Beautiful Farmland for Sale... With a Dark History

How much would you pay to own a piece of history? Such a ridiculous question, right? But now lets assume that piece of history was not associated with the best of memories though. Back in 2006, Mike Fisher was hoping he could unload a piece of land that was once owned by a man that has inspired numerous movies, including Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, for a quarter of a million dollars. That is right, Mike Fisher is the man who tried to sell forty acres of land that was once owned by Ed Gein, one of the most notorious serial killers in American history.

Ed Gein was a simple man. Born in La Crosse, Wisconsin, in 1906, and finally settling with his parents and brother in Plainfield, Wisconsin. Being the victim of abuse and bullying, while having a strict religious upbringing, caused Ed Gein to have an unhealthy attachment to his mother. It is believed that this may have led to accidental death of his older brother Henry during a brush fire in 1944.

From this point on it was just Ed Gein and his mother living on the property until her death in late 1945. Then it was just Ed and his demons. He began to dig up the graves of recently deceased, middle-aged women that resembled his late mother. Using their body parts and skin, he would fashion clothing and other ghastly items, yet he only ever confessed to murdering two of the women. This continued until police discovered this horrific scene on November 16, 1957.

Ed Gein lived the rest of his life in mental hospitals in Wisconsin, until he died of respiratory and heart failure due to cancer in 1984. While he was in detention, his property was auctioned off; his car being sold for $760 dollars (approximately $5800 in 2011) to a carnival side show operator who charged twenty-five cents admission to see the 'Ed Gein Ghoul Car'. The tombstone of the man that inspired Norman Bates would be regularly vandalized; while pieces would be chipped off be over zealous fans of Gein's.

The forty acre property near Plainfield, Wisconsin, was auctioned off in 1958 for a grand total of $4658 (over $35000 today). The farmhouse that once stood on the property was burnt, arson has been suspected, before the property was even auctioned off. Eventually, some of the land was sold off, but the bulk of the forty acre lot was passed down to Mike Fisher and his brother, who sold his half to Mike.

Fisher has never used the notoriety of Ed Gein and his heinous crimes to benefit off his ownership of the land. His only reasoning behind selling the property at all was due to 'reallocating funds'. That is why, in 2006, Mike Fisher started an eBay auction listing 'Ed Gein's Farm... The REAL deal!'. This listing also featured a price tag starting at $250,000.

After five days, eBay pulled Fisher's listing claiming it was a violation of their murder memorabilia policy. This was caused, in part, by Andy Kahan, a man leading the national drive against the sale of serial killer memorabilia. Once the Ed Gein property listing was brought to his attention, he contacted eBay who immediately pulled the listing.

Mike Fisher has said that he only received one offer in the five days the listing was active, but it was far lower than his asking price of $250,000. Fisher, being a real estate appraiser himself, said similar land in that part of Wisconsin is valued between $80,000 and $120,000 at the time of his listing. The higher tag on this land was due to the obvious notoriety of the previous owner.

As of this writing, it is unclear if any sales have been made, but Mike Fisher has said that the property is always negotiable.

Sources
Biography of Ed Gein; Gein
Recent Ed Gein News; Gein