I love creepy stuff, to the point where I listen to true crime podcasts while I work in my office. I recently listened to a podcast about h.h. Holmes, the first American serial killer. Holmes was a monster to an almost staggering degree, to the point where it’s almost shocking that he even existed. during the world’s fair in chicago in 1893, h.h. Holmes murdered at least 27 people, although it is often thought that the body count was actually closer to 200. He accomplished this by building his “Murder Castle,” a hotel designed with secret death chambers that Holmes would use to suffocate gassing and torturing. his victims. One of the best nonfiction books I’ve ever read on the subject (and in fact one of the best nonfiction books I’ve ever read) is The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. The book combines the terrifying Holmes murders against the backdrop of the World’s Fair building. It’s an amazing book, partly because it’s terrifying and partly because it paints an amazing picture of life at the turn of the century.
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You are reading: Books like devil in the white city
It’s time to get excited, as Martin Scorsese is apparently adapting the incredible book soon, starring none other than Leonardo DiCaprio as H.H. holmes, but what will we do until then? there are so many times you can reread the devil in the white city. Lucky for you, I’ve compiled a list of seven books that capture the old-time horror and excitement of a bygone era. check them out and try not to get too lost in the past.
1. the beautiful cigarette girl: mary rogers, edgar allen poe and the invention of murder by daniel stashower
In 1841 New York, there lived a beautiful 20-year-old named Mary Rogers, who gained a certain renown throughout the city solely because she sold cigars in a tobacconist shop that catered to all walks of life. . Everyone seemed to have a crush on her, which made it especially tragic when her battered and broken body was found floating in the Hudson River. as the police struggled to solve the murder, the public enthusiastically devoured nearly all published information on the subject of her death. Since the NYPD was considered a laughing stock at the time, Mary’s murder uncovered a seedy underbelly lurking in New York, filled with gangs, brothels, and backstreet abortions.
Many authors speculated on what might have happened to him at that time, but the most famous of all, Edgar Allen Poe, sent his own fictional detective, c. auguste dupin, to resolve it in his thinly veiled fictionalization called the mystery of marie roget, thus giving birth to the mystery genre in general. Expertly written and a compulsive read, this is one of those nonfiction books that reads like a thriller.
2. triangle: the fire that changed america by david von drehle
on march 25, 1911, a fire broke out at the triangle shirt factory in greenwich village, new york. within minutes, it spread to three floors of the factory, trapping most of the workers inside. firefighters were unable to reach the upper floors of the factory, and people on the street watched in horror as workers jumped to their deaths to escape the flames. one hundred and forty-six people died that day, and 123 of them were women. the tragedy drew public attention to the unsafe conditions of the factory in operation. Against the rampant corruption of Tammany Hall, von Drehle paints an incredible picture of vintage New York at its worst.
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3. Come Down Together: The Untold True Story of Bonnie and Clyde by Jeff Guinn
if you want to read about some old murders, you have to read about bonnie and clyde. Bonnie and Clyde were equal partners, which would have been romantic if they weren’t bank robbers and criminals. falling together destroys the theory that bonnie and clyde were master criminals. Although these crazy kids from Dallas changed their lives for a brief moment of excitement, they were actually quite inept. This book breaks down the truth about Bonnie and Clyde, from the moment they met to the day they met their deaths in a hail of bullets.
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4. Murder City Girls: Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Assassins Who Inspired Chicago by Douglas Perry
now we return to chicago. It’s 1924 and killer women are all the rage. Maurine Watkins, a journalist at the time, decided to make some of them special. female reporters in those days were expected to write about touchy things: recipes, social clubs, and clothes. But Watkins focused on the murders, particularly the stories of “graceful Belva” Gaertner and “beautiful Beulah” Annan, who brazenly murdered her lovers. soon these women were sensations; men sent flowers to them in jail, newly emancipated women wrote letters to local papers, and it quickly became a point of pride to be in “murderer’s row.” These stories would eventually inspire the musical chicago, but the celebrity these women enjoyed is almost too surreal to believe.
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5. Death in the City of Light: The Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied Paris by David King
It’s almost unthinkable. During the Nazi occupation of Paris during World War II, something incredibly sinister had begun to unfold: decapitated heads and dismembered body parts began to emerge in the Seine. Commissaire Georges-Victor Massu was tasked with tracking down a sinister serial killer lurking in the shadowy streets of the Parisian underworld where gestapo, pimps, prostitutes and spies lurked. enter dr. Marcel Petiot, a handsome and charismatic doctor known for providing free medical care to the poor. he would soon be charged with 27 murders, though authorities suspect he killed many, many more. the story sounds like the plot of a smash movie, but it’s all very, very real.
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6. manhunt: the 12 day chase of the lincoln killer by james l. swan
After Abraham Lincoln’s assassination on April 14, 1865, authorities began a 12-day manhunt to find John Wilkes’ cabin. The famous actor led union cavalry and detectives on a chase through Washington D.C., the Maryland swamps, and as far as Virginia. This hour-by-hour account of his hunt will have you sitting on the edge of your seat.
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7. Sin in the Second City: Ladies, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for the Soul of America by Karen Abbot
what about chicago? While New York City earned a reputation as the city that never sleeps, Chicago earned a reputation as the city that slept with everyone. Sin in the Second City takes you to the decadent lounge of the Everleigh Club, the most notorious brothel in American history and the battleground of a culture war that would eventually threaten to tear Chicago apart. This book focuses on Ava and Minna Everleigh, two aristocrats who worked to elevate the sex industry. the stunningly beautiful “everleigh butterflies” entertained senators, artists, and literary icons. The “butterflies” were fed gourmet food, received immaculate medical care, and were even schooled in Balzac literature. however, not everyone appreciated the sisters’ attempts to create a high-end brothel. Rival madams tried to ruin them by framing the sisters for murder, starting rumors of white slavery, and unleashing a brutal war of words that would shape America’s sexual culture for decades to come.
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