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The Murder Castle Is Gone, But the Haunting Remains · Mystery Archives Episodes

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There are places in American history where the lines between
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man, myth, and monster dissolve completely.
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But few names bring that division to ash like Doctor
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Henry Howard Holmes, better known as HH Holmes, the charming
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physician, the fraudulent entrepreneur, the pathological
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con artist, and the architect of one of the most disturbing
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structures ever built, a Chicago building that newspapers later
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called the Murder Castle. His crimes were real, and so
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were his victims. And if the testimonies that
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followed are to be believed, so are the things that lingered
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after him. Some claim to hear footsteps in
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sealed halls. Others swore Holmes himself
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returned long after the noose broke his neck.
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Holmes Englewood building soon gained A notorious reputation as
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the so-called Murder Castle, a name coined by the yellow press.
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The structure was an unnerving mix of legitimate business and
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hidden horrors. Contemporary newspapers in the
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sensational style of the 1890s described a castle as a
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labyrinthian death trap designed by Holmes to lure him victims.
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According to these reports and later books, Holmes's building
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contained windowless rooms, secret passageways, false
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floors, doors that opened into brick walls, staircases leading
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nowhere, and a maze like layout intended to confuse anyone
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inside. Many rooms were allegedly
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outfitted as soundproof chambers the homes could lock from the
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outside. There were also claims of
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special asphyxiation chambers, pipes connected to gas lines so
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that homes from his own quarters could turn a valve and silently
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fill a guest room with lethal gas while they slept in the
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basement. Holmes was said to have
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installed a crematorium disguised as a normal furnace to
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incinerate bodies, vats of acid and quicklime to dissolve
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corpses, and medical tables for the dissection of victims.
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In one lurid 1943 description by writer John Bartlow Martin, the
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seller was perhaps the most remarkable section, fitted with
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operating tables, a crematorium, pits containing quick lime and
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acids, surgical instruments, and various pieces of apparatus
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which, resembling medieval torture acts, never were
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satisfactorily explained. Supposedly, Holmes even had a
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stretching rack for horrific experiments and hired A needy
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articulator, an articulate skeleton seller, to help strip
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flesh from bodies and assemble skeletons for sale.
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These gruesome features, trapdoors, torture devices,
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secret shoots for dumping bodies, captured the public's
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imagination and earned the building its nickname as a House
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of horrors. However, later research has
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shown that many of these claims were exaggerated or outright
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myths propagated by 19th century tabloids.
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The reality of Holmes Castle, while certainly sinister, was
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less likely fantastic than the legend.
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Modern historians like Adam Selzer and Harold Schechter have
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noted that much of the murder castle law came from an overly
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credulous press that printed wild allegations during Holmes's
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arrest and trial. For example, newspapers reported
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that the castle contained over 100 rooms and countless
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passageways of terror, but in truth, the completed portion was
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of modest size. The third floor was never fully
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finished or used as a hotel in any significant capacity.
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Blueprints and analysis indicate the building had some oddly
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constructed rooms and a few secret compartments, but these
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spaces likely served to hide stolen merchandise, furniture
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that Homes had acquired on credit and never paid for,
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rather than to imprison victims. It is true that Homes designed
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the 2nd floor in a confusing way, probably to double cross
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creditors and provide concealment.
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There was a walk in vault built into the 2nd floor which Holmes
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used as an office safe, a room he could still shut.
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This vault did figure in one of Holmes's murders as an airtight
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chamber for suffocation, but the sensational claims of hinged
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walls, spring loaded torture devices, or rooms literally
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built as gas chambers were not substantiated by physical
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evidence. When investigators finally
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examined the property in 1895, they did discover a few hidden
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closets, sealed rooms, a secret staircase, and the chute leading
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from the 2nd floor to the basement, through which homes
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could slide bodies. The basement did contain a
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furnace, pits of quick lime and bottles of chemicals, items
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which could be used for disposing of corpses.
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Police also found an array of surgical tools and charred
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remains, but much of the more elaborate torture palace
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narrative was likely the product of yellow journalism and
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Holmes's own embellishments. Holmes himself encouraged these
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ghastly tales, at times, perhaps to inflate his infamy.
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Even so, the castle was undeniably the site of multiple
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murders, and the evil aura of the place has persisted in
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legend. Holmes's last quip, when the
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executioner fumble with the noose, was chillingly casual.
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Take your time, old man, I'm in no hurry, he joked.
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At 10:13 AM, the trap door was sprung by Sheriff Clement.
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Holmes dropped and the rope went taut.
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Contrary to some reports that his neck did not break,
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contemporary medical witnesses said Holmes's neck was broken by
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the fall. However, his body did exhibit
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notable twitching and convulsions for nearly 15
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minutes before he was officially pronounced dead.
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Observers found this gruesomely fitting, a slow death for a man
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who had inflicted slow agony on others.
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By 10:25 AM, HH Holmes was declared dead at age 34.
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Holmes had one final request that spoke to his macabre life.
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He asked that his coffin be filled with cement and buried
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extra deep 10 feet down because he feared grave robbers might
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steal his body for dissection. It's a dark irony that this
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notorious body snatcher and seller of cadavers was terrified
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of becoming a cadaver himself. But his wish was granted.
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After the execution, no autopsy was performed.
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Holmes's lawyer objected to it. 1 odd footnote Decades after his
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death, rumours emerged that Holmes had somehow faked his
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execution and escaped. Given his penchant for trickery,
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this was pure conspiracy theory, but gained some traction in
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fringe discussions to lay it to rest.
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In 2017, researchers obtained permission to exhume Holmes body
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from Holy Cross Cemetery. Because of the concrete
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encasement, Holmes remains were remarkably well preserved.
