American Horror Story is an anthology television series loosely based around true events. In the aftermath of my personal conclusion of Season 5: Hotel, I cannot help but to look into the mysteries surrounding the real life inspiration for this series. The Hotel Cortez, James Patrick March, murders, and suicides all have real history surrounding them.

The Hotel Cortez

The Cecil Hotel was constructed in 1924 and opened in 1927. According to Yahoo Travel, this upper class hotel housed 700 rooms and was located in a "swanky" section of Downtown, Los Angeles. Before the 1930's the Cecil Hotel served as a popular tourist destination and residence for middle class Los Angeles residents. However, in 1930 this reputation began to change and the hotel became known as a budget friendly option for transients like traveling salesmen. The hotel has been the home to two serial killer, and the site of multiple suicides and murders. Each room in the Cecil is rumored to be cursed in its own peculiar way. A few of the hotel's biggest names include Richard Ramirez, Jack Unterweger, Pauline Otton, and the "Pigeon Woman," and Elisa Lam, whose story was a particular inspiration.

James Patrick March

According to biography.com, H.H. Holmes is the alias of one of America's first serial killers. During the Columbian Exposition Holmes took it upon himself to rebuild a Chicago pharmacy into an elaborate maze of death traps. This creation has been nicknamed the "Murder Castle," by the city's inhabitants.

H.H. Holmes was born to a privileged family and was usually smart at a young age. Early on he expressed an interest in medicine and practiced surgery on animals. It is around this time that he may have been responsible for the death of a friend. This continued down the line in his life as he would steal corpses during his time as a medical student. He would use the bodies to make false insurance claims and is rumored to have experimented on them.

Later in life Holmes moved to Chicago, finding work at a pharmacy and using his alias Dr. Henry H. Holmes. He would later take over this business when the original owner mysterious disappeared. It was also at this time that Holmes constructed his mansion that he would later open to the public as a hotel. He would seduce female hotel guests, swindle them and then kill them. He made a habit of getting engaged to women who disappeared quite frequently. Some of his victims were people looking for work as well.

Insurance scams were one of the biggest factors in his later undoing. Joining forces with Benjamin Pitezel and later Marion Hedgepeth they worked to collect a $10,000 from a life insurance company. When Holmes did not deliver on Hedgepeth's share of the deal, Hedgepeth turned him in. Authortities were not able to catch Holmes before his final murders, one of which was Pitezel, but in 1896 they were finally able to capture and hang him. H.H. Holmes first went on trial for insurance fraud, but then was later sued for the murder of Benjamin Pitezel. He is estimated to have killed anywhere between 20-200 people, he admitted to 27 of these to police.

The history behind the stories always interests me, even if it does mess me up for a few days. Sometimes even the craziest stories can end up being true.