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The beast of Chicago : an account of the life and crimes of Herman W. Mudgett, known to the world as H.H. Holmes : also known as-- H.M. Howard, D.T. Pratt, Harry Gordon, J.A. Judson, Edward Hatch, A.C. Hayes, et al.

by Geary, Rick.

Format: Print Book 2003
Availability: Available at 1 Library 1 of 1 copy

Available (1)
Location Collection Call #
Oakmont Carnegie Library Young Adult Graphic Novel YA GE
Location  Oakmont Carnegie Library
 
Collection  Young Adult Graphic Novel
 
Call Number  YA GE
 
 

Summary
The next subject for Geary's award-winning and increasingly popular series is a 19th century mass murderer operating around the Chicago World's Fair. Find out who had the capacity to build a literal house of horrors replete with chutes for dead bodies, gas chambers and surgical rooms. Be invited through Geary's meticulous recreation to briefly dwell in the deranged world and mind of a character so ugly that he methodically murdered up to 200 people, especially targeting young women. Darkly compelling and disturbingly true.
Published Reviews
Booklist Review: "Already well limned in prose by historic true-crime wiz Harold Schechter (Depraved, 1994) and horror novelist Robert Bloch ("Dr. Holmes' Murder Castle" in Crimes and Punishments BKL Ja 1 & 15 03), the criminal career of H. H. Holmes (1861-95) is now actually limned by premier true-crime graphic novelist Geary. Physician and pharmacist Holmes took advantage of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair to indulge his taste for unauthorized autopsies in a three-story monstrosity of his own design--part retail space, part hotel, part "laboratories"--a short ride away from the fair. Although it burned to the ground before his execution, Holmes' "castle" became his icon. As he did with the cramped Borden house in The Borden Tragedy (1997) and the railroad-station scene of President Garfield's assassination in The Fatal Bullet (1999), Geary offers a plan of its second floor (the "labs") as the book's icon, and relies not on gore but on the scrupulously drawn, strictly sidereal detail and the droll, telling expression to advance Holmes' story. --Ray Olson Copyright 2003 Booklist"
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Publisher's Weekly Review: "In this graphic novel series, Geary covers some of history's most famous murders in meticulously researched, beautifully drawn volumes. This one takes on H.H. Holmes, one of America's first serial killers, whose "murder castle" shocked and stunned the era. It's 1886, and Holmes arrives in Chicago, a seemingly clean and enterprising young man but actually a murderous con artist with a spectacular ability to talk people into trusting him. Over the next five years, he spins an insanely complicated web of cons and evasions, as acquaintance after acquaintance disappears. He acquires three wives and numerous children-all unaware of each other-and his "boarding house" (aka the "murder castle") becomes a place where tourists check in but don't check out. This boarding house houses everything from a gas chamber to an abattoir for victims. Holmes's murder spree ends with an increasingly desperate flight from the law covering several states and involving the murders of three children. Geary renders all of this in a bouncy pen and ink style, the cheerfulness of which belies the horrid events, complete with maps, diagrams and charts to help readers follow the complex story. Despite its charming outward appearance, Geary's art has a chilling subtext that makes the story even more creepy. He's able to make everyday conversation as unsettling as the gruesome violence that figures prominently in every story. Geary is an underrated master of comics, and this book will equally interest history buffs, true crime enthusiasts and fans of good comics. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved"
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Additional Information
Series Geary, Rick. Treasury of Victorian murder.
#1 - Treasury of Victorian murder
#2 - Jack the Ripper
#3 - The Borden tragedy
#4 - The Fatal bullet
#5 - The Mystery of Mary Rogers
#6 - The Beast of Chicago
#7 - The Murder of Abraham Lincoln
#8 - The Case of Madeleine Smith
Subjects Mudgett, Herman W. -- (1861-1896) -- Comic books, strips, etc.
Serial murders -- Illinois -- Chicago -- Case studies -- Comic books, strips, etc.
Serial murderers -- Illinois -- Chicago -- Biography -- Comic books, strips, etc.
Graphic novels.
Comic books, strips, etc.
Publisher New York :NBM/ComicsLit,2003
Language English
Description 1 volume (unpaged) : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.
Bibliography Notes Includes bibliographical references (page [5]).
ISBN 1561633623 (hardcover)
1561633658 (pbk.)
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