two years before he died, he said relatives from Wisconsin visited when he was four or five years old. "They told us the story about this man who lived in the next town from them, about twenty seven miles or so, who was digging up graves and using the bones and skin in his house," Hooper said. "They didn't mention his name. But to me he was like a real boogeyman."
Henkel had a second case in mind. The Handbook of Texas says he has cited the Houston murders linked to Dean Corll, Elmer Wayne Henley, and David Owen Brooks, which were in the news while the film was being made. So the film draws on at least three things: the Gein case, the Houston case, and Hooper's afternoon in a department store.
What came from Ed Gein, and what did not
| In the film | From Gein? | What the record shows |
|---|---|---|
| Masks made of human skin | Yes | Investigators found masks made from the skin of women's faces in Gein's house. |
| Furniture and bowls made from bones and skin | Yes | Chairs covered in human skin and bowls made from skulls were on the list of items found. |
| An isolated farmhouse full of remains | Yes | Gein lived alone on a farm outside Plainfield, Wisconsin. |
| A chainsaw | No | No source links Gein to a chainsaw. Bernice Worden was shot with a .22 caliber rifle. |
| Texas | No | PopMatters notes Gein lived his entire life in Wisconsin. |
| A family of killers | No | Gein lived alone after his mother died in 1945. |
| Cannibalism | Not proven | Hansen called it only "the possibility of cannibalism." No court found that Gein ate anyone. |
| A string of murders | No | A court found Gein guilty of one murder. Most remains in his house came from graves. |
What the Gein case actually was
On November 16, 1957, Bernice Worden, 58, disappeared from the hardware store she ran in Plainfield. Police arrested Gein that evening. At his farm they found her body in a shed, and inside the house they found the objects the case is known for: skulls on the bedposts, bowls made from skulls, chairs covered in skin, and masks made from women's faces. Judge Robert H. Gollmar, who tried the case, listed the items in his 1981 book. The New York Daily News ran a gallery of Ed Gein crime scene photos from the farm. That gallery no longer loads.
Most of what police found did not come from murders. Snopes counted the remains of 15 women, and Gein admitted to taking remains from nine graves in local cemeteries. He also confessed to shooting Mary Hogan, a tavern owner who had been missing since December 8, 1954.
He was found unfit for trial and sent to a state hospital. When he was finally tried, Gollmar found him guilty on November 14, 1968, of the first-degree murder of Bernice Worden, then found him not guilty by reason of insanity. He was never tried for Hogan's death. Gein died at the Mendota Mental Health Institute in Madison on July 26, 1984, at 77. He is one of the best known serial killers from Wisconsin, and our article on the real Buffalo Bill and Ed Gein covers his life and trial in full.
The Encyclopedia Britannica names three major films inspired by Gein: Psycho (1960), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), and The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Our list of serial killer movies based on true stories has more.
Sequels, the remake, and the new A24 projects
The 1974 film started a franchise of nine films. Deadline reported in 2026 that New Line took distribution rights to the franchise in 1983 and that the films have earned more than $252 million worldwide. Hooper died in 2017. Henkel is still involved through Exurbia Films, the franchise's production company.
The next round belongs to A24. On February 4, 2026, Deadline reported that A24 had won the film and TV rights after an auction run by the agency Verve, and that a TV series is in the works from JT Mollner, who made Strange Darling, with Glen Powell and Roy Lee among the producers and Henkel among the executive producers. On April 21, 2026, Deadline reported that Curry Barker, who directed Obsession, will write and direct a separate reimagined film for A24. None of the reports we read gives a release date for either project.
Tobe Hooper in Monster: The Ed Gein Story
The story of how the film was made now shows up on screen. In Netflix's Monster: The Ed Gein Story, released October 3, 2025, Will Brill plays Tobe Hooper. Netflix's own cast guide describes the character as "the director and co-writer of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, another film that took inspiration from Ed's crimes." The series is drama, not documentary. Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com pointed out several of its plot points that have little or no basis in fact. For dates and court results, use the sources at the end of this page, not the show. Our guide to serial killer documentaries lists the factual films.
Books about Ed Gein
Harold Schechter's 1989 biography Deviant is the book most later accounts draw on. It covers the farmhouse, the investigation, and the trial. If you want the full story, here is Deviant: The Shocking True Story Of Ed Gein (The Original Leatherface) on Amazon.
As an Amazon Associate, Serial Killer Shop earns from qualifying purchases made through the Amazon link on this page.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre true story FAQ
Is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre based on a true story?
