10 Historical Secret Rooms and Hidden Passages

(images via: Supernatural)

Among the more gruesome hidden rooms and secret passages were those used by H.H. Holmes, often called America’s first serial killer. In the late 1800s, Holmes (born Herman Webster Mudgett) constructed an enormous building in Chicago. Part of the money for this project came from his dishonest dealings in insurance fraud and the occasional murder. The top floor of the three-story building contained numerous architectural oddities, like hidden staircases, doors that could only be opened from the outside, and trap doors allowing Holmes to enter rooms while guests were sleeping. No builder worked on the construction for very long because Holmes wanted to be the only person to know its secrets. It is believed that Holmes murdered hundreds of victims in this “Murder Castle,” as it became known. The victims’ bodies dropped to the hidden dissection room/crematorium in the basement via a secret chute. The Murder Castle burned to the ground in 1895 and a post office now stands on the site.