In Ghostly’s fifteenth episode, Pat and Rebecca along with their friend Mondo explore H.H. Holmes, America’s first serial killer. He built himself a Murder Castle in Chicago during the 1893 World’s Fair, luring women to his apartment building, only to kill them and steal their money. The story his reign of terror ends with him fleeing across both the U.S. and Canada and eventually being caught and executed. Or was he?

Questions explored in this episode: Who was H.H. Holmes? Why is he called America’s first serial killer? Should he be called a serial killer? What were his crimes? What was the Murder Castle like? Is the spot of the Murder Castle still haunted today? Did Holmes die at his execution? Did he kill those who took part in his execution after the fact (alive or as a ghost)? Does he or do his victims still haunt Chicago?

HH Holmes Murder Castle

[Starts at 14:14] Listen to hear Pat give the history of H.H. Homes. After exploring his childhood, Pat goes into Holmes’s desire to be a doctor and pharmacist along with his love of skeletons and money. He reviews the building of the murder castle and how it connects to the Colombian Exposition, or 1893 World’s Fair. There are too many stories and victims to fit into one episode, so Pat wants to know…would you like to hear a special episode devoted just to the history of H.H. Holmes? If you do, be sure to vote in our Facebook poll!

1893 World’s Fair/The White City

[Starts at 56:02] After the history, listen to Rebecca tell the ghost story, putting the listen in the moment of what it would be like to be one of H.H. Holmes’s victims and learn why their spirits may still haunt that spot. 

[Starts at 58:55] Then listen to the Great Debate! Rebecca, Pat, and Mondo

go through all the paranormal sightings and happenings associated with Holmes

and debate what’s true and what’s just folklore. Listen to all sides and decide

what you believe.

[Starts at 1:35:46] Be sure to stay for the whole episode to hear the “Closing

Arguments” to help you make your choice.

Murder Castle Current Site

Now is the time to vote on this

episode! Vote on whether or not Holmes’s victims still haunt Chicago or if

Holmes himself haunted those who wronged him or maybe you believe that neither

of these is true. Find the poll on our Facebook page.  Just search

for Ghostly Podcast!

 Also included in this episode

are, as always, poll results from our previous episode on the Peshtigo Fire.

(Check out the episode here if you haven’t had a chance to listen yet).

Done listening to the episode? Please subscribe to Ghostly and give us a rating on iTunes or your favorite podcast app. Tell your friends! Then you can debate the truth yourselves! Word of mouth is one of the best ways to grow our audience, so we can do all the amazing things we have planned for this year. And be sure to find us on all social media at Ghostly Podcast. Then visit our website, www.ghostlypodcast.com, to see the pictures talked about in the episode, learn more about Ghostly, and, of course, give us your opinion on our polls on Facebook. 

We want to hear from you! We want

your ghost stories or even your non-stories, if you later realized you saw

nothing paranormal. We would also love your suggestions for stories to

cover in the future. Email us both at [email protected] or individually at [email protected]

or [email protected] 

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Sources for this week’s episode:
https://www.prairieghosts.com/holmes.html
http://theghosthuntuk.com/h-h-holmes-haunted-murder-castle/
https://4girlsandaghost.wordpress.com/2010/09/06/h-h-holmes-murder-castle/
http://mysteriouschicago.com/an-h-h-holmes-related-ghost-on-the-north-side/
http://weeklyview.net/2015/10/29/pat-quinlan-and-the-ghost-of-h-h-holmes-part-2/
Pictures discussed in the episode found here: http://mysteriouschicago.com/ghosts-at-the-h-h-holmes-body-dump/

Music for this episode was performed by Michael Rivers

Intro: III. Allegro moderato from Gargoyles by Lowell Liebermann
Outro: Dream Images (Love-Death Music) by George Crumb
Bumper: Ghost Waltz by Lowell Liebermann