What Happened To Adeline Watkins From Monster: The Ed Gein Story In Real Life

The latest incarnation of Ryan Murphy's "Monster" series focuses on one of the most infamous serial killers in history. Ed Gein, who's played by Charlie Hunnam in "Monster: The Ed Gein Story," is the real-life inspiration behind countless horror movies and therefore a natural subject for the true story-based drama. Further blurring the line between the show and reality, the "Ed Gein Story" season finale briefly crosses over with another Netflix crime drama series that draws inspiration from true events.

Gein's murderous antics and penchant for using human body parts as raw materials to decorate his home are so well known that it beggars belief that someone could actually have been attracted to him. Yet, "The Ed Gein Story" heavily features Adeline Watkins (Suzanna Son), who was not only Gein's neighbor but also his occasional love interest for no less than two decades. As a result, Adeline witnesses quite a lot of Gein's unnerving behavior and even takes part in one of his grave-robbing missions.

Combined with Hunnam's disturbing recreation of Gein's voice for his "Monster" role, this sort of thing makes it easy to think that Adeline is a character the show created to add depth to a human monster to keep him from being too one-dimensional. Indeed, while the series' version of Adeline is based on some of the real-life Watkins' statements, her role in Gein's life may not have been quite as significant as "Monster" makes it seem.

Gein, who died in 1984 at the age of 77, never chimed in on the subject of Adeline Watkins. As such, the show's version of Adeline seems to be based on a 1957 Minneapolis Tribune interview (via Marie Claire) with the real-life Watkins. There, she not only had plenty of kind things to say about the recently-arrested Gein's good nature but also confirmed that they had dated for some 20 years, until 1955. She further elaborated on their topics of discussion (literature and murders), claiming that she ended the relationship after Gein seemingly attempted to propose and she felt she couldn't commit.

It's a juicy story, sure enough, and one that "Monster" leans on quite heavily, presenting Watkins as something of a partner in crime who even visited Gein's morbidly-decorated home. The problem is, Watkins herself criticized much of the aforementioned interview two weeks later. She stated that while the pair had known each other for two decades, their relationship (which Watkins framed as a friendship more than anything else) only lasted for seven months or so. And though she still described Gein as a polite man, she denied ever calling him "sweet."

This, in effect, leaves us with two different versions of Watkins' story: The sensational one that surfaced first and which "Monster" uses, and the one that the real Watkins insisted was the truth after the Minneapolis Tribune interview. If you ask me, I'm inclined to believe that Watkins' revised version of the events is far closer to the truth ... but it's also not hard to understand why the show went with the more dramatic take. 

"Monster: The Ed Gein Story" is streaming on Netflix.