Not as bad- he was a con artist who killed people for insurance money, not just some psychopath who loved murder. He didn't kill as many people as is attributed to him (or that he claimed). The "murder castle" existed but he wasn't even in Chicago during the World's Fair.
Source: https://www.amazon.com/H-Holmes-History-White-Devil/dp/1510713433
I strongly recommend anyone interested in H.H. Holmes read The True Story Of The White City Devil by Adam Selzer. Its nonfiction and addresses some of the myths perpetuated by The Devil In White City
This book which was a great, well written read. Basically, most of the sources used by Larson & others were wrong/exaggerated
Except it was never a "murder hotel" and he killed way less people than he's given credit for Source
Actually it turns out a lot of the sources Larson used were false/exaggerated Source
This book is a good one
The True History Of The White City Devil is also worth reading, it dispels some of the myths Devil in White City perpetuates
Some of those are a little questionable. There are strong arguments that the charges against de Rais and Bathory were contrived and embellished at the instigation of their heirs or political rivals, and their confessions obtained under torture (which was considered better than a mere confession back in the day, but makes them doubtful now).
H.H. Holmes was legitimately a conman and murderer, but the "confirmation" of 27 murders is only via confessions, some of which were proven frauds (he was actively trying to sell a confessional autobiography). The reliably proven count of his murders is more like 7. The "murder house" was mostly a fraud scheme for ripping off contractors and furniture dealers, and the stories about it were heavily embroidered by the tabloid press, police departments trying to "clear their books", and again, Holmes himself (he claimed to have murdered the builder of his crematorium, who later showed up to strenuously deny that account). I recommend Adam Selzer's revisionist account of his crimes, though Harold Schechter's more traditional account is entertaining, and not too excessively sensational.
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