“Chicago’s White City Devil” on Smithsonian’s MURDEROUS HISTORY

The latest documentary about the evil doings of H. H. Holmes joins a crowded collection of films and television shows about the “devil in the white city” who killed an unknown number of victims around the time of the World’s Columbian Exposition. It is among the best to date.

“Chicago’s White City Devil,” the second episode of the Smithsonian Channel’s new series Murderous History, features rather cheesy dramatic scenes along with informative commentary by a group of notable Chicago historians, authors, and journalists. The recreations utterly fail in their design to bring viewers into the historic setting of the Englewood neighborhood in Chicago where Holmes built and operated his infamous “Murder Castle.”

Sticking to the known facts and avoiding the sensationalism that plagues so many other Holmes doc films and shows are the experts assembled to explain the serial killer’s devilish acts. They include Chicago journalists Robert Jordan (retired WGN anchor) and Rick Kogan (Chicago newspaperman, author, and radio host) and historians Adam Selzer (author of H.H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil), Paul Durica (Director of Exhibitions at the Newberry Library), and Sam Matrani (College of DuPage).

A small part of the forty-four-minute episode addresses the 1893 World’s Fair, noting the important of the upcoming Exposition to Holmes’ business fraud and his visit to the fairgrounds with a future victim. To illustrate the scene set at the Fair historic photographs are used to create beautiful three-dimensional color moving images. These few moments make it worth seeking out this interesting and informative show.

Smithsonian Magazine released a companion article “The Enduring Mystery of H.H. Holmes, America’s ‘First’ Serial Killer” to mark the 125th anniversary of the execution of H. H. Holmes on May 7, 1896.