Ep. 250 - The Devil of London

The Conspirators Podcast

History, Society & Culture

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 6 January 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Victorian London was once terrorized by a mysterious figure in a strange costume, who reportedly could leap great distances, and breathe fire. They called this demonic figure Spring-Heeled Jack. Was he an actual demon? Or just a clever prankster? Patreon: theconspiratorspodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theconspiratorspodcast Notes: https://www.amazon.com/Spring-Heeled-Jack-Fiend-Penny-Dreadful/dp/1546689338 https://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Spring-Heeled-Jack-Victorian-Steampunk/dp/1620554968/ref=sr_1_2?crid=712RXTDEEIT4&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Y83uxAzfk1kJTD9ddA7VVmohSHPMyiw0voh2rTJnqk_BmmX7whL-3sPEe_nYKy3yOasdRadOcSEo0GidZcyVUZUAsZHTPU767565K_pVAgPBqpJHIdb7k-Sps6TK22GJfvpg2-QaY1Th4FspX-o2u-QbFafjHrSChWzcdppXM5B3jxuxsiQY8vX2kLFk5SM5tfRh4QltCJitXqyTMUdyur8yCXuJMSNtfEDbi4Uw-pQ.pR-h7371tAXbEsu6G93U_3-yCv-aRXWhvjQ3ummgzy8&dib_tag=se&keywords=spring-heeled+jack&qid=1736009055&sprefix=spring-heeled+jack%2Caps%2C192&sr=8-2 https://www.amazon.com/Spirits-Industrial-Age-Impersonation-Spring-heeled/dp/1499268777/ref=sr_1_4?crid=712RXTDEEIT4&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Y83uxAzfk1kJTD9ddA7VVmohSHPMyiw0voh2rTJnqk_BmmX7whL-3sPEe_nYKy3yOasdRadOcSEo0GidZcyVUZUAsZHTPU767565K_pVAgPBqpJHIdb7k-Sps6TK22GJfvpg2-QaY1Th4FspX-o2u-QbFafjHrSChWzcdppXM5B3jxuxsiQY8vX2kLFk5SM5tfRh4QltCJitXqyTMUdyur8yCXuJMSNtfEDbi4Uw-pQ.pR-h7371tAXbEsu6G93U_3-yCv-aRXWhvjQ3ummgzy8&dib_tag=se&keywords=spring-heeled+jack&qid=1736009055&sprefix=spring-heeled+jack%2Caps%2C192&sr=8-4 https://www.amazon.com/Spring-Heeled-Jack-Philip-Pullman/dp/044041881X/ref=sr_1_5?crid=712RXTDEEIT4&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Y83uxAzfk1kJTD9ddA7VVmohSHPMyiw0voh2rTJnqk_BmmX7whL-3sPEe_nYKy3yOasdRadOcSEo0GidZcyVUZUAsZHTPU767565K_pVAgPBqpJHIdb7k-Sps6TK22GJfvpg2-QaY1Th4FspX-o2u-QbFafjHrSChWzcdppXM5B3jxuxsiQY8vX2kLFk5SM5tfRh4QltCJitXqyTMUdyur8yCXuJMSNtfEDbi4Uw-pQ.pR-h7371tAXbEsu6G93U_3-yCv-aRXWhvjQ3ummgzy8&dib_tag=se&keywords=spring-heeled+jack&qid=1736009055&sprefix=spring-heeled+jack%2Caps%2C192&sr=8-5 https://allthatsinteresting.com/spring-heeled-jack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:28.7	T's and C's apply.
0:32.9	A century before Jack Thripper murdered five women in London's Whitechapel district.
0:40.3	There was another monster terrorizing the city. Beginning in 1788, reports began to come in from women of high society who claimed that a strange man was approaching them on the street.
0:49.3	This man would shout obscenities at them, then proceed to take out some sort of knife and stab them in their thighs or
0:55.1	buttocks. Some reports claim the man would use a long, thin dagger called a rapier. Others claimed
1:01.0	he had a blade attached to his knees or his shoes. Still others say the man would hide his knife
1:06.4	inside a bouquet of flowers. On January 19th, the monster, as the London papers had dubbed him,
1:12.6	racked up no less than six victims. By the time his reign of terror came to an end, the
1:17.7	London monster was being blamed for more than 50 attacks, where he left the women bloody,
1:22.9	traumatized, and injured. By 1790, the London newspapers were full of lurid accounts of the monster's attacks.
1:30.5	Descriptions of the attacker varied wildly. He was tall, he was short, he had blonde hair,
1:35.4	yet dark hair. British cartoonist depicted him as a wild-haired madman with sharp fangs.
1:41.9	Some stories claim the man used a variety of wigs and false noses to disguise
1:45.8	himself. As a result, mobs of vigilantes would stalk the streets looking for this monster,
1:51.4	only to rough up one innocent man after another. Some men even formed a no-monster club,
1:57.3	and began to wear club badges on their lapels that announced to everyone that they weren't the monster.
	...

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