No. The plot is fiction. The writers took a few details from the Ed Gein case in Wisconsin, such as the skin masks and the bone furniture, and invented the rest, including the chainsaw and the Texas setting.
Was Leatherface a real person?
No. Leatherface is a fictional character, played in 1974 by Gunnar Hansen. His mask of human skin came from the Gein case.
Did Ed Gein use a chainsaw?
No. No source links Gein to a chainsaw. Hooper said the idea came to him in a crowded Austin department store, standing in front of a display of chainsaws.
Where was The Texas Chainsaw Massacre filmed?
Mostly at a farmhouse in rural Williamson County, Texas, in the summer of 1973. The cemetery in the opening scene is the Bagdad Cemetery in Leander, according to the Handbook of Texas.
Browse the full Ed Gein collection, or see all our serial killer shirts.
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Sources
- Herrera Farias, Jose Andres, revised by Frank Jackson. "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: A Horror Classic." Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association, published October 10, 2024, revised February 2, 2026. tshaonline.org.
- Baumgarten, Marjorie. "Tobe Hooper Remembers 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.'" The Austin Chronicle, October 27, 2000. austinchronicle.com.
- Mulleavy, Kate and Laura. "Tobe Hooper." Interview Magazine, July 14, 2014. interviewmagazine.com.
- de Voogd, Barend. "Tobe Hooper interview (1)." The Flashback Files, recorded at the Offscreen Film Festival in Brussels, about 2015. flashbackfiles.com.
- Mikkelson, David. "Was 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' Based on a True Story?" Snopes, October 15, 2003, quoting Gunnar Hansen's Texas Chainsaw Massacre FAQ. snopes.com.
- Macek, J.C., III. "No Texas, No Chainsaw, No Massacre: The True Links in the Chain." PopMatters, February 4, 2013. popmatters.com.
- D'Alessandro, Anthony. "A24 Wins 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' Rights: TV Series In Works From JT Mollner, Glen Powell and Roy Lee." Deadline, February 4, 2026. deadline.com.
- "Curry Barker Directing and Writing 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' Reboot At A24." Deadline, April 21, 2026. deadline.com.
- "Monster: The Ed Gein Story cast guide." Netflix Tudum. netflix.com.
- Tallerico, Brian. "Monster: The Ed Gein Story." RogerEbert.com, October 3, 2025. rogerebert.com.
- Associated Press. "Judge Robert H. Gollmar, 84; Presided Over 'Psycho' Trial." The New York Times, October 22, 1987. nytimes.com.
- "Ed Gein Found Guilty of 1957 Murder in Plainfield." The Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin), November 14, 1968, page 2.
- Gollmar, Robert H. Edward Gein: America's Most Bizarre Murderer. 1981. The judge's account of the case, including the items found in the house.
- Schechter, Harold. Deviant: The Shocking True Story of the Original "Psycho." Pocket Books, 1989.
- "Ed Gein." Encyclopedia Britannica, archived December 22, 2024. web.archive.org.
62 comments
roberthebruce
I believe in learned behavior and environment is what shapes the hearts and minds of all individuals regardless of any physical or mental issue. We are all Intelligent bipeds with AI already installed. No Two AI Individuals will (in all probability) never have the same download. So just plug the right scenario and WHAM. So be carful in what type of example we set and what we read, listen to and say to other AI’s. What…?
Jeannine Ferry
Hopefully people will start to realize that killers, criminals, drug users & prostitutes were seriously abused/neglected during their formative years by at least 1 sociopathic/narcissistic parent or caregiver. These types of people are not born that way, they’re MADE that way no matter what so called ignorant experts may claim.
Marcus
Theres no heaven or hell, none of you are living on so get it through your thick heads. Animals insects etc all have a place and are actually vital to the environment they live in. We destroy everything use up every resource then move on and do it again. Humans are a fucken disease at best and if a disease could speak it would probably be offended at that comment. You religious morons are the worst. Oh yeah and im with babylon on daniel angletti someone needs to take that motherfucker out right now!!
Arianna
I honestly love this case although it has a lot of Gore I think that it is one of the most awe-striking but it is very messed up and twisted and IDK why the movie is called the “chainsaw massacre” when a chainsaw wasn’t involved.
Paul logsdon
I don’t quite understand. But I’m understanding another side of the story. I like real events and knowing true history, of people, places and thing’s.
