Jack the Ripper

Jack the Ripper is the pseudonym given to an unidentified serial killer (or killers) active in the largely impoverished Whitechapel area of London in the second half of 1888. The name is taken from a letter to the Central News Agency by someone claiming to be the murderer, published at the time of the killings. Although many theories have been advanced, Jack the Ripper's identity may never be determined.

Jack the Ripper in popular culture

Jack the Ripper has been featured in a number of works of fiction, either as the central character or in a more peripheral role. See Jack the Ripper fiction for further information.

Related Topics:
Fiction - Jack the Ripper fiction

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The Ripper has also been referenced in other ways in popular culture.

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Artists as varied as Motörhead, Macabre, Roland Kirk, Morrissey, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, LL Cool J, The White Stripes, Judas Priest, Grim Reaper, Queensrÿche, Falconer, My Chemical Romance, Link Wray, The Legendary Pink Dots, Iced Earth, Screaming Lord Sutch, and Nationalteatern have recorded songs titled or about Jack the Ripper. Chicago-based pop-rock band Spitalfield took its name from what members describe as a village where Jack the Ripper came from. The name for this location is actually Spitalfields, and it is not a village but a section of London's East End.

Related Topics:
Motörhead - Macabre - Roland Kirk - Morrissey - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - LL Cool J - The White Stripes - Judas Priest - Grim Reaper - Queensrÿche - Falconer - My Chemical Romance - Link Wray - The Legendary Pink Dots - Iced Earth - Screaming Lord Sutch - Nationalteatern - Spitalfield - Spitalfields

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A number of companies also produce Jack the Ripper figurines or toys, sometimes leading to public protest, as when the family of victims of serial killer Robert William Pickton objected to the sale of Ripper dolls at the Vancouver Virgin Megastore. http://www.missingpeople.net/family_of_missing_woman_wants_se.htm

Related Topics:
Robert William Pickton - Vancouver - Virgin Megastore

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The phrase "Jack the Ripper" has also become a popular metaphor used to describe someone the speaker wishes to demonize, perhaps because calling someone Adolf Hitler is seen as going too far.

Related Topics:
Demon - Adolf Hitler - Going too far

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