Halloween Countdown ’08: A Spring In The Step…
I don’t know if you recall, but back in April I ran a piece dedicated to our good friend, Dan, after he won the Easter egg hunt. The piece in question focused around Monsters in the UK
in a brief overview of some of the more common legends. At that time, the lovely Dio raised the topic of Spring-Heeled Jack and I said that I’d plotted a post in the future.
Seeing as I seem to have covered a little on stalking, shadowy strangers it seems appropriate to say that the future is now. So, as she called it some 6 months ago, it seems fitting to dedicate this post to Dio – enjoy reading about a twisted individual who likes to rip girls clothes with some level of desire to ravish them.
The first time I ever heard of Spring-Heeled Jack was through the toyline Monsters in my Pocket, those highly collectable figures of the 90s. The entire mystery of just who this figure was, coupled with such a cool sounding name, made hime one of my favourite characters and one of the few that I was never disappointed to end up with duplicates of. His name evoked memories then, and still do, of an old black and white movie I saw one Christmas about Jack the Ripper and considering how the two are linked to Victorian England, the link is far from unreasonable. (For more information about the MimP line, check out Matt’s great review on X-Entertainment.com)
MimP depicted Jack dressed in suit jacket and trousers – both of which seemed to be a little undersized and inelegant for him – wearing huge, clunky shoes, and adopting a position that was meant to imply his readiness to make a sudden leap or else light a release of flatus – his grin and general positioning made it questionable. Interestingly, around his eyes he had what appeared to be flames, but which in the comic series was simply a mask.
Intrigued by the character, I actually read up as much as I could in the library, most of the information coming from small snippets in encyclopedias and the occassional small books of legends. Jack is a true example of legend too, being based on real life accounts given by victims of his accounts and then evolving in to a figure of supernatural mystery.
The legend of Jack, beyond the reportings of the day, had been used by parish priests as a warning against sin and bad behaviour, as well as by parents who would warn children of this bounding character who should they misbehave was quite capable of reaching their bedroom window no matter which floor they lived.
Most of the descriptions of Jack came from people accounting to be witnesses of his attacks, giving information to the police or the media, these accounts may perhaps have been sensationalised in reportings or exaggerated in the telling. Jack was frequently described as having a varying degree of demonic appearance, often commenting on clawed hands – or in some reports he wore metallic claws at his fingertips – and eyes that were like “red balls of fire”. Frequently he would be stated to be dressed as a gentleman, which given Victorian standards would be very well dressed and likely in a very tailored suit, often with some form of cloak; other accounts keep him in the cloak, but often illustrated almost like the leathery wings of a bat, and wearing a mask or helmet. He would also often be described with those hallmarks of devillish appearance that we still attribute to characters today, those of a goatee beard, pointed ears, and horns.
Several reports claim he could breathe white or blue flames.
I’m often reminded of how Batman gets interpreted in the series and, in particular, the start of the Tim Burton movie. A character who is little more than a man in costume, well-trained and with a penchant for theatrics, earns a reputation of actually being not human to the people he stalks.
Of course, Jack’s main feature was his agility, with all descriptions tending to point at his fleet-footed escapes and ability to leap over hedges, gates and walls, and even to dash and leap across rooftops.
Reports of Jack apparently started in 1837, with early accounts ranging from a simple spot of a sinister figure leaping a cemetary’s high railings and a young lady who Jack seemed intent to molest – kissing her, ripping her clothes and touching her bare skin. Reports in 1838 saw him attack teenage girls, often demonstrating his fire spewing attack and his skill at ripping young ladies’ gowns.
There were of course differing opinions on the truth behind Spring-Heeled Jack, some stating that it was a, possibly wealthy, person following a wager with some rich friends on whether or not he would dare to dress up and scare the heck out of people, others pointing to a member of the aristrocracy, Henry Beresford the Marquess of Waterford. This latter is not overall surprising, as there were plenty of suspects in the 1888 Jack the Ripper case that were from the aristocracy, wealthy or from wealthy background. It appears that there was a prevalent theory that the aristocracy of the day were just as likely to be energetic rapists or prostitute killers as they were to be dependents on the state and fortune.
Whether Jack was a demon, a random nutter, a guy running about on a bet, or a bored and twisted aristocrat, I still find the stories of Jack to be intriguing and the character still holds much fascination with me.
(PS. Next week, things will be a little more child-orientated around here. Don’t worry, it shouldn’t last long!)