Fictional Jack

[Jana Oliver]

One of my recent adventures is presenting a talk on fiction devoted to Jack the Ripper. Since I write in the late Victorian world, Jack is a sinister backdrop to my stories. Though there are countless Ripperologists out there still trying to suss out Jack, I was more interested in how authors view him/her. So I started reading. And reading. Last October I had the opportunity to present my Once Upon a Dark Alley: A Tale of Ripper Fiction at the Whitechapel Society meeting in London. It went very well. For that crowd I didn't need to do a recap of the crimes. They knew more about Jack than I will ever learn. However, tomorrow I'm presenting at the Fayette Co. Library (Fayetteville, GA) so I'm having to add in an overview of the killings.

How Jack is "used" in fiction is an interesting topic. He's been a "victim", a mentor, a righteous crusader and hero. Yes, a hero!

So here's a quiz: In what 1993 book was Jack accorded hero status? Another hint - the book won a Nebula Award.

One of the first fictional accounts of the Ripper murders was published in December 1888 in the Old Cap. Collier Library (Munros Publishing House, NY) entitled The Whitechapel Murders Or, On the Track of the Fiend. Unfortunately, accuracy was its victim, but then that's often the case with Ripper fiction.

The next book on my list to read is The Screaming Mimi by pulp writer Fredric Brown written in 1949. I'm not expecting accuracy with this one, either. It just looks to be good fun.