7 Real People Who Inspired Horror Movie Villains

There are often times when art imitates life, and that’s certainly the case in the world of horror movies. Plenty of horror movie villains have been inspired by real monsters out there in the world.

Some of them may surprise you, as well. Did you realize that Hannibal Lecter or the story in The Hills Have Eyes were inspired by real life? The world of fiction is about to get a little more terrifying when you look into the origins of a story.

We’re taking a look at seven real people who inspired horror movie villains, with a look at the real story and how that story was manipulated.

Ed Gein Inspired (At Least) Two Horror Movie Villains

While Ed Gein has certainly been an inspiration for a fair few stories, two horror movie villains stand out the most. They are stories that you’ve watched over and over again, spanning sequels, prequel shows, and much more.

It’s been widely believed that Gein, who was recently used to tell the story of Monster: The Ed Gein Story on Netflix, was the inspiration for Norman Bates, the main villain in Psycho. You’ll also see the development of a younger Norman Bates in the TV series Bates Motel.

Although Robert Bloch, the author of the 1959 book Psycho was based on, denied purposefully basing the character on Gein, he did acknowledge their connections.

Known as the “Butcher of Plainfield,” Gein had an unhealthy attachment to his mother. As many will remember in Psycho, the initial belief is that Norman Bates’s mother is the one doing all the killings, and then you learn just how twisted his mind is.

Another notorious horror movie villain inspired by Gein is Leatherface in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The inspiration came from Gein’s use of real human body parts after he would kill his victims. However, it’s worth noting that The Texas Chain Saw Massacre doesn’t depict real events despite being marketed as “based on a true story.”

John Wayne Gacy Seemed to Influence This Popular Clown

If you’re anything like me, clowns give you the ick. It all started with one particular horror movie villain: Pennywise the Clown. And it doesn’t take much convincing to see the similarities between him and the real-life serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

Gacy was nicknamed “The Killer Clown,” and he used the public clown persona as a way to hide all of his crimes against children. After all, who would think that a clown was a serial killer at the time? In It, Pennywise uses his clown persona as a way to lure children in, but he has his own sinister plans for afterward.

Stephen King, who wrote the novel that was eventually turned into a two-part movie (twice!), has never confirmed that Pennywise was inspired by Gacy. In fact, there is a much bigger supernatural story to Pennywise, but the initial connections are hard to miss.

Alfredo Ballí Treviño as a Particular Cannibal

You know of Dr. Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, its sequels, and the TV shows surrounding the character. Well, this is another horror movie villain inspired by a real person. In this case, there are suspicions about the real serial killer due to the nature of the original story.

Journalist Thomas Harris travelled to Mexico so that he could interview Dykes Askew Simmons, a patient in a mental health facility in Nuevo León State Prison. Simmons talked of a doctor, known as Dr. Salazar, at the time, and Harris believed that this was Dr. Alfredo Ballí Treviño.

Treviño was the last criminal condemned to death in Mexico, but before that, he was a trusted surgeon who had murdered his lover, as well as being suspected of killing a number of hitchhikers. Harris developed the character of Dr. Hannibal Lecter based on the stories that he had heard.

Gary Heidnik, Ted Bundy, and Others as Another Silence of the Lambs Character

When you look deeper at The Silence of the Lambs, there is another serial killer who doesn’t quite get the fame that Hannibal Lecter did. Of course, we're talking about Buffalo Bill, who was inspired by multiple real killers.

Yes, Treviño makes the list for this, as the suspicion of his killing the hitchhikers plays into the character of Buffalo Bill. Then there is the connection to the aforementioned Gein, as this villain wants to look like his dead mother in the novel.

There is also the connection to the BTK Killer, whose identity wasn’t known at the time Harris wrote the novel Red Dragon, but would eventually be revealed as Dennis Lynn Rader. Harris drew from the BTK killer’s necrophilic crimes for this part of Buffalo Bill’s character.

Both Gary Heidnik and Ted Bundy were confirmed as reference points for screenwriter Ted Tally’s development of the character. Heidnik was known to imprison women in basements, while Bundy would lure his victims into a van, both of which were used by Buffalo Bill.

Danny Rolling Inspired a Surprising Masked Horror Villain

There are some horror movie villains that you wouldn’t expect to find out were based on real people. One of those is Ghostface in Scream, who just seemed more as a way to highlight the absurdities in the horror movies of the 1990s.

Well, it turns out that Ghostface has some real inspiration in Danny Rolling, who was also known as the “Gainesville Ripper.” Rolling went on a killing spree in 1990, murdering five college students in the town where he got his nickname from.

While Rolling himself didn’t dress up as Ghostface, the nature of the crimes inspired the overall story. What’s scarier than living in a town where you know a masked villain is terrorizing the streets? Gainesville became the inspiration of Woodsboro, and it’s all because of a 1994 show by ABC about the trial that Kevin Williamson started to think of the story.

Josef Fritzl Seemed to Inspire One of the Most Recent Horrific Movies

Cast your mind to the 2022 Barbarian movie, which focuses on a man named Frank who holds women captive in a hidden basement. Now, yes, there are a few inspirations where this could be taken from. The hidden basement could link to H.H. Holmes, who was known for creating hidden rooms in his hotel to kill his victims. Then there’s Gary Heidnik, who trapped his victims in a basement.

However, there is another layer to Zach Cregger’s villain, and that’s that he will repeatedly assault his victims, leading to a monstrous creature called “The Mother.” The connection here is to the real Austrian horror story of Elizabeth Fritzl, who was held captive in a hidden basement in her own home. Her captor? Her own father, Josef Fritzl.

Josef had soundproofed his hidden cellar, holding his daughter there for 24 years. He fathered seven of her children and then forced his wife upstairs to raise three of them, claiming Elizabeth had abandoned them, despite her raising three of the others. Sadly, the seventh died shortly after birth due to no medical care.

Sawney Bean Inspired a Major Horror Story

The 1977 movie The Hills Have Eyes certainly remains as one of the most chilling stories, along with the reboots and sequels over the years. It likely makes it all the more chilling when you consider that it’s based on a real story. No, this one doesn’t involve cannibalistic mutants attacking travelers in the desert, but it does involve the legend of a Scottish clan terrorizing people.

In the 16th century in Scotland, Alexander “Sawney” Bean led a clan of people who lived and survived in the caves. When travelers would pass, they would ambush and murder them, surviving off their bodies. You can get a depiction of the folklore at the Edinburgh Dungeons, with live actors telling the story.

The legend claims that Bean’s clan killed more than 1,0000 people before being captured and executed. As Wes Craven looked more into the story of the clan, he found inspiration to create the monsters of The Hills Have Eyes.

Who are the scariest horror movie villains you’ve come across?