Dr. H Holmes As A Serial Killer

Herman Mudgett, better known as Dr. H.H. Holmes, was born May 16th, 1861, and died May 7th, 1896. He was an American serial killer who trapped, tortured, and murdered possibly hundreds of people. It is believed that his early life is what influenced his love for death and killing. According to Jerrod Brown, Eric Hickey, and Blake Harris, “the childhood of Holmes was shaped by physical abuse, difficulties in socializing with peers, and cruelty towards animals” (Brown, Hickey, and Harris). Holmes obsession with inflicting pain on others would eventually lead him to becoming America’s first documented serial killer. In this paper, Holmes early abusive life and late life will be discussed as well as his life of a serial killer
Holmes was born in New Hampshire, 1861. His mother was cold and heartless, and his father was an alcoholic. Both parents were very abusive towards Holmes. His parents would isolate and starve him for extended periods of time. At an early age, he was fascinated with the human body which quickly led to him being fascinated by death. Holmes’s captivation of the human body led him to study medicine. After graduating, Holmes was accepted into the University of Michigan Medical

“Throughout the building, there were trap doors, peepholes, stairways that led nowhere, and chutes that led into the basement” (H.H. Holmes). Most of the rooms had soundproof walls, as well as gas lines so he could effortlessly knock out the guests. The basement of the hotel was where he did most his dirty work. “While the upper floors housed many intricate torture chambers, it was in the basement where Holmes disemboweled and stripped the flesh from his victims with powerful acids, before using a crematorium disguised as an oil furnace to burn the bodies of his victims” (Brown, Hickey, and Harris). Just like Holmes, the hotel was inviting and beautiful on the outside, but disturbing and distressing on the