Blog

By Kathleen Carpenter, Class of 2006

Mary Jo Hoag and I were on a mission: to meet Adam Selzer, a Chicago writer, historian, and tour guide with a special fondness for cemeteries. Selzer runs a tour company called Mysterious Chicago: History at its Coolest, and he’s the author of a string of books ranging from young adult to adult nonfiction. He clearly has a wicked sense of humor; his titles range from The Smart Aleck’s Guide to American History to Your Neighborhood Gives Me the Creeps.

But why did Mary Jo and I want to meet this guy? Hint: the Devil.

Among Selzer’s interests is the story of Henry H. Holmes, the infamous serial murderer of Erik Larsen’s 2003 bestseller, The Devil in the White City. Larsen’s book was the inspiration for CAF’s popular Devil in the White City tour, so of course we (co- directors of the tour) wanted to meet Selzer and grill him about the research behind his 2016 book, H.H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil.

The true history? Wait, aren’t we telling the true story of Holmes on our tours?

Selzer argues that he dug deeper than Larsen in researching the Holmes case. As a result he largely debunks many of the stories that established the Holmes legend. No one disagrees that Holmes was a profoundly disturbed man who murdered nine acquaintances, including children. But according to Selzer, he didn’t murder the 200 individuals often cited in tales about Holmes, and he didn’t put up a hotel with the goal of ensnaring innocent visitors to Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair.

Selzer explained that early in his career as a tour-guide he became interested in fact-checking stories commonly told on ghost and cemetery tours because many of them were, in his words, “a mess.” And he questioned many of the stories surrounding the tale of Henry H. Holmes. He began digging through archives and poring over old documents and photos, looking for original sources. He knew the sources that Larsen cited in his book, but he asked, where did those sources get their information?

For instance, Larsen cited Herbert Asbury’s 1940 book, The Gem of the Prairie, an anthology of Chicago crime stories that includes a chapter on Holmes titled, “The Monster of Sixty-Third Street.” But did Asbury have a source other than his imagination? Selzer’s research led to an article written in 1895 in the New York World newspaper titled, “Castle of a Modern Bluebeard” that was clearly Asbury’s source; in fact he quoted it verbatim. Asbury’s book and the World article became two of the most important sources on Holmes for future writers and historians, in addition to Holmes’s own embellished 1896 confession.

An essential part of the Holmes story is his connection to the 1893 Columbian Exposition. Is it true? Did newspapers contribute to this story?

Selzer’s research showed that almost no articles about Holmes ever mentioned the Fair until the 1895 New York World article suggested that hundreds of people had gone to Chicago for the Fair, never to be seen again, and perhaps they met their end at the Holmes Hotel. Did newspapers of the late 1890s play a role in creating and enlarging the Holmes story? It seems likely. This was during the time of intense competition between Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World and William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal, when both papers were accused of sensationalizing the news in order to drive up circulation. According to Selzer, nearly all of the Holmes legend as we know it can be traced to two or three tabloid and pulp articles of that period.

What about the infamous “Murder Castle” that was built to ensnare innocent visitors to the 1893 Fair?

It is known that Holmes constructed a two-story apartment building on 63rd Street in Englewood, but it was built several years before the Fair was announced; a third floor was added at the time of the Fair, ostensibly to serve as hotel rooms. Selzer contends it was never used as a hotel, it was never listed as a hotel address, and did not advertise rooms. According to legal archives detailing lawsuits against Holmes, he used the building’s addition to swindle investors when everyone was looking to make money from the Fair. Further, it has always been said that Holmes designed his apartment/hotel building himself, but Selzer located plans for the building that he attributes to architects Charles Berger and Edward Gallauner.

One last contradiction that leads us to Oak Woods Cemetery

Larsen’s book describes how Holmes came into possession of Holton’s Drug Store at 63rd and Wallace, owned by an ill, elderly doctor and his elderly, vulnerable wife. The doctor died, Holmes acquired the drug store, and Mrs. Holton disappeared; the implication being that she was killed by Holmes. Selzer says that the source of this tale was Asbury’s Gem of the Prairie, and his research discovered that Dr. Holton was not an elderly man, but in fact a young woman, Dr. Elizabeth Holton, who sold her business to Holmes, lived until 1933, and is buried in Oak Woods Cemetery. Cemetery sleuth Mary Jo and I set off to find the grave. Found it. See the accompanying photo of Mary Jo at Dr. Holton’s grave at Oak Woods.

A Tour Director’s Dilemma

After our meeting with Selzer, we looked at each other and said, “Ok, what do we do with this information that contradicts what we say on our tour, in fact contradicts what our tourees know and believe?” The story of Holmes has entered American folklore as the man who built a hotel full of torture chambers to prey on visitors who came to the 1893 World’s Fair. It’s a story that has captured the public’s imagination and indeed tourees take CAF’s tour hoping we will tell them more Holmes stories.

As docents, we have heard recommendations from Project Fresh that we should include stories in our tours. We certainly have stories to tell on the Devil in the White City tour! The problem is that when it comes to Holmes, we can’t be sure what’s real or what’s fake, what is fact and what is fiction, and yet we need to uphold CAF’s reputation as a presenter of accurate content.

We concluded that much of Adam Selzer’s research is solid and sheds new light on the tale of Holmes. We’ll share this information with our tourees so that they are aware of this research. Still, when someone asks about the story of H.H. Holmes, it’s tempting to ask, “which version do you want to hear?