Jack the Ripper and Sweeney Todd

So, everyone knows the story of JACK THE RIPPER. The mysterious figure(s) that murdered the women in the Whitechapel area of London. Well, I was watching Sweeney Todd- or at least the Special Features of it all- and it was talking about THE REAL HISTORY OF THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET. How, historians believe that He was more of a legend, a myth, then a real person. And how, many gothic murderous stories were quite famous of that time. People would try to get there hands on these short gruesome novels (which were also known as a Penny Dreadful-Penny Dreadfuls were 19th century publications in Britian.)

That's when I began to notice a few of the titles: Sheet Anchor JACK, The Union JACK, JACK Harkway, Spring Heeled JACK, etc. (Not all the stories had a character named Jack. The name seems pretty popular is all.)

(Another Penny Dreadful story is The String of Pearls: A Romance (which ostensibly introduced Sweeney Todd)

But! Could MAYBE Penny Dreadfuls be the inspiration of Jack the Ripper. Almost as if today, some people have been inspired to kill because they heard of it or saw it somewhere. Think of the "COPY CATS", they take someone else's murdering style and replicate it. Even JACK THE RIPPER had a few COPY CATS of his/her/their own.

Perhaps "Jack" read of these fictional murders and thought, "Perhaps I could leave behind my legend. My own murders. And one day have stories written about the infamous Jack."

Afterall he did say, “One day men will look back and say I gave birth to the twentieth century.”

Hmm. Makes ya wonder, doesn't it?