Robert Bloch's fictionalized account of the notorious serial killer, H. H. Holmes. Holmes was also the subject of Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America which I thought was a great nonfictional account of Holmes and the murders he committed during the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. Holmes may have killed as many as 200 people, mostly young unsuspecting women. What motivated Holmes is a mystery, but he is considered one of America's earliest serial killers.
Of course Bloch takes a lot of liberties with the story of Holmes. He changes the name to G. Gordon Gregg and provides a female newspaper reporter named Crystal as the protagonist who is trying to find out what exactly Gregg is doing in his hotel, known as "The Castle." Gregg has been engaged to several women who disappear and his wife supposedly died in a fire at their home on the other side of town leaving Gregg with a large insurance settlement. And what happened to the workers and contractors who were not paid for the building of the Castle? The Castle is filled with secret passages and staircases. Will Crystal be able to penetrate the castle and get to the bottom of Gregg's misdeeds without him suspecting?
I have read a few other books by Bloch including his classic, Psycho, the basis for the Hitchcock film as well as many of his short stories which appeared originally in Weird Tales magazine. He is always good for a thrill or two. But this novel fell a little flat for me. Bloch really didn't divulge much of Gregg's motives and methods until near the end of the novel. I would recommend reading Larson's Devil in the White City instead for a more realistic and horrifying account of the real H.H. Holmes.
Of course Bloch takes a lot of liberties with the story of Holmes. He changes the name to G. Gordon Gregg and provides a female newspaper reporter named Crystal as the protagonist who is trying to find out what exactly Gregg is doing in his hotel, known as "The Castle." Gregg has been engaged to several women who disappear and his wife supposedly died in a fire at their home on the other side of town leaving Gregg with a large insurance settlement. And what happened to the workers and contractors who were not paid for the building of the Castle? The Castle is filled with secret passages and staircases. Will Crystal be able to penetrate the castle and get to the bottom of Gregg's misdeeds without him suspecting?
I have read a few other books by Bloch including his classic, Psycho, the basis for the Hitchcock film as well as many of his short stories which appeared originally in Weird Tales magazine. He is always good for a thrill or two. But this novel fell a little flat for me. Bloch really didn't divulge much of Gregg's motives and methods until near the end of the novel. I would recommend reading Larson's Devil in the White City instead for a more realistic and horrifying account of the real H.H. Holmes.
