HH Holmes: Original Evil
In the world of evil and deranged serial killers, there is no equal. Meet the Dark Lord of a murder castle who killed roughly 200 people in a self-made house of horrors who may have also been the notorious Jack the Ripper.
HH Holmes: Original Evil
In the world of evil and deranged serial killers, there is no equal. Meet the dark lord of a murder castle who killed roughly 200 people. Holmes ruled his self-made house of horrors. Could he have been the notorious Jack the Ripper?
In his 2017 book, H. H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil, author Adam Selzer attempted to answer these questions by studying newly digitized court records, police files, newspaper reports, and interviews previously unavailable to other authors.
In another inaccuracy from Devil in the White City, Larson claimed that the Wallace Street building burned to the ground in 1895, though it was actually still standing when this reporter was writing his article. Soon after, it was demolished to make way for a post office.
With that in mind, the psychopath described by the White City Devil myth seems misplaced, leaving us instead with a very different sort of criminal psychology more in step with modern notions about depraved killers and their twisted motives.
Which is worse: Is H. H. Holmes the monster of our collective imagination who clinically murdered hundreds for his own amusement, or is he the kind of devil who murders children and tries to kill entire families to cover up for something as banal as insurance fraud?
In the world of evil and deranged serial killers, there is no equal. Meet the "Dark Lord of the Murder Castle" who killed roughly 200 people in a self-made house of horrors, and who also may have been the notorious Jack the Ripper.
He presided over the "murder castle", a devilish architectural creation in downtown Chicago made specifically to murder people. Trap doors, chutes, false doors, hidden passageways, and spy holes made the Murder Castle the infamous building of its age. Many victims were beaten to death; some were strangled; others gassed; and even more were tortured on racks before they lost their lives. When he was finally caught, he confessed to 27 murders; although, it is believed by many that he butchered over 200. But it is not the number of deaths that is the cause of his devilish fame. It is, in fact, the methods he used. This is the tale of the evil "Dark Lord of the Murder Castle" - guts and all.
To call this amateur filmmaking would grossly insult the world's amateur filmmakers. Writer-Director Phillip Gardner's script is convoluted, unattributed and completely incoherent in spots. Misspellings riddle the subtitles. This 70-minute monstrosity is packed with B-roll that has nothing to do with the storyline; public domain silent footage of vaudeville comedy performers, for instance, supposedly posing as the story's principals. Video allegedly representing actual locations is faked - a long cable car sequence in San Francisco which has no relevance to the H. H. Holmes saga whatsoever, just to mention one. This is smoke, mirrors and a bloody melange of tacky reenactment half-dissolves posing as a documentary with poorly-recorded narration. If Holmes was a con artist who exaggerated his murderous exploits, this laughable excuse for insight goes him one better.
Humanity has achieved great heights. We have landed on the moon, placed a powerful computer in our pockets, cured numerous diseases and brought the world the most evil and deranged serial killers. There are very few that stand out quite as much as H. H. Holmes and his Murder Hotel. In fact, his notoriety is so great that Hollywood embarked on a blockbuster about him and now it is even claimed that Britain's most notorious serial killer, Jack the Ripper, was none other than H. H. Holmes himself. He presided over the "castle". A devilish architectural creation in downtown Chicago made specifically to murder people. Trap doors, chutes, false doors, hidden passageways and spy holes made the Murder Castle the infamous building of its age. Many victims were beaten to death; some were strangled, and others gassed. And yet others were tortured on racks before they lost their lives. When he was finally caught, he confessed to twenty-seven murders, although it is believed by many that he murdered over 200. But it is not the number of deaths that is the cause of his devilish fame; it is in fact the methods he used. This is the tale of the evil dark lord of the Murder Castle - guts and all.
