If you were staying at the World’s Fair Hotel — more commonly known as the H. H. Holmes hotel — you might run up a flight of stairs and find that it led to nowhere.
You’d open doors and see only solid brick. You’d enter a bedroom and suddenly smell gas seeping in. You’d try to run, only to realize you were locked in. Even if you could open the door, you probably couldn’t find your way out of the house. And before long, you’d meet your gruesome end.
Or at least, that’s how the story of the H. H. Holmes house goes. As one of America’s first known serial killers, H. H. Holmes became infamous not only for his crimes but also for his legendary “murder hotel” in Chicago. Sometimes called a “murder castle” or a “murder mansion,” this mysterious building was initially believed to be a normal hotel — and just a way for Holmes to make money during the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.
