The Devil Comes to Chicago

[Sequoia]

We've all heard of Jack the Ripper, but have you heard of H.H. Holmes? He was America's first serial killer whose evil reached beyond the grave. I saw the book "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson in the best seller list and looked the charcter up, and let me tell you, this story is not for the faint-hearted. Pretty long, but very chilling.


"In 1893, Chicago, Illinois was host to a spectacular World’s Fair -- The Columbian Exposition -- that celebrated the anniversary of Columbus’ discovery of America. It was a boom time for the city and thousands of people came from all over the country to attend. Unfortunately though, the list of those “gone missing” at the end of the fair was extensive and as the police later tried to track down where these people had vanished to -- the trail turned cold on the south side of Chicago. Everything was not as shiny and beautiful as the advertising for the Exposition’s “White City” would have everyone believe, for “a devil” that became known as America’s first real serial killer was alive and well on the city’s south side, luring visitors to his "hotel", where scores of them vanished without a trace --- never to be seen again."

<snip>

http://www.prairieghosts.com/holmes.html

[LibertyorDeath]

1. Thanks Sequoia

[LynneSin]

2. I thought it was the asshole comes to Chicago

[smirkymonkey]

3. Touche!

good one! :)

[Susang]

4. A local Chicago filmmaker, John Borowski, has made a great movie about it

Called H.H. Holmes, America's First Serial Killer. He's been working hard to get support for it, so if you're interested, look for it in your video store or at your local theatre. I always try to support local artists, and it took him three years to make this picture.
http://www.hhholmesthefilm.com/main.html

[No2W2004]

5. It's a great book,

moves from discribing the Columbian Expo to Holmes activities from chapter to chapter, so it's like two books in one.

How H H Holmes could be forgoten today is pretty unbeliveable. America's first serial killer, and by far it's worse. Holmes had built a big building. The first floor was businesses, and the upper floors were a hotel. Some rooms were built so the person staying in it could be killed by poison gas. Holmes has chutes built so he could dump the bodies into the basement, which was a torture chamber / dicecting lab.

Holmes killed men, women, children. He married, then when he was tired of it, tricked his wives into a large safe and locked them in, holding his ear to the wall so he could hear them struggle and slowly suffocate.