I love this time of year. Halloween is the time to recount tales of horror and travel. In other words, it’s time. It’s about time you took that vacation. Your hard work has given you a good life. Nevertheless, all work and no play is definitely making you a dull boy. That’s why you booked a great, up and coming hotel in the beautiful Windy City, Chicago. The World’s Fair will be in town, and soon the hotel promises lots of life and festivities. But tonight, your gracious host, H. H Holmes, assured you that you’re the first to arrive.

It makes sense considering the dim lights. Not to mention, the hotel staff is scarce. The place is too quiet for comfort, but that’s okay because vacation is about relaxing.

As the sun sets and the darkness creeps in, you decide to turn down the lights and snuggle in bed with a good book. You’ve slept with one light on since a child. Your fear of the dark can get the better of you.

Now that you’re an adult, there’s no need to fear anything. The boogeyman isn’t real. Monsters don’t exist. It’s all nonsense.

Alas, the time has come, and you’re ready for bed. Then why does it feel like you’re being watched? Is it your imagination running away with you? Perhaps you’re just being silly.

As you lie in bed, you realize maybe you’re a little scared. So, you peek under your bed to make sure the shadows are just that, shadows. You pull the covers up to your face.

You tell yourself you’re not scared. But, if that was the case, why is your heart racing? Why does something feel wrong? More importantly, is it your imagination, or is the closet door opening by itself?

The Story of H. H Holmes & The Murder Castle

H. H Holmes is America’s first serial killer. He’s said to have killed about 200 people. However, he only confessed to killing 27 people during his initial trial.

The story of H. H Holmes is convoluted. It has so many interesting twists and turns, that it’s surprising it hasn’t been made into a movie. It has, however, been turned into a documentary.

H. H Holmes’ Life

Born Herman Webster Mudgett, Holmes grew up on a farm to English immigrant parents. 

Interestingly enough, some documents suggest H. H Holmes grew up with a violent father (like serial killer Peter Kurten) who abused him. Subsequently, he let out his anger by killing small animals. Although this has never been proven as such records did not exist at the time.

After his high school graduation, H. H Holmes applied to the University of Michigans Department of Medicine and Surgery, where he graduated and became a doctor specializing in anatomy and dissection. What can you say, he was a pro at splitting bodies from the start!

H. H Holmes married Clara Lovering in 1878. In 1880 they had a child, Robert Lovering Mudgett. However, housekeepers described H. H Holmes as treating his wife very violently. 

In 1884 Clare moved out and left Holmes. 

Holmes later moved to New York, and soon after, he moved to Pennsylvania. Coincidentally, there were two murdered boys that may have been linked to him. However, there was little proof that he had anything to do with those deaths.

Before moving to Chicago, he changed his name to H. H Holmes since his reputation as a scam artist preceded him. He wanted to make sure no one knew who he was when arriving in Chicago.

H. H Holmes & The Murder Castle

Soon after moving to Chicago, H. H. Holmes purchased a mixed-use building. It had apartments on the second floor and retail spaces below, which included a drugstore.

He soon hired a carpenter by the name of Benjamin Pitezel. Pitezel had a criminal past and was considered to be H. H Holme’s “fetching creature.” In other words, Pitezel was his murder servant man.

The murder castle contained soundproof rooms and mazes to confuse his victims. Many rooms had chutes that led directly to the basement where Homles had vats of acid, quicklime, and a crematorium to dispose of his victims.

Although the Murder Castle was never completely finished, it would have consisted of three floors.

The third floor was intended to be a hotel. However, the middle level was completely converted as his torture chamber. This is where he had chutes that went to the basement.

Upon further inspection, they discovered that some rooms had hinged walls and secret passageways. Some rooms were also airtight and built as gas chambers to gas his victims while they slept.

It’s said he killed his victims and used his medical expertise to sell their organs to the black market. He even made money selling their skeletons to medical institutions. Whatever scraps were left of his victim’s bodies disappeared in acid or the crematorium.

H. H Holmes’ Victims

Although the Murder Castle was never really open, H. H Holmes managed to kill several people while it was still under construction. However, many of these people were people that knew him and considered him trustworthy.

One of his early victims was his mistress Julia Smythe and her daughter Pearl. After Smythe’s husband found out about the affair, he left her, and Julia and Pearl moved into Holme’s hotel. However, they both disappeared on Christmas Eve of 1891.

Nevertheless, H. H Holmes hired someone to assist with the construction, a lady by the name of Emeline Cigrande. She also disappeared a year later. After that Edna Van Tassel disappeared as well.

His Insurance Fraud Scheme

Even though he was continually feeding his addiction to killing, his scheming addiction was trying to come out.

So Homles convinces his sidekick, Benjamin Pitezel, to take out a life insurance plan and fake his own death so he can split the savings with his wife.

H. H Holmes had the perfect story lined up. Pitezel was to rename himself as B. F Perry, an inventor living in Philadelphia when suddenly his lab explodes, and he dies, tragically, leaving the insurance money to his wife and five kids.

Although Pitezel agreed, Holmes had other plans. When the day arrived to create this elaborate scheme, Holmes knocks Pitezel out and sets his body on fire.

H. H Holmes then tells Pitezel’s wife that he is on a business trip in London, and he would love to take the kids. So her dumbass gives Holmes three of her five kids, Alice, Nellie, and Howard.

Holmes decides to murder the two girls by forcing them into a large trunk. He locks them inside and pumps gas into it. He then buries their nude bodies in a cellar at a house he was renting in Canada.

Howard, the third Pitezel child, was discovered dead on another occasion.

The story of H. H Holmes is like a murder drama. It has many twists and turns. In fact, it is said he remarried, and some of these murders were happening under his wife’s nose.

So, why haven’t we seen a movie about the H. H Holmes and the Murder Castle? Beats me.

IS IT A DREAM?

You wake up, but you’re incredibly groggy. It’s dark. The last thing you remember is seeing the closet door opening. It must have been a dream you think to yourself. 

As you turn your head, you realize you’re bound to your bed. You can’t move. There’s no light. 

But you hear the “click-a-ty clack” of medical tools in the distance. As tears run down your face, you realize you’re about to meet your demise.

Now you know the boogieman does exist, and his name is H. H Holmes.

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