Spade
Gein was not a serial killer. By definition a serial killer is convicted of killing three or more people in different places and at different times with “cooling off periods.” It is a clearly defined label to which there is not enough evidence to conclude he killed more than two people. He got close, but he was stopped before he could officially be labeled a “serial killer.”
Reinhardt J lilley
I worked in a psych setting with Ed’s former nurse. She told me one day Ed seemed distraught so she asked what was going on. Ed replied I’m afraid I won’t go to heaven, her reply was it because what you did to those people? He stared no. It because what I did to my Brother. Keep in mind he was not tried or officially accused of his brothers death that I know of officially .
Bob
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) had a scene deleted, you know the bit when Sally is tied up and the Hitchhiker is trying to hit Sally over the head with his hammer, originally Grandpa gets his old knob out and starts jerking in Sally’s contorted face. But it was cut ?
Brian
He only killed three people his first one was his brother then the woman in the hardware store and the owner of the bar it’s what he did with the bodys is what is unthinkable .
Death
I was one comment that said God is a killer will that is true and as well the Devil. Good and Evil are always at war God has to sacrifice people time to time but the Devil well he just kills. But the comment about the Nazi Death Camp yea that was not by God but it was planed it was indemnity
Mark
People seem to forget that he was insane. he probably had no control over his actions. ok, there is a nature over nurture debate here, was his mother the blame for his insanity? or was he already insane to start with? Ok, the fact that he killed a few people and kept some body parts in his home was / is a bad thing… however, he was insane after all, those actions to him, are perfectly normal.
Tristen ward
Over half of the people here are fucking crazy obviously, first of all how can u idiots say that god is setting up for people to kill another WHEN ONE OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IS THOU SHALL NOT KILL, I know its not my place to judge but that doesnt make any sense to me, and I shouldn’t judge those I dont know, but dammit anybody who believes a person who kills and molest kids are gonna be exonerated when the rapture comes, ur fûckin crazy, ur a disgrace if ur a Christian and ya believe that, I don’t pretend to know all the verses in the bible but at least I wouldnt come on here saying shit when I dont know what it means or all of the story, but for someone to come on here and say the kinda shit u people are saying is ridiculous, and one of u came across as if u read the bible, but why the hell would a murderer be exonerated during the rapture, im sorry to say ut but this world is going straight to hell and it’s people like y’all whos part of to blame..AND THATS COMING FROM A DAMN 14 YEAR OLD, IGFF IVE GOT MORE SENSE THAN OVER HALF OF THE PEOPLE HERE THEN THIS WORLD IS DOOMED..but lemme tell ya I’m sick an tired of people tryna act like they know things about the world WHEN YA DONT, ya dont know if theres a god and ya can believe what ya want, but that doesnt mean ya have to be posting the crap for everyone else to see and potentially end up believing, im done with u clowns im outtie
Jeannie Dalton
As disturbing as ed geins was and others that followed him…. his story And others like it fascinate me.
Doris Slider
He didnt kill his Mother !!!!
Connor weston
There is a such thing as god it is that we humans choose to do bad
Babylon
Umm….someone should clearly be keeping tabs on Daniel John Angeletti
Deptford NJ MAN
First off there is NO such thing as GOD. And if you believe in a GOD you should believe in Santa Claus and the Easter bunny.All people have some sort of evil inside. Even your God is Evil nonforgiving at least that’s what the Bible is trying to make you think.
Daniel John Angeletti
Somehow we must realize that people who die and people who kill are fulfilling karmic roles that they themselves have absolutely no control over. Innocent victims are only innocent in theory. Otherwise the ALMIGHTY would never have permitted an atrocity to occur. The Devil and his imps need permission from God before they can bring harm on any person. ( read the Book of Job ) Oftentimes men , women and children are targeted by God Himself for strict punishment due to what they represent as living relatives of accursed tribes or individuals whom have offended God extremely. No accidents are involved in things of this nature. The Nazi Death Camps were ordained by God Himself. Serial Killers are simply the instruments of a higher power which even they themselves are totally unaware of as being related to what it is that they do as an incidental sequence of cosmic justice , no matter how heinous.
Other serial killers such as the ancient ones who fought and killed for God in His war against the Canaanites and other infidels were simply being obedient soldiers. Being serialized by God and deemed worthy for punishment is no easy feat for any victim of an atrocious act. And in the end THE KING OF TERROR mentioned in Job 18 may show up as the worst of serial killers doing only what he was sent to do. So many of them , in my opinion, will eventually be exonerated on Judgment Day. …..
