This project looks into an American serial killer called Henry Howard Holmes.
This piece of editorial design focuses on a hotel which he designed and built with the sole purpose of murdering its guests. The hotel was famously called "The Murder Castle" and was located in Chicago. Inside, there would be doors which would open up to brick walls, staircases leading nowhere and secret vents in each room that would release poisonous gases, amongst many other features. The guests would get confused as the hotel was extremely labyrinthine, eventually all of them would be lead to the basement, one by one, and he would trap them there. He would then go on to torture and kill each of his victims with medical precision, he would then cast their bodies aside and construct skeletons out of them; these skeletons would be sold for scientific purposes across universities in America.
According to a few historians, Holmes was severely bullied by his parents and schoolmates when he was a child. One specific incident involves a group of boys locking him inside a science lab and scaring him by standing behind a skeleton. It could be said that the process of constructing skeletons out of his victims, could be an attempt for Holmes to try and control his fear.
This book takes you through the story behind the structure of the castle, its victims and a glimpse of the killer behind it all – H.H.Holmes.
Riso printed – Embossed – Letter pressed – Hand sketched – Perfect Bound