Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The Devil in The White City by Erik Larson

Oh man, CREEPY! And interesting. I listened to this as an audiobook while out on my early morning walks . . . in the misty dawn . . . with leaves crunching under foot . . . bare trees . . . the moon.

Okay, so. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson is actually two parallel stories: One being the building of the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in the 1890s, an endeavour of truly astronomical proportions. The other being that of serial killer Dr. Henry H. Holmes who preyed on trusting young travellers (mostly women) coming to Chicago for the fair. He built a nearby 'hotel' with businesses on the ground floor and rooms above as a façade for what can only be referred to as a house of horrors.

Normally I don't go for cheesy, gross-out movies like 'Hostel', but this, as a non-fiction book with some context, intrigue and insight, is a vastly more interesting story. It has a solid creep factor without all the gory in-your-face details. My imagination takes care of that just fine, thanks. Word on the street is that Leonardo diCaprio just bought the movie rights . . . Hmm, we'll see where he goes with this one.

Happy Halloween!


















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5 comments:

Sam (Tiny Library) said...

This book has been on my wishlist for a while - glad to see you enjoyed it!

Trish said...

Yes, it's quite good. I wasn't sure about it at first but then I was completely intrigued.

laughingwolf said...

di caprio? *shudder* :(

that's as bad as casting 5'-nothing tom cruise to play 'jack reacher', lee child's 6'7"-6'8" retired, marines military police major! wtf?

hoolyweird gets suckier/stupider by the minute!

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Trish said...

Haha - yeah, Hollywood. They know how to spoil a good story.

Alexis @ Reflections of a Bookaholic said...

I really enjoyed this one. I too found it creepy. I'm curious about what it sounds like on audio though.