Why are you drawn to the case?

[Holmes' Idiot Brother]

What is it about the Whitechapel case that so appeals to you? Is it a desire to unmask the killer? Unearth information relating to the victims? Uncovering a grand conspiracy that has been hidden all these years or just a general interest in History? Maybe the sense of community on this site?

I think for me its a particular interest in time period and history in general, combined with a bit of a childhood fascination with the case and the fact I used to live in the area a few years back.

How about you? Would love to hear some replies!

Tristan

Since I could crawl, I have always been interested in mysteries, especially unsolved mysteries. Ghosts, Bigfoot, and the Loch Ness Monster occupied a lot of my childhood time and helped shape my personal mythologies.

My first introduction to the Ripper occurred when I was about 12, circa 1980; I was in "studyhall," a 45-minute period where you could catch up on your studies and homework, or simply pass the time as you like. I had checked out a book from the school library, a generic summary of unsolved mysteries. It was there that I became acquainted with Jack. I had heard the name before but I had no details about him. This book (I cannot remember the title to save my life!) instantly grabbed me and I was surprised that it went into fairly graphic detail for being in a school library! From there, I was hooked. I had always loved the locked door mysteries of Agatha Christie and John Dickson Carr, and the fact that the Ripper operated in the Greatest City on Earth in The Greatest Country In The World was all I needed to become a lifelong devotee of the case. This August, I get to spend 10 days in London with my teenage son, another recent devotee, and we intend to pass the evenings going on several different guided Ripper and ghost walks. Already I feel the same thrill as the 12-year-old me!