Spring-Heeled Jack: Phantom of Victorian England

It's not a secret that people in the Victorian era were interested in occultism, spiritualism, death and after-life. A lot of legends, or folklore if you want, started going around at that time. Stories about a phantom who terrorised not only London, but also other places in the United Kingdom, started spreading. 

The first reports about Spring-Heeled Jack come from around 1837, though, the exact date is not certain. Reportedly, Spring-Heeled Jack was seen across the United Kingdom from London, to Sheffield, Liverpool but also Midlands area and even Scotland. 

The origin of Spring-Heeled Jack's name is simple; the name is based on his ability to jump over huge heights and distances. When it comes to Spring-Heeled Jack's appearance, it became more detailed over the years but the description sometimes differs. People described this phantom as a dark tall figure with metal claws and fireballs instead of eyes. Other people described him as a man in tight and fitting jacket or a Victorian era gentleman, and some people even said this character looks like a demon like person with wings, or even that it's devil himself. One part of every single description remained the same - black polished boots. 

Spring-Heeled Jack
as a Penny Dreadful

In newspapers from December 1837, there were articles claiming Spring-Heeled Jack was seen in September the same year. There was no attack in this case, but Spring-Heeled Jack truly scared a businessman who was on his way home from work one night. The mysterious man jumped right in front of him and crossed his path. The businessman stated the male had devilish features, such as pointed ears and nose and his eyes were glowing in the dark. Later on, Spring-Heeled Jack occured in many Penny Dreadfuls. In case you don't know what Penny Dreadful is, those were illustrated gothic tales, and a kind of pop-culture of the 19th century, which originally aimed at the working class. The price of this novel was one penny.

There's another report of Spring-Heeled Jack from October 1837, and even with an attack on a young lady. Mary Stevens walked down to Lavander Hill when a mysterious figure approached her in a dark alley. It's sometimes stated that the man jumped in front of her from a nearby building. The man grabbed her arms and started kissing her while he was tearing her clothes off. Mary Stevens started screaming and people ran to her to help. The attacker disappeared from the scene as soon as Mary started screaming. Mary also claimed the man's hands were "cold and clammy as those of a corpse".

༺═──────────────═༻

Cases of Jane Alsop and Lucy Scales

There are more cases of Spring-Heeled Jack's attacks on women. For example, the case of Jane Alsop. 

It happened a year later, in 1838, more specifically on 19th February. Jane Alsop heard knocking on the front door of her house. When she opened the door, there was a man in a cloak claiming he is a constable who caught Spring-Heeled Jack. The man asked Jane to go out with him with a candle to provide some light. But when Jane went out with the man, he took off his cloak and revealed his devilish appearance - he had red glowing eyes and he was also spitting flames. The devil grabbed Jane and started tearing her clothes off. Jane was lucky enough that she escaped and ran towards the house. Her father and sister grabbed her inside, however, Spring-Heeled Jack scratched the poor girl's neck and arms and left some scars. Later, a man called Thomas Millbank was arrested for the attack on Jane Alsop, and he was taken to a court in Lambeth Street, where he was accused of the attack. Thomas Millbank was released shortly after as he couldn't be convicted due to Jane's description of the man "spitting flames". 

Another case is the case of Lucy Scales. It happened a week later after Jane Alsop's incident in Green Dragon Alley in London. Lucy and her sister walked down the street when suddenly, a man jumped in front of them. He started spitting blue flames that caused Lucy some kind of a seizure. The man wasn't caught.

༺═──────────────═༻

The Aldershot

In 1877, Spring-Heeled Jack was seen in Aldershot barracks among soldiers. A soldier who was on guard in North Camp spotted a figure in the darkness and even heard a strange metallic sound. When the soldier sent out a call, the figure disappeared. The soldier went to the place where he saw the figure, and when he came back, the man appeared behind him, slapping the soldier's face several times. The soldier later shared that the man's hands were "as cold as those of a corpse", just like Jane Alsop had said. Other soldiers rushed to help, but they only saw the man leaping over their heads and landing behind them. One of the soldiers shot at him with a warning shot, but the figure, which seemed to be Spring-Heeled Jack himself, spat blue flames at them and disappeared. This particular incident started mass hysteria among people across the United Kingdom.

༺═──────────────═༻

The Last Sighting

During the upcoming years, Spring-Heeled Jack was seen in many cities in the UK. The very last sighting of this phantom dates back to September 1904 in Liverpool. Spring-Heeled Jack was seen on a rooftop of Saint Francis Xavier's Church. Witnesses claimed that Jack suddenly jumped and fell. When people ran to the point, Jack was standing there and waiting. He laughed hysterically at the crowd and rushed towards them, maing several women gasp in dismay. With a huge leap, he disappeared behind the neighbouring houses. 

There are several theories, both skeptical and paranormal, what or who Spring-Heeled was. One of the theories is that this character was only a result of mass hysteria as stories about demons and similar creatures have circulated for centuries. Another possible theory is that Spring-Heeled Jack was a mentally ill indiviudal, or perhaps only a trickster who enjoy attacking people and molesting young women. 

The paranormal theories propose that Spring-Heeled Jack is a character from different dimension, or maybe a demon summoned by people interested in occultism and witchcraft, or a demon who summoned himself to terrorise other people.

Who or what Spring-Heeled Jack was, or if he was even real, remains unsolved.