Depraved by Harold Schechter Paperback Book with Photos

Herman Mudgett, who called himself Dr. H. H. Holmes, seemed the epitome of the late 19th century "Golden Age": he was a well-dressed, charismatic, self-made entrepreneur. Unfortunately for his many victims, he was also a liar, bigamist, debtor, con man, and murderer. The setting for several of his murders was the bizarre urban "castle" he built in Chicago--a ramshackle construction with mazelike corridors, trapped doors, soundproof rooms, sealed vaults, oversized furnaces, asphyxiation devices, acid vats and body chutes leading down to the cellar.