A Treasury of Victorian Murder: The Beast of Chicago

Not even the list of crimes linked to the recently charged Green River Killer compares to those of America's first (known) serial killer, H.H. Holmes, who, it is said, killed as many as 200 people in Chicago in the late 19th Century.

Holmes was a con man, a charismatic charmer whose most heinous crimes are mostly captured in speculation. There is little evidence of who he killed -- it was much easier to "disappear" in the 19th Century than it is today -- but little doubt of how he killed them.

While less well-known than his more contemporary counterparts, a number of writers have attempted to chronicle the few concrete facts about Holmes. Now Geary joins their ranks in this, the sixth graphic novel in his "Treasury of Victorian Murder" series.

Most who were acquainted with Holmes in Chicago at the time of the 1893 World's Fair knew of him as a respectable man, with a string of businesses, a beautiful if rarely seen wife, and the huge home / storefront / hotel known as "The Castle" which he built on 63rd Street.

But the real Holmes was much different from his public face. He and his string of failed businesses ran up huge debts which were never paid off. He was a liar and a cheat. His marriage was a sham. And the Castle... the Castle was Holmes' one true source of income. Of course, that income came from the possessions he stole from his murdered guests and the body parts he routinely sold to medical institutions.

Built to his specifications by a series of builders who never saw the plans for the whole building (or likely even got paid for their work), the Castle, it was later discovered, was built for killing. Guest room contained gas jets which Holmes could turn into remote-control flame-throwers from secret locations. A huge vault was found to contain human claw marks on the inside. A furnace big enough to burn bodies, and a blood-stained dissecting table, were found in the basement, along with a collection of human bones.

It's a macabre story, and Geary lets it unfold in a manner that is shocking but not exploitive. He takes his time, hints at horrors to come, but writes with an almost journalistic emotional distance from the facts. His writing style apes the flowery, formal text of the Victorian era, and his detailed drawings hearken back to an earlier time. Every detail of the day is meticulously researched, from the architecture to the clothing, and every stroke of his pen builds a tone that captures the seriousness of the day.

Reading about Holmes is a bit frustrating, because so little is actually known about him. He covered his tracks well, and much of what we know has been pieced together from what little remained. The Castle burned down in 1895. Holmes himself, when captured, alternately professed his innocence and admitted guilt while adding lie upon lie to the lies that had already made up his life.

Why did Holmes kill? How many did he really kill? How did he do it and get away with it for so long? There are no answers, and Geary, to his credit, does not pretend to try to know them. He just lays out the known facts -- and the known lies -- for the reader, and lets us know that sometimes, true evil really does exist.

Three stars.

Available digitally from Comixology.

(Review originally published in 2003.)