I Think We're Gonna Need A Priest

Aaaaand we’re back! Here’s the second part of the H.H.Holmes story. This is the part where we focus on the hotel and the strange goings-on that went on. So, like I stated in the previous post, Holmes began building the hotel in 1887, while he was still scamming and murdering his way around America and Canada. During the construction of the hotel, Holmes was accused of not paying for the labour and equipment. Not surprising really. It was said that he would fire builders' mid-job so they didn’t know the full extent of the building layout. The building had three floors and a basement – all of them had there uses. The first floor housed the pharmacy, jewellers and a general store. The third floor housed Holmes’ apartment and office. The second floor and basement were the locations for all the wrong stuff that he did.  We’ll start on the second floor, purely because everything leads to the basement at one stage or another. So, on this floor, t...

First off – his name wasn’t even H.H.Holmes! It was an alias, one of many I might add. He was born Herman Webster Mudgett and changed his name several times throughout his lifetime. So, it isn’t confusing, will stick to calling him, Holmes. Right, I thought I’d try something different with my posts. I know all the posts I do will be information heavy but I want to make it enjoyable to read – not something straight out of a textbook. So, with that said on with the story and murders of Henry Howard Holmes. WARNING – This post mentions child death. Holmes was born 16 th May 1861 in Gilmanton, New Hampshire and was the third child of Levi Horton Mudgett and Theodate Page Price. Both parents were devout Methodists and Holmes seemed to have a normal childhood. According to different reports, classmates used to tease a young Holmes about his fear of doctors. So they forced him to stand in front of a human skeleton in a doctor’s office, which scared the poop out of him. But inste...

Serial Killer. Child Rapist. Cannibal. Murderer. These are the polite names that I think of for Albert Fish. Born in May 1870, Fish had a tough childhood which ultimately led to a disturbed man. Fish’s father died when he was young and he ended up spending some of his early years in St John's Orphanage in Washington DC. While at the orphanage Fish was subjected to regular beatings while the beatings were for punishment, Fish began to enjoy the physical pain they brought and many phycologists believe that this could have triggered his behaviour later in life. At age 10 Fish’s Mother was able to remove Fish from the orphanage and back into the family home but the damage was already done. Two years later, Fish began a relationship with a telegraph boy who introduced Fish to practices like urolagnia (drinking urine) and coprophagia (eating faeces). Which is eww. Fish began frequenting public baths so he could watch young boys undress.  By 1898 Fish...

Built on a 700-year-old extinct volcano (yes volcano), Edinburgh Castle has been home to both Scottish and English monarchs. The most famous being Mary, Queen of Scots. As one of the UK’s oldest castles, it has seen its fair share of blood and war so it's no surprise it has more than a few ghosts.  Like most haunted places you have your normal changes in temperature (brrr), shadowy figures, disembodied voices and the occasional touching (who doesn’t like to be felt up by a ghost). But at Edinburgh Castle, you get all of that and more. There were two ghost stories that tugged on my heartstrings. They were the story of the young bagpiper that disappeared and the story of Greyfriars Bobby. So, we’ll start with the lost piper boy.  Several hundred years ago, some secret tunnels were found beneath the castle seeming to lead towards Holyrood House which is located at the end of the Royal Mile. The entrance to these tunnels was so small, a young boy and his bagpipes...

Abandonment. Neglect. Abuse. Death. These are just some of the atrocities that happened at Pennhurst State School. In 1908 Pennhurst State school was built to house the children that society had dubbed as “demented’. Back then, if you were any sort of menace to society (like a pyromaniac for example) you ended up at Pennhurst. The school itself was built to house 500 patients but by 1913 it was already overcrowded and in need of more housing facilities. So in 1916, the Board of Trustees planned to build additional cottages to expand the capacity of the school. Built on over 600 acres, the site itself contains more than 30 buildings which included a hospital, a morgue, barbers and a firehouse. This impressive site became self-sustaining as it had its own power plant and the residents were sent to work on the farm that was located on site. The site also had a rail track passing through the grounds so any supplies they needed could be brought in by train. It also had an u...