Murder by Gaslight

MURDER BY GASLIGHT THE AUTHENTICATED HISTORY OF H.H. HOLMES, HIS INSIDIOUS MURDER CASTLE, AND THE HORRORS OF GASLIGHT ERA CHICAGO Chicago during the Gaslight Era was a place that embodied both the elegance of America's Gilded Age and the vice, crime and sin of the most corrupt city in the country. During the 1880s and early 1890s, Chicago was home to killers, thieves, gamblers, con artists and whores - and hosted perhaps the greatest World's Fair in our nation's history. It was to this place that a man named H.H. Holmes was drawn like a moth to the flame and Chicago embraced him as one of its own. Charming and dapper, Holmes soon slashed his way into American history with devious schemes, unconscionable swindles - and bloody murders. Killing for profit and convenience, he claimed an unknown number of victims with his infamous "Castle" on Chicago's South Side, a grandiose monstrosity that was filled with trapdoors, winding passages, secret doors and staircases, torture chambers a crematorium and worse. Then, finally on the run from the law, he left a trail of corpses behind him before his past crimes finally caught up with him and led to what the newspapers called the "Trial of the Century." In this spellbinding book, author Troy Taylor tackles the chilling tale of H.H. Holmes, cutting through the myths and exaggerations that have plagued the strange story for years and presenting a clear and concise account of Holmes' murders, his swindles, his confessions and the myriad of lies that effortlessly spilled from his lips. How many people did Holmes really kill? Who was the intrepid detective that finally brought about his downfall? And did a supernatural curse really surround those who sent Holmes to the gallows? You'll find out in one of the author's best books so far!