True Horror: The Story Behind the Texas Chainsaw Massacre

I am a horror flick nut, and love to see the old classics. That inspired me to look into the horror movies that I loved, and see if there were any truth behind the grizzly things I have seen in those great movies. Upon searching for information on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I found a plethora of information, and most of it frankly, I could have done without. However, there are some interesting things to the story. First of all, let me start off by saying, that even though the movie credits depict the story as "inspired by true events". It is just that, inspired. There was no leather face, no chainsaw wielding freak of nature, and no family out there traveling the United States entering chili contests, with human meat as the special ingredient. None of the characters in the movie in fact are real individuals. The only one with anything to do with anything is the character of Leather face. He was loosely based on serial killer Ed Gein of Wisconsin. He did however butcher people in his home, grave rob occasionally, and he did make death masks. I will go into all of that later on. There were many personality traits that Leather face shared with Ed. They were shy, recluse's, and didn't have hardly any experience with women, other than mutilating and saving parts of them. In the movie, I don't remember any mention of his mother, except in the newest of the series "The Beginning", which depicted the birth of young Leather face, in the slaughterhouse. Now you will know the entire gruesome story. And if you have anything of a weak stomach, this is probably something you ought to not delve into.