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His clothing was intact and even his trademark moustache was
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recognisable on the skull. Dental records positively
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identified the body as indeed Holmes.
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After over 120 years, Holmes had not managed one last escape from
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the noose. He was reburied and thus the
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final chapter of HH Holmes Life closed with certainty.
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Chicago quickly learned that death does not always mean
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silence. The building at 63rd and Wallace
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stood empty after Holmes's arrest.
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The windows were dark, the doors locked.
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Police posted outside to guard what had become both a crime
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scene and a spectacle. Inside, the air was stale.
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It was thick with soot, chemicals and something else.
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Officers assigned to the night watch said that the place never
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felt still. It started with sounds.
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Soon police began hearing knocking that was heavy and
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seemed deliberate. 3 raps, always in sequence, not from the
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door but from within the walls. They checked time and time again
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in every room, on every floor, but always met face to face with
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nothing. Soon footsteps followed, slow
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ones pacing above them when the upper levels were clearly empty.
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A door slammed on the 2nd floor while an officer stood below,
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keys in hand, staring up at the stairwell.
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Another reported a sudden cold spreading throughout a hallway
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that had been warm moments before.
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These strange happenings soon became official.
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Reports logged incidents, and soon men in uniform whispered to
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each other that something was inside the building and that
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something was not of this realm. It was only a matter of time
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until the Chicago press caught wind of what was happening with
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the papers spreading the news. Some laughed, some speculated.
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Yet a sneaking feeling that something mysterious plagued
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that horrible building persisted.
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Soon another event followed. Late one night in August of
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1895, witnesses saw two figures enter the castle and the moments
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later an explosion was heard and soon flames engulfed the
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building itself. Yet despite witnesses to the
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figures and law enforcement's best efforts at the time to
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determine the culprits, no one was ever charged.
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Some said it was accomplices trying to erase evidence.
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Yet whatever the case may have been, the castle survived, but
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only barely. Its interior had been entirely
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gutted. Yet even after the fire, creepy
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reports continued. Neighbors in nearby buildings
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spoke of noises from the ruins at night, lights flickering or
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no electricity remained, a sense of pressure when passing too
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close, like walking through a pocket of heavy air.
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Holmes was physically gone, yet someone or something seemed to
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still occupy what had been dubbed his Murder Castle.
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Years passed. The building was eventually torn
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down brick by brick, erasing the notorious location from the
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skyline and its place. The city built something
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ordinary instead, a post office. By then, most assumed the horror
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had finally been buried. But some secrets refused to
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eternally rest. Postal workers assigned to the
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Englewood location began telling similar stories.
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They spoke of the basement, where upon descending the steps,
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it felt as if one was stepping into a tomb, their lungs
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becoming filled with stale, dead air, of footsteps echoing behind
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them when no one was there, of doors slamming shut on their
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own. Machines malfunctioned
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repeatedly in specific areas, and lights flickered for no
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reason. Accompanying these happenings
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soon came a disturbing manifestation.
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Screams. Sharp and loud, disembodied
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screams, described the same way by different people who never
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spoke to each other, occasionally pierced the air.
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These happenings almost always seem to occur within the
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basement of the post office. Some workers who heard them ran,
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some froze, and several never went back downstairs again.
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These occurrences became so frequent that over time,
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multiple employees refused to work alone below ground.
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Accompanying the screams, the postal workers soon also began
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reporting seeing full bodied apparitions yet again, typically
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centered around the basement. Witnesses described the same
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sensation after these encounters, confusion, dread,
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and the overwhelming certainty that they were not welcome.
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But among these shadowy figures was one that became more
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prominent than the others, with disturbing reports centered on
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its presence. In particular, workers soon
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spoke of a tall, menacing man in black, not a clear apparition,
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but more like a silhouette, but one that was darker than the
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surrounding darkness. This shadow man was often seen
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in one's peripheral vision and then would vanish when
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confronted. Yet its presence was accompanied
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by feelings of a pressure on one's chest, a tightening in the
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throat, and the overwhelming dread that one was an imminent
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danger. Many would come to believe that
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this was the spirit of Holmes himself.
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With this being said, there are possible explanations.
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Of course old buildings make noise.
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Stress creates hallucinations, history influences perception.
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All of these are true, but the stories never stopped.
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They spanned decades with new employees, new generations, but
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the same basement, the same kind of reports.
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This leads me to the question that can a place designed for
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cruelty ever become neutral again?
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Holmes built his castle to confuse, isolate, and ultimately
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destroy. He engineered secrecy, silence,
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and control. If places absorb intention and
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trauma, if human suffering leaves an imprint, then the
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ground is 63rd and Wallace absorbs something profoundly
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evil. Could these events ever truly be
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forgotten? Or would it, and could it still
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remain stained upon the land where the castle once sat?
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Holmes once wrote that he believed he was born evil, with
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the devil in him. Whether that was a lie or a
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delusion no longer matters. What matters is this.
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Men like Holmes do not simply kill people.
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They change the energy and history of places forever and
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long after the walls fall, after the bricks are hauled away and
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the ground is repurposed, the echoes remain.
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Footsteps in an empty hall, a scream that stops too soon, a
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shadow that watches. The murder castle may be gone,
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but something, whether it's Holmes himself, his victims, or
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another much more ancient, an evil entity seems to still lurk
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upon the land of the walls once held such horrific acts and
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trauma. Something that is watching and
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waiting to take a soul like a thief in the night.
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I appreciate you all as always and we're starting off 2026 with
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I'll see you again soon with another brand new video.
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This has been Cody here at Mystery Archives.
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Stay safe out there from monsters like HH Holmes and
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other creepy things that lurk in the shadows and take care.
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I'll see you next time.