Connect with us

News

Did Serial Killer H.H. Holmes Cheat His Own Death?

Published

on

The death penalty – a fitting end for any serial killer. Which is exactly what ended the life of Chicago serial killer H.H. Holmes, widely regarded as America’s first serial killer.

Or did it?

There has long been speculation that H.H. Holmes actually cheated his own death and escaped to South America before he could be hanged. A con man with almost no rival, this would have been the ultimate victory to cap off his legacy of vicious deeds. This speculation is hoped to be put to rest when his body is exhumed from the Holy Cross cemetery, where he was said to be buried.

Courtesy of Indiana’s Digital Newspaper Program

NBC Chicago recently published a story about the long-dead killer and his descendent’s quest to put this story to rest for good. His great-grandchildren petitioned the Pennsylvania courts and received approvement for a DNA examination. John Mudgett, Richard Mudgett, and Cynthia Mudgett Soriano want to know whether or not Holmes is really buried where it says he is.

Known at birth as Herman Webster Mudgett, Holmes was the mastermind behind a real-life house of horrors in Chicago. In his “murder castle” located on 63rd and Wallace, a purported 200 women were slain. Holmes would confess to over two dozen. While it’s not clear on the exact count, what is clear is that the house was a place of secret rooms and shrieks of murder.

The Anthropology Department of the University of Pennsylvania will be conducting DNA tests on the body once exhumed. Some have theorized that shortly before his death, H.H. Holmes conned the hangman and got away with replacing an unknown substitute in place of himself. He requested layers upon layers of cement to be lain over his casket after death, ensuring that no one would ever find out about his final great escape.

Whoever is buried in Holmes’ grave will have 120 posthumous days of freedom before it is required to be put back in its rightful place of burial. Holmes or not, the body is going back in the ground. According to the court order, filed March 9th of this year:

In the event it is determined that the remains are not those of Herman Webster Mudgett or are unidentifiable, the Petitioners (Mudgett’s descendants) shall be responsible for purchasing a cemetery marker in addition to requirements for interment.

While the true story of H.H. Holmes’ body count and murder castle may forever be shrouded in mystery and exaggeration, the question of his final escape will soon be answered. And if it’s not him who is in that grave?

Well, some secrets last forever, don’t they?

Courtesy of Indiana’s Digital Newspaper Program

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Movies

‘Evil Dead’ Film Franchise Getting TWO New Installments

Published

on

It was a risk for Fede Alvarez to reboot Sam Raimi’s horror classic The Evil Dead in 2013, but that risk paid off and so did its spiritual sequel Evil Dead Rise in 2023. Now Deadline is reporting that the series is getting, not one, but two fresh entries.

We already knew about the Sébastien Vaniček upcoming film that delves into the Deadite universe and should be a proper sequel to the latest film, but we are broadsided that Francis Galluppi and Ghost House Pictures are doing a one-off project set in Raimi’s universe based off of an idea that Galluppi pitched to Raimi himself. That concept is being kept under wraps.

Evil Dead Rise

“Francis Galluppi is a storyteller who knows when to keep us waiting in simmering tension and when to hit us with explosive violence,” Raimi told Deadline. “He is a director that shows uncommon control in his feature debut.”

That feature is titled The Last Stop In Yuma County which will release theatrically in the United States on May 4. It follows a traveling salesman, “stranded at a rural Arizona rest stop,” and “is thrust into a dire hostage situation by the arrival of two bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty-or cold, hard steel-to protect their bloodstained fortune.”

Galluppi is an award-winning sci-fi/horror shorts director whose acclaimed works include High Desert Hell and The Gemini Project. You can view the full edit of High Desert Hell and the teaser for Gemini below:

High Desert Hell
The Gemini Project

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

Continue Reading

Movies

‘Invisible Man 2’ Is “Closer Than Its Ever Been” to Happening

Published

on

Elisabeth Moss in a very well-thought-out statement said in an interview for Happy Sad Confused that even though there have been some logistical issues for doing Invisible Man 2 there is hope on the horizon.

Podcast host Josh Horowitz asked about the follow-up and if Moss and director Leigh Whannell were any closer to cracking a solution to getting it made. “We are closer than we have ever been to cracking it,” said Moss with a huge grin. You can see her reaction at the 35:52 mark in the below video.

Happy Sad Confused

Whannell is currently in New Zealand filming another monster movie for Universal, Wolf Man, which might be the spark that ignites Universal’s troubled Dark Universe concept which hasn’t gained any momentum since Tom Cruise’s failed attempt at resurrecting The Mummy.

Also, in the podcast video, Moss says she is not in the Wolf Man film so any speculation that it’s a crossover project is left in the air.

Meanwhile, Universal Studios is in the middle of constructing a year-round haunt house in Las Vegas which will showcase some of their classic cinematic monsters. Depending on attendance, this could be the boost the studio needs to get audiences interested in their creature IPs once more and to get more films made based on them.

The Las Vegas project is set to open in 2025, coinciding with their new proper theme park in Orlando called Epic Universe.

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

Continue Reading

News

Jake Gyllenhaal’s Thriller ‘Presumed Innocent’ Series Gets Early Release Date

Published

on

Jake gyllenhaal presumed innocent

Jake Gyllenhaal’s limited series Presumed Innocent is dropping on AppleTV+ on June 12 instead of June 14 as originally planned. The star, whose Road House reboot has brought mixed reviews on Amazon Prime, is embracing the small screen for the first time since his appearance on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1994.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s in ‘Presumed Innocent’

Presumed Innocent is being produced by David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. It is an adaptation of Scott Turow’s 1990 film in which Harrison Ford plays a lawyer doing double duty as an investigator looking for the murderer of his colleague.

These types of sexy thrillers were popular in the ’90s and usually contained twist endings. Here’s the trailer for the original:

According to Deadline, Presumed Innocent doesn’t stray far from the source material: “…the Presumed Innocent series will explore obsession, sex, politics and the power and limits of love as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.”

Up next for Gyllenhaal is the Guy Ritchie action movie titled In the Grey scheduled for release in January 2025.

Presumed Innocent is an eight-episode limited series set to stream on AppleTV+ starting June 12.

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

Continue Reading