Jack the Ripper: Stories and Other Junk
Speculation on the identity of Jack the Ripper has ranged from a member of the royal family, the queen’s own surgeon, a crazed Polish Jew to an anonymous, leather skirted butcher. Needless to say, crimes as brazen and anonymous as this, repleat with taunting letters to the authorities, is bound to inspire investigation, speculation, and speculative art.
Like so many others, I’ve been fascinated by the case. Here are a few works of art that I think is worth looking at for anyone even remotely interested in the weird events.
“From Hell” by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell (Artist)
Taking the title from one of the Ripper’s sign-offs, Alan Moore’s massive (thick as a phonebook), inspired graphic novel pushes forward the theory 
that it was Dr. William Gull that created the havoc in the Whitechapel area. This is not a comic book, but a deeply researched, well presented and historically accurate look at London in the late 1800′s. Perhaps more than any book, it shows truly what it’s like to have been a resident of the miserable streets. Dr. Gull’s dialogue serves as a tour to the times – he’s sickened by all that he sees, especially when filtered through the great history that so many of the locations hold. Although, to my mind, Moore’s hypothesis on the actual killer has been disproven, it’s still the best piece of media to digest given the history. Prepare to learn a lot.
Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper– Case Closed by Patricia Cornwell My girlfriend had this book on the shelf, and I probably wouldn’t have picked it up if it wasn’t non-fiction. But I’m sure glad I did. Criticisms first: given the amount of research that this book presents, it needed both inline citations and footnotes. They appear in the back of the book, but it’s difficult to discover which sources came from where. I’m sure this is a result of wanting to appeal to a mass market, but it would have been grand. Also the book is not organized chronologically, so it both jumps around and unnecessarily repeats information.
Yet, despite these flaws, it’s the best case for the true identity of Jack the Ripper that I have ever read. Gone is the random speculation of theories past. This is one backed by both psychology and science. The book also shatters the notion that many people wrote false letters to the authorities. In reality, Cornwell believes that the Ripper wrote most of, if not all of the letters. It’s not as crazy as it sounds.
It’s an eye opening expose of a semi-famous man who definitely had a severe, psychological issue with women. It’s made all the more exciting with the inclusion of analysis of the killer’s paintings and writings. There’s some pretty damning stuff here for poor Walter.
From Hell Dir. by Allen and Albert Hughes
The movie is a great distillation of Moore’s book. Of course, it takes things its own way, casting the outstanding detective Aberline (who may have been close to solving the case), as the hero. A nice, fun ride, but Whitechapel still isn’t presented as dirty and scummy as it actually was.
Faces of Madness: Jack the Ripper by McFarlane
So, it’s a little macabre. And maybe the sharpened teeth are a little overboard. Really though, it matches with Cornwell’s description of the killer: balding, wearing a black top hat and carrying a medical bag filled with knives.