Ripper Notes: Madmen, Myths and Magic (ISBN 0975912917)

Ripper Notes #20:
This review is for Ripper Notes #20: Madmen, Myths, & Magic from October 2004. When I first started buying the Ripper Notes, I hesitated at this one because it seemed to have hokey subject matter based on the title. However, I finally ended up buying it and I was pleasantly surprised at how good this issue was. Here's the rundown of article content: 1. Serial stabbers - rather than murders, here's a look at criminals that got their rocks off at stabbing women (largely in the buttocks). 2. Dispelling the myth that JtR was the first serial killer. 3. Psychics claiming to know the identity of JtR, focus on Robert Lees from that timeframe and ends with modern psychics id'ing the Ripper. 4. A Mrs. Maxwell claims to have run into Mary Kelly which confilcts with the time of death. Mrs. Maxwell was on her way to the milk shoppe, so we get a brief history on the availability of milk in 1880s. Not sure why this was all that needed other than it was a small detail that got the author thinking. Worst article in the magazine and largely the sole reason for 4 stars. 5. Comparisons of JtR to Mr. Hyde, vampires, Frankenstein's monster, and werewolves. 6. A History of the witches of Whitechapel, surprisingly good article. 7. JtR and the 'vesica piscis' symbol connection. Making the murders fit into a ritual. Also ties into the Lindbergh baby kidnapping by Hauptmann. 8. Whether the murder sites form a pattern (cross, arrow, pentagram, etc) and if the killing sites were random or chosen specifically to make a pattern. Truly interesting article 9. Why was the Stride murder more careless in its location as opposed to the seemingly safe and scouted out sites of the other four canonical victims. Stride's site provided the biggest and most public site of getting caught. 10. Filler article on JtR letters scare in Leadville, Colorado. Overall, I was fairly impressed with this edition of the Ripper Notes. Good solid articles (sans the milk one) and rounded out by the regular features including the book review from 2004.

RN:
Some good stories here. Really liked the one on Kelly, If your interested in JTR, I think you will find some interesting reading. Not a masterpiece, but its hard to come out with 4 of these 120 pages book form a year. They have done well. A good solid 4 stars.