The Devil in the White City

Over the years here at The Witching Hour, we have shared various posts about the notorious serial killer (not America’s first) Dr H. H. Holmes who gained infamy during and after the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. Links to those previous posts will be at the bottom of this entry.

Hulu is currently adapting Erik Larson’s novel The Devil in the White City, for a limited series release. As yet there is no air date, but we will remain on the look out for it. For those unfamiliar with the book, it’s the story of the men who gathered to plan and then build the Exposition. If you are familiar with Holmes’ story, you know that it is against this fair that he performed his most dastardly deeds of luring young women who traveled to Chicago to find work at the fair into his “hotel” where they were subsequently murdered.

While I am looking forward to at least giving the series a try, I have low expectations for this adaptation based on previous experience. Still, we won’t know until it’s tried.

Previous Posts on Holmes

America’s First Serial Killer
H.H. Holmes’ Murder Castle
H.H. Holmes’ Exhumation
Linking H.H. Holmes to Jack the Ripper
H.H. Holmes Letter Found

 

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H H Holmes’ Exhumation

Seven years ago we shared with you two stories of one of America’s first serial killers who plucked his victims from the hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Chicago World’s Columbia Exposition (the forerunner to the World’s Fair subsequently held in cities around the world) of 1893. Young women would travel to Chicago seeking work and would simply vanish, all thanks to a man who would become known as America’s first serial killer. Though his notorious Murder Castle no longer occupies its previous space in the city of Chicago, there is one aspect of this grisly tale that does still exist: the mortal remains of Herman Webster Mudgett a.k.a. Dr Henry Howard Holmes. His remains are due to be exhumed at the request of his great-grandsons John and Richard Mudgett as there has been rumors that not only was Mr Mudgett a serial killer but also a consummate con artist and he somehow conned his way out of the death penalty and took off for parts friendlier to unknown individuals.

If you’re unfamiliar with Holmes’ tale, you can read our previous posts here: H H Holmes’ Murder Castle and America’s First Serial Killer. More information about the exhumation can be read here: The Body Of ‘Devil In The White City’ Serial Killer H.H. Holmes Is Being Exhumed and Who Is Really Buried in the Grave of the ‘Devil in the White City’? There’s also the book titled Devil in the White City A Saga of Magic and Murder at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson.

As a personal note, I tried listening to the audio version of this book and I have to say it’s pretty boring. It’s non-fiction and there’s only a very tiny amount of dialogue. The book takes you through the entire creation of the World’s Fair from the very very beginning when it was all still in the planning stages. Truthfully, the most interesting part for me was learning of the various ideas that the planners were trying to come up with to top the centrepiece of the previous World’s Fair in Paris (1889): the Eiffel Tower. In the end, as you probably are aware, it was the Ferris Wheel (also known as the Chicago Wheel) which was created by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. and debuted at the 1893 World’s Fair. Some of the ideas people came up with were pretty crazy, even by today’s standards.

Top 10 Haunted Colleges in the Southwest

If you’re at the stage of your life where you’re thinking to the immediate future about where to go to college (I’m not speaking to those of you who just graduated in May or June who should already have your plans laid out), here are ten schools for your consideration listed here due to their haunting factor.

10. Utah State University – Logan, UT
9. Oklahoma State University – Stillwater, OK
8. Johnson & Wales University – Denver, CO
7. Texas A&M University – College Station, TX
6. University of Arizona – Tucson, AZ
5. New Mexico State University – Las Cruces, NM
4. University of Colorado, Denver
3. University of La Verne – La Verne, CA
2. University of Texas at Austin
1. University of Nevada – Reno, NV

This link directs you to short blurbs about how each school is haunted: full story

Haunted Happenings at Work: Largo, Florida

My sister Reenie is a mammogram and x-ray technician in a facility in the Largo area of Florida.  Reenie has had her own personal experiences with the paranormal, so while she isn’t a gullible sort, she does keep an open mind.

One of her co-workers, Maddie, started complaining during the down time in their work day that she thought her adult son, from whom she is estranged, was breaking into her home and moving her things around to mess with her. My sister and the other technicians pooh-poohed this idea and told Maddie that she was probably moving the things herself and just not remembering where she put them.  Maddie was adamant, however.  She lived alone, without even any pets, and she was a  bit OCD about putting things back in their assigned places throughout her house.  For instance, her remote control went on a small end table that was between her sofa and her recliner. Her keys were kept on a hook in her kitchen. Maddie explained that her son, a former Special Forces member, knew how meticulous she was, and that she would notice the small changes that occurred whenever she left the house. Early in their estrangement, he had broken into her previous home just to prove to her that he could. It had been some time since those days, but apparently he was back to his old tricks, she said. Sometimes, she was only gone a half an hour to run to the store, but when she returned, something was typically out of place. Reenie just told her  it sounded like she had a ghost. Maddie was not amused. She vowed to catch her son in the act.

Update for Haunted Happenings at Work: New England

Please see my original post for the background to this true account: https://4girlsandaghost.wordpress.com/2011/10/11/haunted-happenings-at-work-new-england/.

I have already shared the story of my sister Dee’s (now former) workplace, a preschool in Hampstead, NH. The original part of the building was constructed about two hundred years ago and went through a devastating fire in the 1870’s which left a small girl named Agnes dead. Though other teachers had experienced some pretty telling evidence, such as toys found in the middle of a recently tidied room, after-hours when the children were long gone, my sister had only experienced “circumstantial” evidence. While she was there after hours, she would occasionally hear movement in the older parts of the building, or sometimes a toy would start when she walked through an empty room. This was nothing that Dee couldn’t convince herself was coincidence or overactive imagination.