The Original Urban Legend: Spring-heeled Jack | Monstrum

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Nineteenth-century London—a time and place of scientific advancement and technological development, but also abject poverty and income inequality—and the hunting ground of Spring-Heeled Jack. The fire-breathing, wall-leaping, claw-wielding devil attacked women in their homes and in the streets, terrorizing England for more than 50 years.

In this episode you’ll learn how Spring-Heeled Jack manifested the fears of the development of urban spaces and the upheaval of social classes and lifestyle changes city life afforded in the 1800s. Was he based on a notorious real-life aristocrat? Or a group of copycats using the mysterious monster as an excuse for bad behavior? Find out how Spring-heeled Jack, one of the first urban legends, became both a terrifying boogeyman in the press and an avenging hero in fiction. #springheeledjack #urbanlegend #MonstrumPBS

Written and Hosted by: Emily Zarka
Director: David Schulte
Executive Producer: Amanda Fox
Producer: Stephanie Noone
Illustrator: Samuel Allen
Editor: Sara Roma
Produced by Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios.

The world is full of monsters, myths, and legends and Monstrum isn’t afraid to take a closer look. The show, hosted by Emily Zarka, Ph.D., takes us on a journey to discover a new monster in each new episode. Monstrum looks at humans' unique drive to create and shape monster mythology through oral storytelling, literature, and film and digs deep into the history of those mythologies.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Bell, Karl. The Legend of Spring-Heeled Jack: Victorian urban folklore and popular cultures. The Boydell Press, 2012.

Brewer, Rev. E. Cobham. Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama. Ed. Marion Harland, Vol. VII, 1896.

“Capture of One of the Spring Heeled Jacks.” The Weekly True Sun, Apr. 8, 1838.



“Examination of the Marquis of Waterford and His Friends at Melton.” The Champion, Apr. 30, 1837.

Grundhauser, Eric. “Meet Spring-Heeled Jack, the Leaping Devil That Terrorized Victorian England.” Atlas Obscura, Oct. 6, 2016. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles....

Mackley, J.S. “Spring-heeled Jack: The Terror of London.” Aeternum: The Journal of Contemporary Gothic Studies, vol. 3, issue 2, Dec. 2016, pp. 1-20.

“Miscellaneous Informations.” Police Gazette; or, Hue and Cry. Mar. 27, 1844.

“Outrageous Proceeding—The Marquis of Waterford Again.” The Weekly True Sun, June 18, 1837.

“Outrage on a Young Lady, by ‘Spring-Heeled Jack,’ the Nocturnal Miscreant.” The Weekly True Sun, Feb. 25, 1838.

Reynolds, K.D. “Beresford, Henry de la Poer, third marquess of Waterford.” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Sept. 23, 2004.

“Spring-Heeled Jack.” Douglas Jerrold’s Weekly Newspaper. Apr. 3, 1847.

“‘Spring-Heeled Jack’ Again.” The Weekly True Sun, March 11, 1838.

Spring-Heeled Jack, the terror of London. 1890.

“The Marquis of Waterford.” The Weekly True Sun, July 23, 1837.