Ripping Yarns
JACK THE RIPPER IN THE WILD WEST!

Lance Howard

Few figures in history have inspired as much terror and mystery as Jack the Ripper. For an indeterminate but relatively brief period in 1888, the unknown killer of street women stalked the dank cobbles of Whitechapel, England, with impunity. His very name conjures up visions (however inaccurate) of a tall, top-hatted man clutching a razor-edged dagger who slips through the shadowy alleyways of London's destitute and fog-shrouded East End, preying on the cast outs of society. While the reality bears little resemblance to actual facts, the murders have been romanticized on the screen and on the printed page.

Myth enshrouds the man who many label as the first documented serial killer. Distorted facts, fictionalized theories and fabricated newspaper and diary evidence have become so deeply entwined with the actual documented details it has become nearly impossible for all but the most dedicated Ripperologist to sift verity from invention.

Briefly, in the fall of 1888 an unknown person murdered anywhere from five to more than seven fallen women. These women, a pitiful lot, most diseased, mentally ill or alcoholic, fell prey to a man who witness accounts described as wearing various modes of dress (though never the top hat afforded him in fiction), heights and facial features. Some portrayed him with a deerstalker cap, some with a mustache; some a painted him a young man, some middle-aged. Most forensic evidence suggested a smaller, sharp knife wielded by a man who butchered in an increasingly frantic bloodlust. Some accounts hold that he possessed medical knowledge, but much of the actual evidence fails to support this theory. Similar myths of the man belonging to the Masons, being a mentally diseased Royal or a famous artist fail to hold up under scrutiny. Most experts don't even agree on the number of killings perpetrated by this madman.

Who was he really? A psychopath, surely. Why did he kill prostitutes? Mother issues, possibly. Psychotic episodes, very likely. What became of him and just why did he suddenly seem to stop killing? Or did he? I would suggest those interested in the true details of these gruesome killings seek out Philip Sugden's excellent The Complete History of Jack the Ripper, since he can answer these questions much better than I. Whatever the case, whatever the legend fashioned around this mysterious butcher of Whitechapel, he has clearly captured the imagination of reader and writer alike, this author included. Throughout my life I have held a fascination with the mythos evolved around this enigmatic figure. I've always been attracted to the stories in various genres that have used his almost supernatural allure, from horror, in an episode of the old Kolchak: The Night Stalker TV series, to science fiction, as Red Jack entered the world of Star Trek, courtesy of author Robert Bloch.

So why not westerns?

Why not, indeed. In August, 2006, Ripper Pass (Read an extract here) by Lance Howard will become the third entry in my "Pass" series involving Jim Hannigan and his lovely partner, Angela "Tootie" del Pelado—and the implementation of an idea I've had brewing since I wrote my first Horse Opera but never quite knew how to execute—incorporating Jack the Ripper into the Wild West.

This particular novel required a considerable amount of research into the life and times of Red Jack, hours of sifting through material both fact and fiction, mundane and hyperbole.

The aforementioned book by Sugden provided a wealth of information but I pored through others, including the Patricia Cornwell's specious Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper Case Closed. A number of problems presented themselves for this novel, since I had determined before starting it I wanted to try to keep as close to the facts as possible while presenting them in an environment thousands of miles from the original killings, not the least of which was the question of setting the novel before or after the original Ripper murders. But if London Bridge can end up in Arizona why couldn't Jack the Ripper walk the streets of a town in Colorado Territory?

Since it is generally accepted the man's true identify remains unknown and that he was never caught, the notion of him fleeing to western America after the crimes seemed to indicate the best direction for the novel. Yet after research indicated one man (named in the Sugden book) as the most likely suspect in the killings that tact became a little more difficult. I needed an area of time this in which this person could have reasonably visited the Wild West, but having him do so after the killings proved problematic.

Interestingly enough, the man whom Sugden pinpoints as the most likely suspect had an area of time open before what some experts consider to be the first Ripper murder, one that took place on Bank Holiday, August 6, 1888 (a prostitute named Martha Tabram). This led to the "what if?" for the novel: What if this man for some reason spent time in the Old West before arriving in Whitechapel? What if his reasoning for the killings was sparked by something he witnessed in what was basically a lawless or corrupt area of Colorado? What if his psychosis began in a town called Miller's Pass? And what if he honed his blood-frenzy on the saloon women of that town?

What if ex-manhunter Jim Hannigan was called into the case by a former love now forced into a life of prostitution?

Of course, then came hours' worth of extracting situations reminiscent of the original events and inserting them into the dusty streets of Miller's Pass. Names of places evoking London's East End were sketched into diagrams for the town; twists on the names of suspects and their occupations grew into the cast of characters populating the story, each of whom had something to hide, something to point to their possible guilt or probable innocence. Add in the evolving relationship between Hannigan and his partner, then a woman from his past, place both gals in the line of cutting and the novel seemed to take on a life of its own.

Another problem, inherent in the source material, was trying to keep the description of the murders to a gruesome minimum, while at the same time relating the savagery of the acts. Since we were talking about a man who removed organs and placed them beside bodies, mutilated features or sundry body parts, it became a fine line to walk to make the novel relevant and accurate, yet readable by fans of the genre unused to such things in their Shoot 'em Ups.

Third, probably the one that caused me the most consternation, was how does a killer who has to in effect escape at the end of the book make for a satisfying and enjoyable fictional tale? A certain amount of closure was needed. After much thought, I think I found a way to do it. I hope western and Ripper fans will agree.