H. H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil

Adam Selzer is a tour guide in Chicago who started digging into H.H. Holmes when he was asked to put together a tour based on the book “The Devil in the White City.” That book by Erik Larson juxtaposed the myth of Holmes, America’s first serial killer, with the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago but Selzer read through the old newspapers from the 1890s at the library and discovered that almost all the tales that had been written about Holmes were inaccurate, often wildly so. This book is the fruit of his research and it drastically revises the story of this notorious criminal.For years Holmes had a grisly reputation for having built a hotel (dubbed the “Murder Castle) just before the Fair to lure out of town guests who he then robbed and murdered, often in gruesome fashion, based on what was discovered in a search of the building. But Selzer combed through the existing primary source material: newspapers of the day, a half dozen from Chicago alone, papers from Philadelphia, Texas, Toronto, and elsewhere, a book written by a detective who investigated Holmes, and one by a doctor who published a study of Holmes. Using these sources, Selzer is able to discredit the more far-fetched accounts of Holmes’s crimes including Holmes’s confessions and subsequent retellings of Holmes’s life in sensationalistic newspaper articles and outlandish books.The true history does include numerous murders but nowhere near as many as had been enumerated in previous unsourced accounts. Holmes’s criminal activity focused on swindling everybody from furniture companies to builders and Selzer also went through the legal archives to try to figure out who had been had. Holmes used a variety of dishonest practices to steal from others, he married numerous women without divorcing previous wives, and he also took on a variety of aliases and at times the book bogs down in a confusing parade of scams and lawsuits that are difficult to understand. One of my favourite quotes is from an insurance investigator who said, “I was continually running across evidence that Holmes was leading a double life. In fact, at times it might be said he was living a quadruple life.”The book has a picturesque old-timey true crime feel. After Holmes’s youth and time spent in medical school, where his criminal proclivities began to show, Holmes ends up in Chicago in the 1880s where he moved about the worlds of medicine, real estate development, and business. He gets involved in scams involving copying machines and glass bending and he sues and is sued numerous times. From there he moves on to swindling insurance companies by burning his own buildings and plots involving faked deaths to collect life insurance. Through a combination of intrepid insurance company investigators and Holmes’s own blabber mouth while talking to a train robber in jail in St. Louis his crimes are eventually revealed.The bulk of this book is a detailed recounting of everything that can be discerned about these crimes from the available primary sources, but that isn’t always a neat, orderly narrative. It’s not the fault of the author of the book that the collection of newspapers articles, lawsuit records, and contemporaneous books leave many mysteries unsolved here. There is a fine coda where Selzer shows how a sensational newspaper article and a few other over-the-top sources led to the myth of the devil in the White City and Selzer’s brief reflection on this myth-making provides, I think, much food for thought. It turns out a more interesting story than the one about the depths of evil in man is this one about lies and the truth and their foundations.

Very detailed and interesting read. H.H. Holmes was quite a swindler and murderer. Adam is an excellent author and does a lot of research for his books.

i'm taking a break from reading this. i can't believe all the things this man had gotten away with. granted, we have computers now to track info on everyone, but this guy got away with so many scams i'm surprised it went on for so long. it's kind of a dry reading, not a page turner, but it is interesting all the people you would think were relatively intelligent, didn't spot him for what he was.

The story of HH Holmes will always gain the attention of those fascinated with the criminal history of Chicago, those who’ve read Devil in the White City, and those interested in the history of serial type murderers. Personally, as a Midwesterner with a coin from the World's Fair given to me by my father - I have always wondered how close his parents came to crossing the path of HH Holmes. With all of the legend that surrounds the Murder Castle, some well researched information about Holmes was very useful.this is a well reasearched book. On occasion, the writing got in the way of itself, but in general, it is a decent book about an important part of Chicago's history and Midwest history as well. I think sometimes the interpretation of that research got in the way as well, but not to such an extent that the book is not relevant to the subject. It is a pretty comprehensive look at what remains of HH Holmes, and my hat is off to the author for wading through a ton of Cook County Criminal Court records.

Selzer's book is the perfect companion to Larson's engaging account of the goings-on before, during and after the 1893 Chicago World's Fair / Columbian Exposition...for the skeptics and historians out there. If you want to believe everything exactly as Larson tells it, then don't read Selzer's book. But if you really want to sink your teeth into the truth, this will likely be the last book you'll need. As the facts are revealed we see that Holmes/Mudgett is demonstrably a serial swindler and murderer who hangs for the one homicide a jury ruled on. But the legends over the years have definitely "put some hair on the story." If you are like me, fascinated by legend and possibilities but more satisfied by facts, I would strongly recommend you read Larson's book first. It is perhaps the best romanticization of the period and the events, and is a fun read. Once you have experienced the Disneyland version, come to Selzer's book to sort fact from fiction. And trust me, the facts are every bit as interesting as the fantasy. Larson gives readers far more blow-by-blow details of Philadelphia detective, Frank Geyer's hunt for Holmes and the Pitezel children, which is an interesting story in itself. But each book has its strengths and neither would be complete without the other. So I highly recommend both if you really want to understand the Holmes story.

It’s a well written book with lots of research and facts. It’s a journey back to the 1800’s. Was he Jack the Ripper? Lots of compelling reasons to say YES HE WAS. It’s a good read.

Well researched a very good approach well written, and very likely the real "Jack the Ripper".There are a whole series of books written about HH Holmes read them and then decide.This is the American that travelled the world and was proved to be in England at the correct times for the Whitechapel murders as well.worth reading , make your own mind up. A very evil man.

While there are so many stories about HH Holmes this one I liked because it does not make to many assumption. Other books have HH Holmes doing every unsolved homicide in the known world.

Reçu, mais pas encore eu le temps de le lire. Toutefois, je m'intéresse de près à cette histoire alors je crois que je ne serai pas déçu !

Not as entertaining as I thought it would be but I now know more about the so called house of death. just about a common thief and murderer.