As ingenious and murderous as any psychopath in history, serial killer H.H. Holmes is an enduring icon of the twentieth century’s most famous unsolved murder spree. His legacy is one of deception, power, and death—and to this day, no one knows who he really was or how many people he murdered in his lifetime.
Holmes confessed to 27 murders over a 20-year period, but the true number of victims is probably extraordinarily higher – some estimate it could be as high as 200.
His crimes are unmatched by any other killer in the history of America and his actions are considered the first to fit the FBI’s new profile of a serial killer.
Here are 16 H.H. Holmes quotes to give you a more complete picture of the man…and the murderer.
The Quotes of H.H. Holmes
“I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing. I was born with the evil one standing as my sponsor beside the bed where I was ushered into the world, and he has been with me since.”
-H.H. Holmes, according to his confession
“I love children… they are tasty.”
-Holmes said this according to a police officer during interrogation
“I will not die by the hand of man.”
-Holmes said this according to a police officer during interrogation
“I was born with the evil one standing as my sponsor beside the bed where I was ushered into the world, and he has been with me since.”
-H. H. Holmes to Dr. Ferdinand C. Gaucher
“It’s fun to be a butcher.”
-H.H. Holmes to Dr. Ferdinand C. Gaucher
“I would give them potassium cyanide.”
-H. H. Holmes was quoted in a Chicago paper as saying this about how he would murder his victims.
“This was my first experience with insane persons, and so terrible was it that for years afterwards, even now sometimes, I see their faces in my sleep.”‘
-H.H. Holmes reflecting on his time working in an insane asylum
“There are none who do not believe that I am guilty; I admit it freely. There are many with whom I could have lived happily, but those who know me only from what I have said and done in my confession would dread to associate with me. I am a monomaniac on the subject of killing, and I have no desire for any peace of mind. I do not wish to be at large, and if it were not for that detective [Geo. W. Dilley] who is still in search of me, I would run my head against the first stone wall in sight.”
-H. H. Holmes to Dr. Ferdinand C. Gaucher
“My idea is right… It will work, it must work.”
-H.H. Holmes while working on his hotel in Englewood, IL
“I am convinced that since my imprisonment I have changed woefully and gruesomely from what I was formerly in feature and figure…My head and face are gradually assuming an elongated shape. I believe fully that I am growing to resemble the devil—that the similitude is almost completed.”
“My mental powers are perfectly clear. I have no delusions, and certainly no hallucinations…I am not deranged, but right as rain in regard to everything… My mind is as active to-day as it has ever been…”
“At first I did not understand what caused these fumes, but now I attribute them to the decaying bodies in the barrels which settled down into the earth as they caved in one after another.”
“I have always found something peculiarly fascinating about fire, about its mysterious power and its destructive range. I have had such a liking for fire that I have frequently started conflagrations.”
“I do not think that I am guilty of any crime in the way the public can understand it.”
“The sight was disgusting, yet when I looked upon it, and realized that at least $20,000 would come to me after a little further trouble, I gazed on it as a very good investment which was about to mature.”
-H.H. Holmes on his stealing a corpse identical in appearance to himself with the intention of faking his death for insurance money
“Take your time…don’t bungle it.”
-H.H. Holmes’ last words before his execution
