The Devil's City - Into the Mind of H.H. Holmes... with Pictures!
Sara Tantlinger was kind enough to send me a signed copy of this beautiful hardcover novella that she and Matt Corley created. It instantly reminded me of the fun and spooky books I used to get in the library as a kid that had cartoonish but haunting covers, with pictures included inside. The pictures in this book were much more intricate, beautiful, and memorable though. It brought back that feeling of being excited to see how the next picture will complement the storyline, and it certainly did not disappoint.
Feeling like I was equipped with more information from having read Sara Tantlinger's The Devil's Dreamland: Poetry Inspired by H.H. Holmes last year, I was ready to delve deeper into the mind and story of H.H. Holmes. This novella is a bit more of a light sweeping than the in-depth book of poetry, but it was satisfying nonetheless.
The chapters were initiated with quotes from H.H. Holmes' diary that were fascinating in their narcissistic tendencies. A scientific method of presentation then offers insights into the people surrounding Holmes, how they caught his eye, and then later his surgical weapons. It felt like this novella spent the first while creating a gap between the reader and H.H. Holmes, like this mysterious anomaly of a sociopath with icy blue eyes could not be captured fully, even in words. This made the humanity of the victims clearer. With a stirring climax, there is brief yet intimate look at him and his thoughts that bridges that gap and takes you from the perspective of his victims into the madness that is his own mind.
The interest that this lunatic holds for me is only surmounted by the creativity that Sara Tantlinger, and now Matt Corley, draw from his disturbing inspiration. I recommend this sickly sweet little read.
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