A review by threerings
Depraved: The Definitive True Story of H.H. Holmes, Whose Grotesque Crimes Shattered Turn-Of-The-Century Chicago by Harold Schechter
4.0
So after reading "The Devil in the White City" I wanted to know more about H.H. Holmes, the first American serial killer who no one remembers. I didn't know what to expect from a book called "Depraved", but it's actually very good. If you just want to know about Holmes, I recommend this book, over "The Devil in the White City." It has more detail, less invented scenes, less imposed pseudo-Freudian motivation, and great stuff particularly about the time after Holmes was arrested.
I don't really have any complaints, other than I want more detail about what happened inside Holmes' "Castle" but that's the fault of the historical record, not the author. I find Holmes so fascinating as such a fantastic example of a sociopath, in fact possibly the example people had in mind while defining a psychopath (later sociopath, later someone with Antisocial Personality Disorder.) In particular I find the glimpses at Holmes' thought process fascinating, through his own writings and his behavior when representing himself in court.
Of course, actually more interesting and useful than trying to understand Holmes is understanding how he got away with everything he did for so long. It's understanding the reactions of the people around him that is truly useful. To some extent, he wouldn't have been able to get away with as much today, since there is a lot more scrutiny paid to things like what someone's legal name is and how many women they are married to. Also what happens to people who mysteriously go missing. But I think the smaller one-on-one interactions in which people were inclined to trust Holmes because he was charming and confident are unchanged. Holmes was both a conman and a serial killer, which is particularly fascinating.
I don't really have any complaints, other than I want more detail about what happened inside Holmes' "Castle" but that's the fault of the historical record, not the author. I find Holmes so fascinating as such a fantastic example of a sociopath, in fact possibly the example people had in mind while defining a psychopath (later sociopath, later someone with Antisocial Personality Disorder.) In particular I find the glimpses at Holmes' thought process fascinating, through his own writings and his behavior when representing himself in court.
Of course, actually more interesting and useful than trying to understand Holmes is understanding how he got away with everything he did for so long. It's understanding the reactions of the people around him that is truly useful. To some extent, he wouldn't have been able to get away with as much today, since there is a lot more scrutiny paid to things like what someone's legal name is and how many women they are married to. Also what happens to people who mysteriously go missing. But I think the smaller one-on-one interactions in which people were inclined to trust Holmes because he was charming and confident are unchanged. Holmes was both a conman and a serial killer, which is particularly fascinating.