Everything Remarkable about Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

was written by New York Times bestselling author Erik Larson. It is based on the true story of both the architect who led the construction of Chicago’s World’s Fair in 1893 and the infamous serial killer, H.H. Holmes, who used the fair as his grounds for luring victims. It’s a perfect balance of reality, murder, and a little bit of mental instability.

Who is Erik Larson?

Erik Larson was born in Brooklyn on January 3, 1954, but grew up in Freeport, Long Island. Originally wanting to become a New York cartoonist, he found more success with his writing.

Larson followed his teenage girlfriend to the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated summa cum laude. Later, many years after graduating, he worked as an editorial assistant in New York. He attended journalism grad school at Columbia University, which led him to work at the Bucks County Courier Times in Levittown, Pennsylvania.

After growing tired of working as a journalist, Larson married and moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where he began writing novels. Eventually, he moved to Manhattan with his wife and three daughters.

The Devil in the White City

The book is based on factual events and follows two men, one an architect and one a doctor, during the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. The fair’s director is the architect Daniel Hudson Burnham, who is also behind structures such as the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, DC.

The doctor is none other than the serial killer H. H. Holmes, who built a torture hotel, known as Murder Castle, near the fairgrounds. Inside the hotel, Holmes installed a dissecting table, a gas chamber, and a crematorium. He also built secret passages, trapdoors, and even soundproofed his rooms.

About Daniel Hudson Burnham

The American architect Daniel Hudson Burnham was born in Henderson, New York, on September 4, 1846. He was most famous for his work in creating the skyscraper.

It was 1855 when Burnham’s family moved to Chicago. Burnham studied at Snow’s Swedenborgian Academy, Central High School, and New-Church Theological School. He tried mining and running for state senate in Nevada but was met with disappointment and failure.

In 1870 Burnham returned to Chicago to pursue a career in architecture. Partnering with John Wellborn Root in 1872, he found success in starting an architectural firm. The rest, as they say, is history. Burnham passed away in Germany on June 1, 1912.

About H.H. Holmes

H.H. Holmes was born Herman Mudgett on May 16, 1861, in Gilmanton, New Hampshire. He came from a wealthy family and was said to show a high level of intelligence from a young age. Holmes was also said to trap animals and perform surgery on them.

Holmes struggled as a student while attending medical school at the University of Michigan. After taking a job as a pharmacist in 1886, he changed his name from Herman Mudgett to Dr. H.H. Holmes. During this time he was believed to start his killing spree to attain people’s property.

Some accounts claim that Holmes would seduce women, get engaged to them, and then kill them after attaining their life savings. His employees were required to carry life insurance policies that named Holmes as the beneficiary.

After murdering his victims, Holmes would sell their bodies to medical schools in the area. Holmes was a con artist and was arrested several times for other unlawful acts. He was also responsible for defrauding insurance companies. After his final arrest in 1894, he was sentenced to death by hanging for his crimes. He died on May 7, 1896.

On the Screen

Reports state that Martin Scorsese, Keanu Reeves, and Leonardo DiCaprio are linked to adaptations of Larson’s novel. Appian Way Productions, owned by DiCaprio, attained the rights to The Devil in the White City in 2010.

In 2015, during which time was envisioned as a movie, DiCaprio and Scorsese agreed to collaborate on the adaptation of Larson’s novel. Both plan to be executive producers for the project.

Reeves has been rumored to be playing the role of Burnham, but nothing has been set in stone.

Erik Larson’s Other Books

Larson wrote many nonfiction books, including No One Goes Alone, The Splendid and the Vile, Dead Wake, Thunderstruck, Isaac’s Storm, Lethal Passage, The Naked Consumer, and In the Garden of Beasts.

The Devil in the White City continues to be among readers’ favorite Larson novels. It’s your turn to turn back the clock and enter the world of “murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed America.”