Morbid: H.H. Holmes Part 1, the Original American Monster

Chicago, 1893. The world has come to see the greatest fair in history. And just a short distance away, a charming young doctor is renting rooms to travelers who may never check out.

His name was H.H. Holmes. Today he is remembered as one of America's most infamous killers. Part of the reason is the building people later nicknamed the "Murder Castle." Part of it is how much of his legend is hard to separate from fact.

In Part 1 of their H.H. Holmes series, the hosts of Morbid blend true crime, history, and a little dark humor. They trace how a man born Herman Webster Mudgett built a new identity, ran a string of schemes, and left a trail of debts, broken promises, and missing people. Morbid's hosts are known for digging into the details and for keeping it conversational, so it never feels like a dry history lesson.

Here is the hook. How much of the Holmes story is real, and how much was inflated by newspapers hungry for a monster? The tales grew wilder with every retelling. Sorting fact from fiction is half the fun, and Part 1 sets the stage for everything that follows.

It also pairs perfectly with Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City, if you want to go deeper into the fair itself. Ready to meet the man behind the myth? Press play tonight and listen on Apple Podcasts, or find it wherever you get your podcasts.