Dr. H. H. Holmes, first serial killer in the U.S.

Before 1890, the concept of serial killers in America was foreign and seemingly impossible. The closest anyone living in the U.S. had come to a killing spree was the front page of the paper, detailing the Whitechapel killings of Jack the Ripper. A sense of safeness prevaded the country; nothing like the brutal Ripper murders had ever occurred here. However, when Dr. H. H. Holmes stepped off of a train and into Chicago in 1886, everything changed. Holmes was America's first known serial killer. Based in Chicago, over a period of two years, Holmes killed frequently. In his memoir, he claims to have killed 27 people. The actual number of victims is not known, with some accounts ranging up to two hundred people.
Since then, serial killers have been rampant in the United States. New horror stories arise every day of killings and kidnappings. From Manson to Bundy to Dahmer, our history has been filled with the attrocities of these men and women. As awful as these events sometimes are, there is an undeniable fascination surrounding them.