In the early 1880’s a man using the pseudonym H.H. Holmes, claiming to be a doctor, arrived in Chicago and took up work at a local drug store. He quickly began running the day to day operations, so no one was surprised when the elderly owner of the drug store “moved to California to be near her family” and “sold” the drug store to Holmes. Little did they know that he most likely killed her and stole her store.
As the business thrived, Holmes decided he needed to expand, and began building his infamous “Murder Castle” across the street. The building spanned almost 3 blocks, and Holmes went through 6 different contractors before it was finished. Either the contractors were fired to keep any one person from knowing the entire layout of the building, or during building the contractors became increasingly uncomfortable with some of the rooms and strange architecture that Holmes demanded they build, sp refused to continue to work on it.
The ground level of the building held things like a drug store, jewelry store, restaurant, candy store, etc. The upper two levels were where the madness began. There were windows that were inexplicably bricked over or covered with sheet metal. There were hallways that got smaller and smaller until they ended in a corner. There were doors that opened to brick walls. There was a 3rd floor staircase with a door that opened with a fall into the alleyway below. More sinister, there was a room that was airtight and lined with metal that would release poison gas at the push of a button, asphyxiating any occupants inside. There was a room, again lined with metal and airtight, in which blow torches would pop out of the walls and burn Holmes victims. There was a clandestine vault, which was only big enough for a person to stand in, where it was thought Holmes would trap victims. All of this mayhem was stationed around Holmes office, where he had secret passages to many rooms and areas of the building, and sensors on all the doors which would sound an alarm if a victim tried to escape. He also had a trap door in his office, which led to very small room, where Holmes’ kept victims confined for months. This small room, along with other rooms had secret metal chutes to the basement where Holmes most dastardly acts took place.
In the basement, Holmes had a dissecting table, a furnace for cremation, barrels of acid, and even a “rack” used for stretching people. Holmes would strip the flesh from his victim’s bones, and sell them to local universities. It is believed that a large portion of his victims came from marketing his building as lodging for visitors to the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. Many of these travelers would not have known where they were staying, so no one knew where to look for them once they turned up missing.
Holmes evaded justice for many years, eventually abandoning the castle and moving out of Chicago. He was later arrested for stealing a horse, and eventually confessed to 27 murders, though authorities feel the number was more than likely in the 1oo’s.