The Strange Case Of Dr. H.H. Holmes

The Strange Case of Dr. HH Holmes by John BorowskiHerman Webster Mudgett, infamous under his pseudonym of Dr. HH Holmes, was an American serial killer. His hotel in Chicago, built to cash in on the World’s Fair being held there in 1893, was a rabbit’s warren of twisting halls and hidden rooms. The place was confusing at bet, total bewilderment at the worst. It has been compared to the Winchester Mansion, with doors and staircases that lead nowhere.He had a chute running to the basement where he had lye, acid, and furnaces to dispose of the dead. He was known to supply corpses for dissecting rooms and skeletons for Doctors’ offices, and it was said these were bodies of his victims.He was a scam artist supreme, and was wanted for various crimes in various states and Canada. When he gained control of his business associate BF Pitezel and his family, he sowed the seeds of his own destruction. Pitezel was to insure his life for $10,000. Then they would substitute a cadaver for Pitezel, collect the money and divide it.Instead, Holmes murdered Pitezel and attempted to make it look accidental, and barring that, to make it seem suicidal. The man was buried. Holmes returned to the place, had Pitezel exhumed, and used the man’s fourteen year old daughter Alice to identify the body by the teeth. He later murdered Alice’s brother Howard, only eight years old, burned the body and stuffed the remains into a chimney in a house in Irvington, Indianapolis. Alice and her sister Nellie, age ten, were murdered and buried in the basement of No. 16 St. Vincent Street, Toronto, Canada.Holmes was convicted of the murders and hanged May 7, 1896. His body was sealed in concrete and buried ten feet deep.This book is an account of the history, mystery, and crimes of Dr. HH Holmes. Every part is from published works at the time of Holmes’ murder trial.The first part is a unique view into the serial murderer’s mind in words written by the man himself. I am not sure but what Holmes doesn’t match Ted Bundy for audacity. He has less confirmed kills than Bundy, but the elaborate schemes and the language of his writing shows a cold, calculated mind that belonged to a habitual liar.In this first part, Holmes writes from his prison cell awaiting trial and carefully details everything to show that he is guilty of nothing but fraud. He explains where Pitezel and his children are and that he knows them to be alive. Other people he was questioned about concerning their disappearance he also accounts for, giving places where they might be living.The next part of the book is an account of Holmes’ trial for Pitezel’s murder and the murder of the three children. There were five attempted murder charges as well. The account ends with the prosecutor’s closing remarks to the jury.Then, convicted and awaiting the hangman, Holmes again writes from his prison cell. Now he confesses and gives details on the Pitezel murders and confesses to twenty-two more for a total of twenty-six. Of these murders only nine were confirmed. But with the cold uncaring killer showing no remorse and devilish in his sneering accounts of his crimes, he was suspect in as many as two hundred deaths.People who are fans of true crime novels, or persons wishing to learn about Dr. HH Holmes and his Horror Castle in Chicago, especially in light of the upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio movie, The Devil in the White City, will find this book highly informative.I give this account a solid five stars plus.Quoth the Raven…

I watched John Borowski' s great documentary on Netflix, and it left me hungry for more on H.H. Holmes. This book was perfect for delving more into not only Holmes' s life and crimes, but into his mind as well. The first part of the book is Holmes' own story - for it is a story, not an autobiography, and I found myself crying "bull" at numerous points. It is an interesting study on just how crafty he was, however. The man had an explanation for everything. How many of you out there could recall not only exact dates for everything you did in the last year, but times as well? How many of you would confess to crimes you did not commit (including murder) to spare your spouse from emotional turmoil? I would think the latter would actually have the opposite effect.The second piece was my favorite, and is a detailed account of the detective who was investigating Holmes. For an inexperienced writer, Detective Geyer is concise and detailedWithout being boring. It was a fascinating story and an easy read.The third book, Holmes' s final confession is chilling.The final piece is less entertaining, and seems to be written by a Holmes sympathizer. It does offer interesting theories to Holmes' innocence, but I have to say that if people keep disappearing and turning up dead all around you, you are either the unluckiest person alive, or more likely, guilty.If you haven't seen it yet, check out Borowski' s documentary - it is available on Netflix. It is well done, informative, and incredibly interesting and entertaining.If you are looking to delve deeper into the life, crimes and mind of H.H. Holmes, John Borowski has put together all the historical works and documents for you right here. Well worth the price.

I truly love history based books. I had never heard of HH Holmes until I read the White City about the Chicago's world fair. I would recommend doing a little research on HH Holmes before reading this book. I enjoyed the reality of this book. The inclusion of HH Holmes words and the detective chasing him draw you to a different time. The con, if you do your research, you realize there are terrible, terrible events that were attributed to Holmes' atrocities that are not present in the book. That being said, as I write this review, I can still think of haunting passages. The book can slow down at points. This is due to seeing the every day notes of Holmes and the detective trying to catch all his lies!

I was hesitant to buy this at first because the content is probably in the public domain. But the writings are difficult to find online, and it is nice to have them in book format.The quality of the physical book is okay. The cover is not really thick, so I can see it will bend if you don't handle it carefully. But the spine seems solid.The contents of the book are an interesting read. I was really curious about Detective Fred Geyer's words and wishe there was more from him, but that's literally all he wrote. lolReading the killer's own words is very chilling. There is a detachment and lack of remorse. At the same time, he seems to display signs of mental illness - stating that he saw his own face morphing into the devil, etc.It's great to have all these resources in one place, and although it might seem a bit expensive for a paperback, it is a really thick book with a lot of information. Definitely worth the price.

Really enjoyed this book.

This book is very poorly edited. It’s too long.

Ce bouquin, en anglais, qui retrace la carrière criminelle du tueur en séries Herman Webster Mudgett alias docteur H.H.Holmes, aussi surnommé "docteur torture", m'a déçu, car surtout centré sur la traque finale de celui-ci. Traque, au cours de laquelle il alla jusqu'à assassiner les enfants de son associé. Par contre, peu ou pas d'informations, sans doute faute de témoins survivants, sur ses innombrables autres meurtres. Holmes, qui avait fait construire un hôtel truffé de passages secrets dans le seul but de pouvoir détrousser et assassiner les nombreux visiteurs de l'Expo Universelle de 1893 à Chicago, qui avaient le malheur de lui demander l'hospitalité. De ses nombreux crimes, il en avoua vingt-sept, mais le nombre de ses victimes devrait plutôt avoisiner la centaine! Exécuté en 1896, son cadavre fut, à sa demande, coulé dans un bloc de béton.

Muy buen libro, bien documentado. Para los amantes del crimen y de los asesinos en serie. Documentos, planos, fotografías, necesario si se quiere conocer la historia del Doctor Holmes.

This has to be one of the most boring book I think I've started to read, but it as so boring and the writing style so bad that I couldn't finish it.