Crystal
For his crimes death penalty would have been appropriate punishment but still too humane for the monster he was.
Parker
He need deserves to be put in the worlds worst pain
Julz B
You have to wonder what goes on inside the depraved individual’s mind, during and before and after committing these unspeakable acts of horror. He could have actually done himself and the world a favor and just wasted his psychotic mother instead and left it at that!
Hubert wagner
I believe people like. Him will get what god has plaind for them
Lulu
I believe that in his next life he will be the victim so he really learns what its like.
Greg
It was quality work. He had a good system throughout his killings. I believe he kept too many souvenirs. You do not need to keep the objects, or the full corpses. Just remember the screams, and the look of agony they were in before you killed them. The criminally insane are amazing individuals to study.
Mojo
Ed Gein is a poster child for birth control !! Some people are not meant to be parents…thanks for being such a great role model Mom !!! … You’re son Ed.
Smiles
Crazy man ,sick and wicked it’s awesome
GrndMaster
So if you Switch on the lamp?
Will it cast a “smiley face” on the wall in the background LMFAO!!!
IcU
As a Child I Grew up being scared of Ghosts and things like monsters hiding under your bed,The boogie man , only to realize as i grew up later in life that the real Monsters are us We Humans.I Get why God wanted and Should have Destroyed us.
Just think ?Maybe if He started over,We would’ve been Perfect .
Mike
He was sick,sick as in mental so I’m not sure god is going to hold him responsible. That’s what sick means, Mary, you’re an absolute mental giant. How do ya know he’s not basking in god’s grace and mercy and 👆 in heaven.
mike
So they just lock him up in jail or a looney hospital for the rest of his life? Wheres the justice for those he kill and the pain he cause to the families. He should have been torture the same way like those he murder, in front of the victims families. If that was my wife, mother, sister, daughter that got murder, l want to be the one to butcher him and get my justice, l want to see him suffer as much as those he murder before l slowing butcher him to death. An eye for an eye is justice, not leaving him in jail and still live a full life with no worries.
Jasper
My balls need jesus
Alesha Foreka
It’s pretty cool I love learning about stuff like this and I’m actually in Texas right now🤟🏽
Paul Hackmann
I never understood why they said that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was based on a true story or true event’s because Ed Gein wasn’t from Texas and he never even used a dam Chainsaw in any murder that he committed!!!!! HEd Gein never belonged in prison and to be honest neither did 95% of the famous serial killers because it’s obvious that they are mentally unstable and people like that belong in a Mental Hospital plane and simple!!!!!
Jen
This is very shocking and fascinating at the same time. It’s taboo creepy scary stuff but damn! I think his mom didn’t give him enough love and that made him long to be love by his mom that’s why he’s attracted to female that remind him of his mom. It’s sad but still this is fucked up and dark. I live in Wisconsin my whole life. I can’t believe creepy shit like this exist in such a small isolated town.
Michael
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre people have never been found from the FBI or CIA or any body with or with out a bag!! To me honestly I think the FBI and CIA and all the other government agencies that you know you are in on it for a very very long time ago back then where this family came out on tv!!
benny
i am so fascinated by this i am 15 but i love reading about this i want to learn more about it even though im terrified of chainsaws i am just crazy fascinated
Chloe
As you read this, it seems interesting. Not because it’s cool what he did, because by no means was it cool. It was very cruel & fucked up. But the fact that there are some people out there like this, blows my mind. You never know what people are capable of until your reading it on social media or some shit.
stephani smith
This was actually pretty gross but it’s kind of interesting because people in this world are capable of doing many crazy things like this.
Ashley Busby
This man needs Jesus.
Adam
What is normal today? Do what makes you happy and what feels right. The wotld is fucked and so are 99% of the people in it.
Akawolf
That’s a sick man he should have been killed the second they caught him instead of going to jail
Sharlis
I don’t think this is for kids but that is sick man but not for kids waring " not for kid "
Peez Upt
It’s still people in the world like that.
isaac
bs
Blake
These people who gives us excitement into this world get rid of some idiots too
Branden Lew
THIS GUY IS WORSE THEN JEFFERY DAHMER
Michael kane
Philadelphia had Gary heidnick
Crazy ass world we live in. I always thought the original Texas chainsaw massacre was based on a true story.ed gein should dress up as a clown for children’s parties. If he was still alive.
Miles
Thats just messed up
Jennifer
I thought this whole time it was in Texas.damn that’s an upset.
Nichole
Sick sob is a understatement!!!!!