H Holmes Research Papers

Henry Howard Mudgett, better known as H.H Holmes, to most is just a horror story. He is nothing more than a black mark on America’s extensive history, a part of history that is skipped over more often than not. However, Holmes was an important part of United States history. Without the horrors of Holmes, we would not have as strong of a law enforcement or psychology field as we do today. Because of Holmes, the government would not know how to punish capital crimes such as murder and scamming. Holmes paved the path of law enforcement becoming stricter so such heinous deeds never happened again. However, the improvements of law enforcement was not the only thing Holmes had contributed a positive impact to. Holmes helped open a new world of research

This trait was particularly useful when he first started his life of crime back in medical school. He would “[steal] bodies from the laboratory, which he latter disfigured, so that he could claim insurance on the allegedly accidental deaths.” (Raving Psychology). Many thought he was just putting in extra hours of learning, but in reality he was using his skills to his advantage and using these skills for profit and to swindle banks. This is the start of many instances where he would use horrific deeds for his own personal gain. In 1886, not long after he graduated medical school, he moved to Chicago, Illinois. He went under the alias, Dr. Henry H. Holmes, and started working at a pharmacy. When the owner of the pharmacy died, Holmes took over. He raised enough money on his own to construct a hellish hotel. H.H Holmes lured in several unsuspecting women to their death. He then used the Chicago World Fair to his advantage and coaxed fair-goers to enter the castle for a cheap price. Fair-goers were intrigued by the hotel, seeing as the hotel was unlike any other hotel they have ever seen. However the building held many secrets as one person wrote, after the gruesome murders, “The Castle was three stories high. The first floor was left for exclusive shops, while the upper floors and the basement were entwined with mazes, secret hallways, trap doors, stairs leading to nowhere, and gas pipes attached to a control panel in Holmes’ bedroom. The basement had an acid tank, a dissecting table, and a crematorium.” (Raving Psychology). Later encounters were also reported about the murder house, each more detailed than the last. However the story that sticks out is a quote from an authority figure describing how the castle was built. The authority figure told his story and the story got published in the Chicago Tribune in 1937 saying,“"O, what a queer house it