74 of 75 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Same story with minor amendments, September 1, 2008
This review is from: House of Evil: The Indiana Torture Slaying (St. Martin's True Crime Library) (Mass Market Paperback)
I once owned the reprint of this book, but was so disturbed by what I read that I very scarcely read it and eventually gave it to someone who needed it for research this past spring. Last month I decided to give it another chance and bought this new paperback version. For those who have not heard this story, let me tell you something: This tale of the sadistic side of human nature is just as horrific the second or third or tenth time around as it is the first. To this day, my head spins and my stomach churns as I think of the unspeakable horror that sixteen-year-old Sylvia Likens endured at the hands of her monsterous caretaker, her equally heartless children, and their demented friends. This is a story that in four years time has NEVER left my memory and probably never will. If you do decide to read about this, prepare to be shocked as this story is told with a terrifying realism that should only exist in our nightmares.
As for the differences between this publication and the original, this book is in fact the same book, except that: 1. This book is a traditional paperback book as opposed to the copy with the original red vellum cover (hence, the steep price tag for the latter); 2. There is an added foreword as well as an updated afterword; and 3. The photos have been moved to the very middle of the book as opposed to the random placement in the original, including two or three never-before-seen pictures. There are also some very minor amendments such as the name of the song that Sylvia sang at night and the change in spelling of her older sister's name ('Dianna' as opposed to 'Diana'). Since this is more or less the same publication, and neither better nor worse than the first copy, I'll give it the same rating as I did originally: 4 stars.
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44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Just the Facts, Ma'am, January 19, 2009
This review is from: House of Evil: The Indiana Torture Slaying (St. Martin's True Crime Library) (Mass Market Paperback)
I have mixed feelings about this book. It is undoubtedly interesting and well researched and explores, sometimes in horrifying detail, the lengthy torture and eventual death of 16 year old Sylvia Likens in 1965. However, as other reviews of this manuscript have commented, there is little psychological exploration of the motives of 37 year old Gertrude Banisweski to orchestrate and encourage the kind physical pain both she and her children inflicted upon Sylvia in the short months that Sylvia was a boarder at the Baniszewski home. Then again, I am not certain there could be or that certain forms of sociopathic behavior really need explaining.
During the time that Sylvia Likens and her sister, Jenny, lived with Gertrude Baniszewski, both were subjected to repeated verbal, emotional, and physical abuse. Soon, however, Gertrude focussed her rage upon Sylvia. What is most horrifying is that this wicked woman encouraged and incited additional violence using her own children and other children from the neighborhood as pawns in her vicious game. I must say, it is REALLY unclear as to why Gertrude did focus so much hatred and rage upon a child she hardly knew. The theory cited by the prosecuting attorneys is that Gertrude was jealous of Sylvia's beauty and the promise her life held. Perhaps this is true, but if one is hoping for a clear motive that meets the criteria for basic understanding (i.e. money, love, or revenge), there simply is not one.
While the court did find it necessary to evaluate Gertrude and her 17 year old daughter for legal sanity, Gertrude was never fully psychologically evaluated. Her 17 year old daughter, Paula, was. The psychologist noted that Paula's mental functioning, emotional immaturity, and violent behavior were consistent with that of children reared in homes where "emotional neglect" is the norm. It is known that Gertrude, as a single mother, could not afford to feed her 7 children. The children regularly fought over food and Sylvia was once severely beaten for eating a sandwich given to her by her oldest sister during a visit. It is also known that Gertrude was heavily addicted to prescription pain medication and regularly spent her days in bed. The children had little superivision and Paula was expected to perform many of the duties that Gertrude avoided.
When Gertrude turned her deadly rage upon Sylvia, I do not find it difficult to believe that several of her children also found Sylvia a convenient target for their own unexpressed rage born of a childhood rife with abuse and neglect. The most basic needs of the Baniszewski children were never met with any consistency and they, in turn, were angry and hurt. These feelings were unleashed upon the only person available to them to hurt in return. Still, it is shocking that children as young as 10 could gleefully watch and participate in the kind of extended torture to which young Sylvia was subjected.
There is some powerful evidence that Gertrude was also having a sexual relationship with a neighborhood boy, 14 year old Richard Hobbs. Though neither admitted they were sexually involved, Richard did state that he was a "good friend" of Gertrude's and regularly visited her home after school. He also told police investigators that Gertrude had once "danced" for him in the living room of her home. (To see photographs of Gertrude, who appeared at least 10 years older than her chronological age of 37, this image is both laughable and repulsive.) If Gertrude manipulated or exercised any psychological power over Richard, it was manifisted in his unflinching willingness to carve into the flesh of Sylvia's stomach, at Gertrude's direction, the words "I am a prostitute and proud of it." (There is horrifying photograph of Sylvia Likens battered body in which these words are clearly visible.)
In short, Gertrude and 3 of her children, along with Richard Hobbs and another neighborhood boy, were all conivicted of murder. Eventually paroled, Getrude changed her name and lived in solitude until her death in 1990 from lung cancer, the result of years of habitual chain-smoking. The parole of Gertrude leaves one cold and feeling as though justice was not served. Richard Hobbs, however, was not so fortunate. At trail, Richard admitted to the jury during questioning that he had "no feeling" at the time he carved words into Sylvia's flesh with a hot wire. While Richard attempted to later soften the blow of this admission by stating that he now felt remorse for his actions, I find this difficult to believe. He died at the age of 21 in prison from cancer. (I suppose Richard got what was coming to him from a higher court. Sometimes justice is swift and harsh.)
There was considerable discussion among the public about why Sylvia and her sister never ran away from the Baniszewski home. Effectively abandoned by their own parents who were, by all accounts, poverty stricken and shiftless, where exactly were the girls supposed to run? While their parents worked for a travelng carnival, the girls were left in the care of a woman their father hardly knew and never felt it necessary to know better. There was nowhere to go and no one to run to.
In short, I do recomend HOUSE OF EVIL to those who appreciate True Crime. But there are many questions that will never be answered.
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't let this happen again, January 12, 2009
This review is from: House of Evil: The Indiana Torture Slaying (St. Martin's True Crime Library) (Mass Market Paperback)
I bought the book after seeing the movie based on it--An American Crime--because what it showed was next to impossible and I wanted to read the full account. The crime, crimes actually because allowing such cruelty to happen was almost as bad, were much worse than the movie dared to show. Reading this well written, absorbing report and seeing the photos of the body, the house, and the persons involved is hard and revolting. However, it will make us really aware that such things do happen, that evil persons live right in our neighborhood and not appear different from us, that government and church may fail to protect, that parents can be bad, and that we can help if we denounce anything suspicious.
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