So...Jack's pretty frightening after all...

(photos: sundial and tower of london, where the tour began. spraypainted jack the ripper type character on a dark alleyway during the tour)

(Just an intro to this post- i was writing this on microsoft word because the internet was dead at the time, and i must admit, i starting really freaking myself out, quickly turning around to see if half man/ half phantoms were there with a knife...great, i've scared myself again. this is why i don't go to scary movies.)
Jack the Ripper was quite an interesting, bloke. Very messed up. You may know more about him than I do, but I found out a lot on the tour as we followed in his footsteps. For those of you who don’t know, Jack the Ripper was one of the earliest well-known serial killers who brutally murdered 5 “ladies of the night” in the city of London (the square mile) during autumn of 1888. Each murder consisted of some sort of struggle before Jack strangled his victim and proceeded to then slash her throat or other parts that he deemed necessary. The gory details are a bit nauseating, but the murders do get more and more horrific each time he finds a new victim; he left the last one nigh unrecognizable. Each time, however, he slashed their throat and abdomen, pulling out some intestines over the right shoulder… like a continental soldier..right, well, just trying to lighten the mood. He was never caught, since he struck swiftly and silently, so that the people in the surrounding area had no idea that anything out of the ordinary had happened. There are a slew of conspiracy theories and possible suspects, but the one that struck me as the most interesting I will attempt to summarize: Some people feel that Jack never got caught, not because the police couldn’t find him, but because they didn’t want to. It is semi-possible that it may have been a large conspiracy led by the freemasons - whom I find terribly interesting, what with the secret handshakes and all . Many details line up, such as the way he killed them and mutilated their bodies, the slashing of the throat, pulling out of the intestines, and how on one victim Jack slashed two upside down “v”s on each cheek of the last victim. Also, one morning after one of the murders, there was a message scrawled in chalk over a doorway which mentioned “Juwes”, which referenced something Masonic though I cannot recall what it meant. It was eerie though, believe me. Anyway, the plan was something along the line of the masons needing to get rid of these certain women for some reason or another and therefore did not try to stop jack until these women were dead. The murders did stop after this. Apparently there was some sort of significant flaw in this theory, but I’m afraid I don’t remember. Sorry, I was not taking notes, if you want to know more, go to a website. It’s pretty interesting, creepy stuff. Oh, one thing I found quite amusing was that apparently I and a drunk prostitute have something in common. On the night she was killed, one of the women had been arrested (and later released) on charges of disorderly conduct, because it appears she was enjoying the drink too much and decided to run up and down the street pretending to be a fire engine, sirens and all. This is something I have done while entirely sober, though the story will not make sense on paper. BAAOOOOOO BOOOOOAAAH. Farm people will understand. Ask me about it next time you see me in person. Apparently Jack must have found it rude, because he killed her two hours later. Bad luck old mum. It was a bit wierd, because the anniversay of one of the deaths was the 8th, and we were there on the 7th, which was a lovely clear night just like those when Jack the Ripper prowled. Hey, when you're good, who needs fog?