For your Halloween reading list: "The Scarlet Mansion", by Allan W. Eckert. A 500 Pg. lightly fictionalized account of Herman W. Mudgett who, despite his ridiculous name, was the Nineteenth Century’s most prolific serial killer, dwarfing the efforts of his famous near-contemporary, Jack the Ripper.
Mudgett, a highly intelligent and personable monster, murdered upwards of 135 people, most in a garish 125 room mansion he had built in Chicago. Mudgett’s mansion was nothing less than a human slaughterhouse, with secret passages and rooms devoted to every kind of sadistic pleasure. In the basement was a huge vat filled with quicklime, into which bodies were disposed of.
What I found most fascinating were the diabolical schemes Mudgett concocted to lure victims into his death trap. For example, he’d pose as a prospective employer of young women seeking a secretarial position; or, he advertised that there were rooms to rent.
A book best read with Life Alert handy.
Good post. I know of this guy and he truly was off the planet when it comes to being a scary serial killer. His wikipedia page reads more like a work of fiction than something that anyone could actually plan and fulfill. People may have heard of him as his most common alias, HH Holmes. I’d love to read this book but I think it would be a bad idea to have on the bedside table before trying to sleep.
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