Book Description: Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. (1962). First U.S. edition, first printing. Fine, in gilt-lettered black boards, with errata slip tipped in; in a mildly rubbed dust jacket with a half-inch tear to the upper edge of the front panel; original printed $4.50 price still intact to the front inner flap. Bell sets aside the entertainment of her traditional and "quietly ironic" (Nancy Talburt) detective tales to address "the great and horrifying growth of crime since the Second World War," which concerns her as a physician, a mother and a citizen. Seller Inventory # 4301100
I remember that at a very early age I experienced theoperation of divine grace condemning me for evil, andinciting me to goodness. I was sent to school when quiteyoung, and soon learned to read, which became a sourceof pleasure and instruction. There were at that time veryfew books in the neighborhood. Those possessed by myfather were, so far as I can remember, all of a useful character.Murray's Introduction to the English Reader wasread in our school by the younger class, to which I belonged,and I recollect that during the reading of one ofthe pathetic pieces, I burst into tears, and could not proceed.In my youthful days I took great interest in readingthe Bible, and so strong were the impressions sometimesmade upon my feelings during its perusal, that I canremember now the very spot where I sat, engrossed withits instructive pages. When I read the narratives of theEvangelists concerning the discourses and miracles ofChrist, I sometimes thought if I had only lived at thetime when he was personally on earth, how gladly wouldI have followed his footsteps, in order to receive the lessonsof instruction that fell from his holy lips, to beholdthe wonderful works that he did, and to partake ofthose spiritual blessings that he dispensed to his followers.But I have since learned that we of this generation are ashighly favored as any that have lived before us; because,like those of former ages, we may have access to the Fatherthrough the Son, by obedience to the manifestations of hislight and grace in our hearts. We have also the advantageof perusing the Scriptures of truth, and of many excellentbooks calculated to promote piety and virtue; and in additionto these high privileges, we live in an age and countrywhere we enjoy civil and religious liberty. For the lastof these blessings we are, under Divine Providence, greatlyindebted to our predecessors in the Religious Society ofFriends, who by their labors and their sufferings were instrumentalin reviving primitive Christianity and promotingthe Redeemer's kingdom.
In order to promote my improvement in literary taste, Ijoined a number of young men in forming a literary society,which met once a month to read and criticise originalessays. This society became to me exceedingly interesting;it was continued for several years, and many of theessays were published in papers devoted to literature.
Edward Stabler was the younger of the two, but had beenmuch longer in the ministry. He was a remarkableexample of uprightness and purity in conduct and conversation,and his ministry was highly appreciated by most of thosewho heard him. By the members of our meeting hewas much beloved. His mind, originally vigorous, wasenlarged by knowledge and strengthened by exercise; hehad a remarkable fluency of expression, and was sometimeseloquent. But it was in familiar conversation that he mostexcelled; for whatever might be the subject introduced,he could discourse interestingly upon it, and illustrate hisviews from the rich stores of his memory; always endeavoringto blend instruction with enjoyment, and generallyending with some important religious truth.
At the time of my marriage I was engaged in mercantilebusiness in Alexandria, and during many years a considerableshare of my attention was devoted to the subject ofslavery and the means of alleviating the condition of thepeople of color. In conjunction with other members of ourreligious society, and a few Methodists, I took an activepart in forming and conducting an Association which wascalled the Benevolent Society. To rescue from the posessionof the slave traders, persons illegally held in bondageand to enlighten the public mind in regard to the evils ofslavery were two of the main objects we had in view. Atthat time the domestic slave trade was actively carried onin Alexandria, and among its victims were some who werefree born, or were slaves only for a term of years. Thesewe sometimes succeeded in rescuing by a legal process, butnot unfrequently they were carried off by the traders beforewe received information of their captivity. On behalf ofthe Association I wrote a series of essays on slavery and thedomestic slave trade, which were published in the year 1827in the Alexandria Gazette, a paper that had a considerablecirculation in Virginia. The opposition to such publicationsin our state was not then so great as it became a few yearslater, and the views we promulgated adverse to slavery, wereread without producing any demonstrations of violence.Slavery was then generally acknowledged to be an evilentailed upon us by former generations, which it was allegedcould not be removed without much danger, and most ofthe slave holders maintained that the negroes when liberatedmust be colonized in some foreign country. I was amember of the colonization society, and then believed itspurpose of removing the free people of color and liberatedslaves to Africa, would be the means of promotingemancipation in the Southern States, and of planting a colonythat would spread civilization and christianity in thatbenighted country. Subsequently I became convincedthat the tendency of the scheme of colonization was toquiet the conscience of the people, lead to a false security,and put off, to a distant day the work of emancipation.It must however be admitted, that the planting of thecolony of Liberia has been a blessing to the people ofAfrica, and we have reason to believe that great andbeneficent results will flow from it. May the Author of allgood, cause it to be instrumental in advancing thehappiness of man by extending the Redeemer's kingdom. 041b061a72