Inside John Wayne Gacy's Dark Childhood
He Constantly Tried To Gain His Father's Approval
As a small child, Gacy attempted to help his father work on a car. When the 4-year-old Gacy misplaced some parts, his father "whipped" him for the error. When he was older, Gacy attempted to bond with his father on a fishing trip. When the preteen became bored with fishing, Gacy's father declared his son was not "man enough" for the pastime.
Gacy's lack of athleticism and overweight physique also clashed with his father's concept of the ideal son.
His Father Became Aggressive When He Drank
John Wayne Gacy entered the world on March 17, 1942, the only son and eventual middle child of John Stanley and Marion Elaine Gacy. Throughout Gacy's childhood, his father used a leather razor strop to discipline him and his two sisters.
Mr. Gacy also drank to excess. When the family moved into a larger house in 1952, the basement became the patriarch's preferred drinking location. The family spent many nights in dread while Mr. Gacy drank and yelled in his basement. He would make his way up the stairs and sit at the dinner table, signaling that it was now time for everyone to eat.
His Father Once Knocked Him Unconscious With A Broomstick
Gacy's father constantly yelled at him. During one particularly nasty altercation, the elder Gacy knocked his son unconscious with the handle of the broomstick.
After the harsh strike to the head, Gacy supposedly awoke in the arms of his mother.
A Family Friend Behaved Inappropriately With Young Gacy
Allegedly, his father's friend paid special attention to the 7-year-old Gacy. This attention included taking Gacy for rides in his truck that ended with the adult wrestling the child's face into his private area.
Gacy was afraid to tell his father about the encounters so he kept them a secret.
He Likely Struggled With His Sexuality In A Home That Demonized Homosexuality
Gacy supposedly had an interest in playing with toys his father associated with girls, such as dolls. When Gacy played with dolls or associated with girls his age, his father used insults like "sissy" to berate him.
His father also railed against homosexuality while Gacy spent his nights wondering how it would feel to hug his male friends. Meanwhile, an interaction between a willing young woman and teenage Gacy ended with the girl re-dressing after he passed out. The pair didn't become intimate because Gacy blacked out and viewed the situation with "vague disgust."
His Mother Tried To Shield Gacy From His Father
Throughout his life, Gacy watched his father ridicule and physically harm his mother. Once it became clear that nothing her only son could do would please her husband, Gacy's mother worked to protect him from his father's severe punishments.
While Gacy's father never found his son's efforts good enough, his mother praised him for trying in the first place. Gacy's mother indulged her son's interest in flower gardening and kept his transgressions from her husband as he grew older. When the elder Gacy tried to hurt his son, she intervened.
He Had A Childhood Obsession With His Mother's Undergarments
Although Gacy claims not to remember the incident, he allegedly took most of his mother's underwear when he was about 6 years old and hid them under the porch of their home. This was his play area, complete with a makeshift playhouse, and this is where his father found the undergarments.
This fixation on women's underthings resurfaced six or seven years later. This time, Gacy's mother punished her son by forcing him to wear the object of his obsession. A couple of years later, his sister Karen found more women's undergarments while straightening up his bed.
He Was Overweight And Uninterested In Sports From A Young Age
A heart condition, and a lack of interest in athletic activities created a barrier between Gacy and his peers. According to his mother, the newborn Gacy had a bowel movement during the delivery that caused him to be a sickly child. She also informed him that he had an "enlarged bottleneck heart" that prevented strenuous physical activity.
Gacy didn't play sports or exert himself in outdoor activities with other children. He was overweight from a young age and found himself sick more often than not. Instead of playing with children his age, Gacy kept to himself, doing puzzles in his room or hanging out in his playhouse under the porch of his childhood home.
This alienated him from his peers and prompted the constant ire of his father. The children teased him while his father verbally and physically harmed Gacy.
He Spent Time In A Playhouse He Built Under His Parents' Porch
As a child, Gacy enjoyed building forts and structures for himself on his family's property. His father forced him to take down all of them except for the playhouse located under their porch. Gacy's father even constructed a sandbox for the boy next to his subterranean playhouse.
Gacy spent a lot of alone time beneath the porch, using it as a safe space to hide from his aggressive father.
An Older Girl In The Neighborhood Inappropriately Touched Him
When Gacy was about 4, a 15-year-old mentally challenged neighbor girl took him into a field on their street. She removed the young Gacy's pants and inappropriately touched him.
When Gacy informed his mother, his father became enraged. The incident scarred the young child and kept him from reporting the behavior of his father's friend three years later.
He Would Randomly Lose Consciousness For Up To 30 Minutes At A Time
At some point in his early schooling, Gacy began passing out for ten or more minutes at a time. His father deemed the episodes devious attempts to avoid class while his mother took it more seriously.
The episodes continued through Gacy's teen years and increased in length. Gacy recalled being in a car with a date and passing out just before becoming intimate with the young woman. Despite multiple trips to the hospital, Gacy's blackouts were never explained. Doctors eventually suspected anxiety as the trigger for the fainting spells.
Appendicitis Almost Cost Gacy His Life
After having his tonsils removed in 1957, Gacy complained of pain in his stomach; however, his father thought he was fishing for attention. Gacy's case of appendicitis progressed to a life-threatening level that nearly ended him before his mother rushed him to the emergency room.
Gacy's blackouts resulted in multiple hospital stays. One particular visit lasted three weeks because his father refused to retrieve him from the facility.
He Was Aroused By Aggressive Behavior As A Teen
Gacy's father routinely attempted to elicit a response from his son by screaming at him and physically taunting the boy. On one of these occasions, Gacy held his furious father against a wall to diffuse the situation.
Gacy never fought back, but only held his father until the man's temper passed and he could safely let him retreat back into their basement. When Gacy held his father back, their faces close together and anger boiling between them, he often felt aroused.
