The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America is a 2003 historical non-fiction book by Erik Larson presented in a novelistic style. The book is based on real characters and events. It tells the story of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago from the viewpoint of the designers, including Daniel Burnham, and also tells the story of H. H. Holmes, a criminal figure in that same time often credited as the first modern serial killer. Leonardo DiCaprio purchased the film rights in 2010.
Plot
The book is set in Chicago in 1893, interweaving the true tales of Daniel H. Burnham, the architect behind the 1893 World's Fair, and Dr. H. H. Holmes, a pharmacist and serial killer who lured his victims to their deaths in his elaborately constructed "Murder Castle". The Devil in the White City is divided into four parts, the first three happening in Chicago between 1890-1893, while part four of the book takes place in Philadelphia circa 1895. The story of Daniel Burnham, his building of the fair and the struggles he overcomes forms one plot line. The other, a vivid and very different plot line, is that of H.H. Holmes, a mentally unstable pharmacist/doctor who forms a plan to use an abandoned lot across the street from his pharmacy to lure and kill multiple victims.
Patrick Prendergast: assassin who killed Mayor Harrison under the delusional belief that he had helped Harrison win re-election
Adaptation
purchased the film rights to the book in 2010. The film version, as originally planned, would have been directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Billy Ray, and produced jointly by Paramount Pictures, Double Feature Films, and DiCaprio's Appian Way Productions. In 2019, Hulu began developing a series based on the book. Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese will executive produce the project along with Stacey Sher, Rick Yorn, Emma Koskoff, and Jennifer Davisson. Paramount Television will produce.
