Houses of Death: Horrific Secrets Behind Closed Doors - Tapa dura

If the walls of number 25 Cromwell Street had ears, what horrifying acts would they have overheard during the occupancy of serial killers Fred and Rose West? A house where brutal torture sessions and grisly murders were a regular occurrence, and young women and girls were routinely dismembered and buried in the cellar or under the garden patio. When the police investigation concluded that the Wests had between them murdered at least 12 females whilst living at the house and their killers were finally brought to justice, 25 Cromwell Street had to be torn down to stop sick souvenir hunters from collecting items from the grounds to sell or to keep as memorabilia. There is little doubt that such buildings retain something of their previous lives. Even after the evidence has been removed and the perpetrators imprisoned or executed, an aura of horror, fear and disgust can linger on for decades, sometimes centuries. These places become the haunted house , or the bogey man s lair to generations of local school children, who stare at the pavement or run quickly past in order to avoid whatever evil still lurks behind the darkened windows. Houses of Death explores these buildings, the murderers and victims who called them home , as well as the bizarre and bloody events that took place within their walls. contents Scenes of crime: 10 Rillington Place John Reginald Christie, 213 Oxford Apartments Jeffery Dahmer, 23 Cranley Gardens Dennis Nilsen, 5 College Close Ian Huntley, Castle Cachtice Elizabeth Bathory, 92 Second Street, Fall River Lizzie Borden, Bender Family Log Cabin The Bender Family, The A.L Sausage and Packing Co The murder of Louisa Luetgert, The Murder Castle HH Holmes, Geins Farm Ed Gein, Jonestown Rev Jim Jones. Institutions State sponsored Houses of Death: Eastern State Penitentiary, Newgate Gaol, Bedlam, Virginia Tech, Columbine High School, Dumblane Primary School, Waverly Hills Sanatorium, Ancora Mental Institution, Pearl High School Mississippi, Tower of London, Alcatraz, Nazi Death Camps, New York County Penitentiary, Sing Sing Correctional Facility, Walla Walla State Penitentiary, Parkhurst, Dr Shipman s surgery.

Gordon Kerr has worked in book selling, publishing and the wine trade. His journalism includes a regular column on book jacket design for Publishing News and he is a contributing editor to The Book Magazine. His book The Time Traveller s Guide to Georgian London (Watling Street) is published in Autumn 2007. He is the editor of the annual Poetry Writers Yearbook and a limited edition of his poetry, You Can t Get to East Kilbride From Here, illustrated by Ralph Steadman, was published in 2004. He lives in Hampshire and south west France and is married with two children.