On the one hand the proliferation of the murder hotel myth is a little unconscionable and obfuscates that HH Holmes wasn’t a movie psychopath he killed people to steal their identities and rob them. On the other hand the idea of a murder hotel is so much fun.
okay so this is actually exactly what i'm talking about. number one it is well documented that tabloids at the time fully invented the idea of the murder hotel in order to move papers. number two is that making Holmes (not even his real name) some paragon of evil obfuscates what he actually did- scam and kill a lot of vulnerable women for money. He was a bog standard con man and misogynist and i'm tired of giving him more credit than that.
I read Devil in the White City a couple of years ago, and I complained to my spouse the whole time that 99% of the people discussed in the book were the most run of the mill white dudes. Including Holmes.
His worst crimes didn’t even happen in the hotel. And were still just part a prolonged insurance con, which seems like a lot more work then just working.
I am annoying myself just thinking about all of the men involved in that world’s fair.
