Words of a Monster

<p> Decades before the term "serial killer" was coined, H.H. Holmes murdered dozens of people in his now-infamous Chicago "Murder Castle."</p><p> In his autobiography, Holmes struggled to define himself in the language of the late nineteenth century. As the "first"--or, as he labeled himself, "The Greatest Criminal of the Age"--he had no one to compare himself to, and no ready-made biographical structure to follow. Holmes was thus nearly able to invent himself from scratch.<