Victorian Era Murders/ Jack The Ripper

E. David Brown, author of 'The Last Dance of Mary Kelly,' reimagines the life of Jack the Ripper's final victim as a labor activist in Victorian London. He discusses the challenges of writing historical narratives and emphasizes the importance of portraying marginalized figures authentically. The podcast also touches on the inspiring legacy of Nellie Bly and her courageous journalism. Brown shares insights on fan interactions and his passion for storytelling beyond profit, offering a glimpse into the intricate world of historical crime and social justice.

Dive into the chilling tales of gruesome murders in Rochester during the late 19th century. Discover the shocking story of a young mother found dead in her cellar, tied and dressed bizarrely. Learn about a mysterious hotel death tied to a mugging, and a fratricidal tragedy that rocked the community. Each story weaves together local history with the grisly fascination of crime, revealing how these haunting events shaped the city. From notorious suspects to unearthly locales, the podcast captures the darker side of Rochester's past.

Bram Stoker: Author of Dracula is an affectionate and revealing biography of the man who created the vampire novel that would define the genre and lead to a new age in Gothic horror literature.Based on decades of painstaking research in libraries, museums, and university archives and privileged access to private collections on both sides of the Atlantic, the private letters of Bram and the reminiscences of those who knew him not only shed new light on Stoker's ancestry, his life, loves and friendships they also reveal more about the places and people who inspired him and how he researched and wrote his books. Bram wrote numerous articles, short stories and poetry for newspapers and magazines, he had a total of eleven novels and two collections of short stories published in his lifetime, but he would only become known for one of them – Dracula. Tragically, he did not live long enough to see it as a huge success.In his heyday as Acting Manager for Sir Henry Irving at the Lyceum Theatre in the West End of London, Bram was a well-known figure in a golden age of British theater. He was a big-framed, ebullient, genial, gentleman, with red hair and beard, who never lost his soft Irish brogue, was blessed with wit, and a host of entertaining stories fit for every occasion. Described as having the paw of Hercules and the smile of Machiavelli, above all he knew what it meant to be a loyal friend. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Undetected by the FBI for three decades until the turn of the twenty-first century, a handful of elusive, transient long-haul trucker serial killers had been murdering hundreds of sex workers and hitchhikers along major US highways. This was not the first time innocent victims were attacked along major US interstate thoroughfares. Nearly lost to history was a similar pattern of carnage that occurred in the late nineteenth century. No less than thirty-nine unsolved murders and nearly forty brutal assaults of women were committed in the United States, but instead of along major highways, these heinous crimes were committed along the railways. At the time, the attacks were termed ‘mysterious,’ since they seemed to be motiveless—meaning there was no evidence of the usual rape or robbery. In cases where an assailant or suspicious person was spotted, his physical description was the same: tall, middle-aged, and wearing a specific gray overcoat. Shockingly, one of Scotland Yard’s prime Jack the Ripper suspects cannot be eliminated as having committed each of these Stateside crimes. That suspect was the tall, transient hater of women, Dr. Francis Tumblety. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On 6 December 1886, Arthur Foster leaves the Queen's Theatre, Manchester with a pocket full of gold and a lady bedecked with diamonds on his arm. He hails a hansom cab unaware that a detective has been trailing him as he crisscrossed the streets of the city. As the cab pulls away, the detective slips inside and arrests the infamous 'Birmingham Forger.' The detective is Jerome Caminada, legendary policeman and real-life Victorian super-sleuth. A master of disguise with a keen eye for detail and ingenious methods of detection, Caminada is at the top of his game, tracking notorious criminals through the seedy streets of Manchester's underworld. Relentless in his pursuit, he stalks pickpockets and poisoners, unscrupulous con artists and cold blooded murderers. His groundbreaking detective work leads to the unravelling of classic crime cases such as the Hackney Carriage Murder in 1889, secret government missions and a deadly confrontation with his arch-rival, a ruthless and violent thief. Caminada's compelling story bears all the hallmarks of Arthur Conan Doyle and establishes this indefatigable investigator as one of the most formidable detectives of the Victorian era and The Real Sherlock Holmes.As seen in The Sunday Telegraph, The Sunday Express, The Times, La Stampa and Lancashire Life.Also featured in Discover Your History Magazine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There’s no question that The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is one of the most influential texts of all time. The now-iconic tale, which has confounded and thrilled readers for more than a century, was described by one scholar as the only detective-crime story in which the solution is more terrifying than the problem. And even as its plot gets continually reinterpreted and reimagined in literature, film, and theater, the main themes persist, as do the titular characters, now so familiar as to have become a part of the English language.This new edition gives the classic tale of depraved murder and unrelenting horror its most complete and illuminating presentation yet. Heavily illustrated with over a hundred and fifty full color images from the history of this cultural touchstone—including reproductions of rare books, film stills, theatrical posters, and the true-life people associated with the adventure—and extensively annotated by Edgar Award winning editor and noted Victorian literature expert Leslie S. Klinger, this thorough and authoritative approach is both an invaluable resource for scholars and a sumptuous treat for fans of the text.Introduced by a compelling and erudite essay from bestselling novelist and short story writer Joe Hill, this complete illustrated and annotated edition of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the ultimate tribute to an enduring classic, combining revelatory and surprising information and in-depth historical context with beautiful illustrations and photographs. It is sure to please anyone interested in the Victorian era, mystery fiction, and horror tales. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jack the Ripper did not exist.This second, expanded, edition of Simon Daryl Wood's award-winning book continues to reveal the endless stream of lies, invention, political misinformation, self-publicity and opportunism which has kept this Victorian bogeyman alive in the darkest reaches of our 21st Century imaginations. It introduces characters many readers may not have encountered before, takes a closer look at some of Ripperology's sacred texts, and provides additional facts, allowing for a better understanding of the people, places and events surrounding the Whitechapel murders of 1888. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

