Depraved: The Definitive True Story of H.H. Holmes, Whose Grotesque Crimes Shattered Turn-of-the-Century Chicago
by Harold Schechter
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Book Summary Information
Author: Harold SchechterEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2004-01-27
ISBN: 0743490355
Number of pages: 432
Publisher: Pocket Star
Book Reviews of Depraved: The Definitive True Story of H.H. Holmes, Whose Grotesque Crimes Shattered Turn-of-the-Century Chicago
Book Review: Pretty good; worth reading if you're interested in Holmes et al.
Summary: 4 Stars
Like most people, I had just finished reading "Devil in the White City" and was interested in learning more about the infamous H.H.Holmes. "Depraved" was a good supplement and follow-up to "Devil", and comparing the coverage of the common material was interesting. "Depraved" very often went into more detail, particularly of the post-World'sFair period and Holmes' trial, but I somehow came away feeling like I got a more personal insight into Holmes' personality from "Devil" rather than "Depraved"; I'm not particularly sure why.
"Depraved" is certainly a worthwhile and easy read (if just a tad on the long side), particularly if you're interested in the fascinating H.H.Holmes or crime histories.
Summary of Depraved: The Definitive True Story of H.H. Holmes, Whose Grotesque Crimes Shattered Turn-of-the-Century Chicago
The heinous bloodlust of Dr. H.H. Holmes is notorious -- but only Harold Schechter's Depraved tells the complete story of the killer whose evil acts of torture and murder flourished within miles of the Chicago World's Fair. "Destined to be a true crime classic" (Flint Journal, MI), this authoritative account chronicles the methods and madness of a monster who slipped easily into a bright, affluent Midwestern suburb, where no one suspected the dapper, charming Holmes -- who alternately posed as doctor, druggist, and inventor to snare his prey -- was the architect of a labyrinthine "Castle of Horrors." Holmes admitted to twenty-seven murders by the time his madhouse of trapdoors, asphyxiation devices, body chutes, and acid vats was exposed. The seminal profile of a homegrown madman in the era of Jack the Ripper, Depraved is also a mesmerizing tale of true detection long before the age of technological wizardry.Herman Mudgett, who called himself Dr. H. H. Holmes, seemed the epitome of the late 19th century "Golden Age": he was a well-dressed, charismatic, self-made entrepreneur (think Andrew Carnegie). Unfortunately for his many victims, he was also a liar, bigamist, debtor, con man, and murderer. The setting for several of his murders was the bizarre urban "castle" he built in Chicago--a ramshackle construction with mazelike corridors, soundproof rooms, sealed vaults, oversized furnaces, and chutes leading down to the cellar. Holmes's undoing was an insurance scam in which he planned to use a corpse supplied by a doctor to fake his partner's death, but ended up killing the partner, his wife, and his five children. The Boston Book Review wrote, "[Harold] Schechter's account of this charming, repulsive monster is both an astonishing piece of popular history as well as a near clinical analysis of as sinister a killer as this country has ever produced."
Also recommended: Schechter's books about Albert Fish (Deranged) and Ed Gein (Deviant).
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