Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Links and the Broadmoor Files
Here are a few links as I clean out my stash of Ripper items.
The Adventure Company's fifth Sherlock Holmes video game will be Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper. Here are a few screen shots.
Here's a link about Sanctuary, the SciFi network series with John Druitt(!) as a main character.
The Dracula Dossier, a novel by James Reese, ties in Stoker, Dracula and Jack the Ripper. Here's a short review of the book. And here is a blogger on the book.
A new ITV series entitled Whitechapel follows a policeman on the trail of (what else) a modern-day Jack the Ripper.
A blogger named Richard Robinson has an interesting take on the art of suspicion, using his own family's connection to William Palmer the poisoner and a relative who was once chased by a mob because he was suspected of being the Ripper. Robinson talks about how his family would be "linked" to the murders, much as many today are "linked" to terrorists by nothing more than their name, their nationality or the whim of our government.
The files of Broadmoor Hospital (not as notorious as Bethlehem but just as interesting to Ripperphiles) are available to researchers for the first time. James Kelly, wife-killer, aka Prisoner # 1167 in a book by James Tully and C-list Ripper suspect, was here before he escaped in early 1888. The rest of his life appears to be one of repeated attempts to give himself up to authorities who weren't interested. Also housed at Broadmoor was Thomas Cutbush, a violent person with a penchant for "piquerist" attacks on women. His father was a policeman, leading some to wonder at some possible collusion in getting Cutbush committed. A telling incident: when his mother attempted to kiss him goodbye at Broadmoor, he tried to bite her face. Shades of Lector! All in all, not much are in the files for researcher from what I can gather. One thing of note, though: his death is widely attributed to syphilis, but the official version has it as "chronic kidney disease" and blames his insanity on "overstudy and heredity." Uh-oh. I'd better get a check-up.
The Adventure Company's fifth Sherlock Holmes video game will be Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper. Here are a few screen shots.
Here's a link about Sanctuary, the SciFi network series with John Druitt(!) as a main character.
The Dracula Dossier, a novel by James Reese, ties in Stoker, Dracula and Jack the Ripper. Here's a short review of the book. And here is a blogger on the book.
A new ITV series entitled Whitechapel follows a policeman on the trail of (what else) a modern-day Jack the Ripper.
A blogger named Richard Robinson has an interesting take on the art of suspicion, using his own family's connection to William Palmer the poisoner and a relative who was once chased by a mob because he was suspected of being the Ripper. Robinson talks about how his family would be "linked" to the murders, much as many today are "linked" to terrorists by nothing more than their name, their nationality or the whim of our government.
The files of Broadmoor Hospital (not as notorious as Bethlehem but just as interesting to Ripperphiles) are available to researchers for the first time. James Kelly, wife-killer, aka Prisoner # 1167 in a book by James Tully and C-list Ripper suspect, was here before he escaped in early 1888. The rest of his life appears to be one of repeated attempts to give himself up to authorities who weren't interested. Also housed at Broadmoor was Thomas Cutbush, a violent person with a penchant for "piquerist" attacks on women. His father was a policeman, leading some to wonder at some possible collusion in getting Cutbush committed. A telling incident: when his mother attempted to kiss him goodbye at Broadmoor, he tried to bite her face. Shades of Lector! All in all, not much are in the files for researcher from what I can gather. One thing of note, though: his death is widely attributed to syphilis, but the official version has it as "chronic kidney disease" and blames his insanity on "overstudy and heredity." Uh-oh. I'd better get a check-up.
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