London, 1942.A killer going by the name of “Crimson Jack” is stalking the wartime streets of London, murdering women on the exact dates of the infamous Jack the Ripper killings of 1888. Has the Ripper somehow returned from the grave? Is the self-styled Crimson Jack a descendant of the original Jack—or merely a madman obsessed with those notorious killings?In desperation Scotland Yard turn to Sherlock Holmes, the world's greatest detective. Surely he is the one man who can sift fact from legend to track down Crimson Jack before he completes his tally of death. As Holmes and the faithful Watson tread the blacked out streets of London, death waits just around the corner.Inspired by the classic film series from Universal Pictures starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, which took Sherlock Holmes to the 1940s, this is a brand-new adventure from a talented author who brilliantly evokes one of mystery fiction’s most popular characters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A quiet morning at Baker Street is thrown into turmoil by the arrival of Inspector Lestrade who informs Holmes a man's body has been discovered in the Tower Bridge which was then under construction. That grisly event proves to be the opening salvo in a terrifying game of wits between Holmes and an unknown adversary.Determined to make Sherlock Holmes suffer, the ruthless foe launches a campaign of terror against the Great Detective. However, instead of striking at Holmes directly, this nemesis targets those in the Great Detective's limited circle of friends and acquaintances.Stymied, Holmes must first ascertain why he has been targeted because he cannot retaliate until he discovers who is behind this persecution.With moves and countermoves, gambits declined and accepted, the struggle soon evolves into a human chess game between Holmes and a grandmaster of evil - where each move might have untold consequences on the lives and reputations of those on both sides. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A4 softcover, 142 landscape pages in full colour throughout.In the early years of the twentieth century, London was a city of opposites. The affluent west of the city was prosperous and wealthy, but in contrast the east was an area of poverty, crime and disease. Life expectancy was low, and the streets were filled with the homeless, the destitute and the sick.When the American author Jack London ventured into the East End in the summer of 1902 to research the hopeless living conditions so typical of the area, he was to witness such sights as the cramped living conditions in shabby Frying Pan Alley, the revolting menial tasks that inmates of the Whitechapel casual ward carried out to pay for a dismal bed and a frugal meal of bread and ‘skilly’. In his book “The People of the Abyss”, a written account of his experiences, he relayed the tale of Dan Cullen, a resident of one of Whitechapel’s municipal dwellings, whose worsening health had forced him to move into the old Temperance Hospital, near Euston station. Jack had witnessed the sorry sight of the homeless sheltering under Tower Bridge and others trying to sleep by the steps of Christ Church in Spitalfields. He had tasted coffee and tea that was close in appearance to dirty dishwater and bore little resemblance to anything his readers might have drunk, and he had seen desperately hungry men and women pawing their way through the filthiest of meat scraps outside a butcher’s shop in Aldgate. In short, he had, if only briefly, lived the life of one of the people of the abyss, and had witnessed the horrendous life that circumstance had forced them to endure.As well as his vivid written descriptions of the East End, Jack London also photographed a considerable number of evocative scenes to complement the text. These well-known images have been frequently reprinted over the years, often to illustrate books about Jack the Ripper and the East End in general.But where exactly were these photographs taken? Jack London gives very little detail about the locations, choosing to caption the images vaguely as “A house to let” or the similarly ambiguous “Where the children grow up”. What do these obscure places look like today, and is there anything left of the old workhouses and dwellings that Jack London captured in his photos Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.