Jack the Ripper fiction before fact synchronicities

[loneassassin]

I'm interested in synchronicity (or coincidence) especially in regards to the phenomenon of fiction before fact and so I'm just wondering if anyone has come across any synchronicities relating to the Jack the Ripper killings in fiction prior to it having occurred in real life? Are there any penny dreadfuls of the period perhaps that had a similar plot like JTR and was published before the crimes took place?

I am only aware of a couple of synchronicities 1) the play Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde which I believe was playing at the time of the slayings and had to be stopped at one time during the period of the terror; and 2) the legend of Springheeled Jack which I believe originated early in the 19th century and was based on actual incidents around London.

So if anyone can help me with my research I'd be very grateful if you could please post it here or just send me an email. Cheers!

[smezenen]

There is also Sweeny Todd the demon Barber of Fleet street.

[E.J.H.]

That's a very interresting subject, I actually asked the same question to myself. Unfortunately, my lack of knowledge prevents me to answer. I'll follow this thread with attention.

[Mike Covell]

Not so much Jack, but Jack related,

A lot of the writings of Robert D'Onston Stephenson can be found in the works of H. Rider Haggard.
A lot of the comments made about Robert D'Onston Stephenson by Mabel Collins can be found in short stories she wrote prior to her allegedly meeting Stephenson.

[E.J.H.]

120 Days of Sodom, Marquis de Sade, circa 1800, France

4 men, with 4 old prostitutes gather victims in a castle in order to rape, torture and kill them. This is the summary of one part of the book :

February; the murderous passions - the final 150 anecdotes are those involving murder. They include perverts who skin children alive, disembowel pregnant women, burn alive entire families and kill newborn babies in front of their mothers. The final tale is the only one since the simple passions of November written in detail. It features the 'Hell Libertine' who masturbates whilst watching fifteen teenage girls being simultaneously tortured to death. During this month, the libertines brutally kill three of the four daughters they have between them, along with four of the female children and two of the male ones. The murder of one of the girls, 15-year-old Augustine, is described in great detail, with the tortures she is subjected to including having flesh stripped from her limbs, her vagina being mutilated and her intestines being pulled out of her sliced-open belly and burned. (source : Wikipedia)

[E.J.H.]

You'd search the "penny dreadfuls" too. One of the most famous was Varney the Vampire or the Feast of Blood, 1847, where the "monster" is revived by a medical student. The penny dreadful were full of murders, so as the theater plays of the time.

[loneassassin]

You'd search the "penny dreadfuls" too. One of the most famous was Varney the Vampire or the Feast of Blood, 1847, where the "monster" is revived by a medical student. The penny dreadful were full of murders, so as the theater plays of the time.

I've always wanted to look up the "penny dreadfuls" to see if there were any similarities in plots etc. before JTR. So where would I best be able to do this for that period online? Are there any recommendable websites that list all the various stories published in the "penny dreadfuls" for that time period? Thanks!

[smezenen]

Lone, try this website http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/dp/pennies/home.html

[E.J.H.]

great