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The Torture Doctor
Book by Franke, David
231 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1975
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 29, 2022
Well written details of a terrifying being. I was amazed at the commonality of the personalities of Holmes and Ted Bundy. If we could just figure out the kink in these brains.... I grieved at the deaths of the children and thrilled at his hanging. Interesting to note, Holmes' body was exhumed and studied in 2017.
"Holmes had left specific instructions for his burial. He was to be laid in a pine box and the box was then filled with cement, buried 10 feet in the ground and covered again with cement.
University of Pennsylvania anthropologist Samantha Cox, who did the forensic science on the exhumed remains, tells the NewsWorks online site that because of his unique burial requests, Holmes' body had not properly decomposed.
She said his clothes were almost perfectly preserved and his moustache was intact on his skull. But the corpse had decayed. "It stank," Cox told the news site. "Once it gets to that point we can't do anything with it. We can't test it, can't get any DNA out of it."
Holmes' teeth were used to identify him, she said.
WCAU-TV reports the remains were re-interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Yeadon.
"Holmes had left specific instructions for his burial. He was to be laid in a pine box and the box was then filled with cement, buried 10 feet in the ground and covered again with cement.
University of Pennsylvania anthropologist Samantha Cox, who did the forensic science on the exhumed remains, tells the NewsWorks online site that because of his unique burial requests, Holmes' body had not properly decomposed.
She said his clothes were almost perfectly preserved and his moustache was intact on his skull. But the corpse had decayed. "It stank," Cox told the news site. "Once it gets to that point we can't do anything with it. We can't test it, can't get any DNA out of it."
Holmes' teeth were used to identify him, she said.
WCAU-TV reports the remains were re-interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Yeadon.
December 5, 2014
I think this is a pretty good intro to Holmes...I read some other stuff about him before so I knew most of the information already but I still enjoyed it. I wonder what it means to enjoy a book you read about a serial killer...
March 31, 2025
This was a well-researched and well-written account of HH Holmes from the time of the murder of Ben Pitezel to his arrest and subsequent trial and execution. It has held up for 50 years
February 11, 2017
An excellent book on the subject of famed serial killer Herman Mudgett, aka H.H. Holmes, a professional con man who made a habit of killing women for their money, and went so far as to construct an elaborate death house in the heart of Chicago. A murderer whose apprehension made headlines at the time, the book is well researched and documented, including reprinted materials from the newspapers covering events at the time. H.H. Holmes is probably one of the most bizarre, enigmatic, and monstrous killers in American history, and The Torture Doctor is an exhaustive compendium of his crimes. A must-have for any True Crime fan.
September 15, 2016
I have read Devil in the White City. I have read The Beast of Chicago by Rick Geary, which led me to this book. Really I just want to goggle over the terrifying house that Holmes built, but there's not much information out there since it burnt down and we can't really believe anything that Holmes confessed to. So I just stare at the floor plans. This is a nice book to read, it tells the story as a detective story, starting with Pietzel's murder and following the investigation as it unfolds, instead of going from birth on biographically like Geary does, or making it part of a story about Chicago and its time, like Larson does (I think they all work, I appreciate that they all take different approaches) and this one quotes a lot of primary sources - transcripts of interviews and trials, and reproduces illustrations and cartoons from the time, and goes more into what was found in the basement of the house. So, well worth reading even if you know the story.
January 3, 2017
A straightforward account of the crimes of H. H. Holmes, 19th century serial killer, and the impressive detective work that led to his arrest. He was convicted of the murder of one person, for insurance money, then confessed to killing 26 people, mostly to gain petty amounts of money or just to get them out of the way when they became inconvenient. It's well illustrated with drawings and other ephemera from the newspapers of the time. The author uses a style similar to that of contemporary tabloids, which I found charming in an weird way. Apparently this book is the first one about this killer and maybe that's why it's going for $35 and up on abebooks.
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September 28, 2009About H.H. Holmes, the serial killer physician from "Devil in the White City." Unbelievably macabre guy, who was able to stay under the radar to kill lots of people during Chicago's World's Fair in 1893.
February 16, 2012
This isn't the best written book, but it did have a little more information on H. H. Holmes than other books I've read. This one includes his trial and some of his own words. He admits to killing 27 people and why he killed them. He was one sick puppy!
December 2, 2009
The is from back in my true crime era. It was where I first heard of H.H. Holmes who was a central character in Eric Larson's "The Devil In The White City"
May 3, 2016
read SOMETIME in 2005
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews