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{{short description|English legendary folklore character}}
{{about}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2012}} <!-- This article uses [[British English]] -->
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox mythical creature
| name     = Spring-heeled Jack
| image    = jack6.jpg
| caption  = Spring Heeled Jack as depicted in the English [[penny dreadful]] ''Spring-Heeled Jack'' #2, Aldine Publishing, 1904
| Grouping = [[Hoax]], [[mass hysteria]], [[demon]], [[ghost|phantom]]
| Country  = [[United Kingdom]]
| Region   = [[London]]<br>[[Liverpool]]
}}

'''Spring-heeled Jack ''' was an entity in [[English folklore]] of the [[Victorian era]]. The first claimed sighting of Spring-heeled Jack was in 1837.<ref>Sharon McGovern ("The Legend of Spring Heeled Jack") claims that a letter to the editor of the ''Sheffield Times'' in 1808 talks of a ghost by that name years previously; McGovern neither specifies the day in 1808 so that the letter can be verified nor lists any secondary source (for this or anything else). In addition, the ''Sheffield Times'' did not launch until April 1846.</ref> Later sightings were reported all over the United Kingdom and were especially prevalent in suburban [[London]], the [[Midlands]] and [[Scotland]].<ref>For an account of an incident from [[Edinburgh]] that was misinterpreted as a sighting of Spring-heeled Jack, see ''The Weekly Scotsman'', 16 January 1897.</ref>

There are many theories about the nature and identity of Spring-heeled Jack. This [[urban legend]] was very popular in its time, due to the tales of his bizarre appearance and ability to make extraordinary leaps, to the point that he became the topic of several works of fiction.

Spring-heeled Jack was described by people who claimed to have seen him as having a terrifying and frightful appearance, with diabolical [[physiognomy]], clawed hands, and eyes that "resembled red balls of fire". One report claimed that, beneath a black cloak, he wore a helmet and a tight-fitting white garment like an [[oilskin]]. Many stories also mention a "Devil-like" aspect. Others said he was tall and thin, with the appearance of a [[gentleman]]. Several reports mention that he could breathe out blue and white flames and that he wore sharp metallic claws at his fingertips. At least two people claimed that he was able to speak comprehensible English.

== History ==

===Precedents===
In the early 19th century, there were reports of [[ghost]]s that stalked the streets of London. These human-like figures were described as pale; it was believed that they stalked and preyed on lone pedestrians. The stories told of these figures formed part of a distinct ghost tradition in London which, some writers have argued, formed the foundation of the later legend of Spring-heeled Jack.<ref name="History Today">Jacob Middleton, "An Aristocratic Spectre", ''History Today'' (February 2011)</ref>

The most important of these early entities was the [[Hammersmith Ghost]], which in 1803 and 1804 was reported in [[Hammersmith]] on the western fringes of London; it would later reappear in 1824. Another apparition, the Southampton ghost, was also reported as assaulting individuals in the night. This particular spirit bore many of the characteristics of Spring-heeled Jack, and was reported as jumping over houses and being over {{convert|10|ft|abbr=on}} tall.<ref name="History Today"/>

=== Early reports ===
[[File:Springheel Jack.png|thumb|left|Illustration of Spring-heeled Jack, from the serial ''Spring-heel'd Jack: The Terror of London'']]
The first alleged sightings of Spring-heeled Jack were made in London in 1837 and the last reported sighting is said in most of the secondary literature to have been made in [[Liverpool]] in 1904.<ref name=scotsman1>David Cordingly, "[http://living.scotsman.com/people.cfm?id=1465132006 Lives and Times: Spring-Heeled Jack]", ''[[The Scotsman]]'' 7 October 2006. Excerpted from the ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]''.</ref><ref name=cordingly1>Rupert Mann, "Spring Heeled Jack", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004; {{ISBN|019861411X}}).</ref>

According to much later accounts, in October 1837 a girl by the name of Mary Stevens was walking to [[Lavender Hill]], where she was working as a servant, after visiting her parents in [[Battersea]]. On her way through [[Clapham Common]], a strange figure leapt at her from a dark alley. After immobilising her with a tight grip of his arms, he began to kiss her face, while ripping her clothes and touching her flesh with his claws, which were, according to her deposition, "cold and clammy as those of a corpse". In panic, the girl screamed, making the attacker quickly flee from the scene. The commotion brought several residents who immediately launched a search for the aggressor, but he could not be found.<ref name="eehe">{{cite web |last1=Reed |first1=Peter |title=Spring-heeled Jack |url=https://eehe.org.uk/?p=33406 |website=Epsom and Ewell History Explorer |access-date=19 December 2021}}</ref>

The next day, the leaping character is said to have chosen a very different victim near Mary Stevens' home, inaugurating a method that would reappear in later reports: he jumped in the way of a passing [[carriage]], causing the [[coachman]] to lose control, crash, and severely injure himself. Several witnesses claimed that he escaped by jumping over a {{convert|9|ft|abbr=on}} high wall while cackling with a high-pitched, ringing laughter.<ref name="eehe" />

Gradually, the news of the strange character spread; soon, the [[mass media|press]] and the public gave him the name "Spring-heeled Jack".<ref>Clark, ''Unexplained!'' mentions{{page needed|date=August 2017}} that the press referred variously to "''Spring-heeled Jack''" or "''Springheel Jack''". Haining, ''The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack'', asserts that the term ''"springald"'' was rather the origin of the name Spring Heeled Jack, to which it evolved later; alas, there is no proof to support this claim, according to Clark. Dash, op. cit.,<!-- WHICH ONE? --> reveals that there is no contemporary evidence that this term was used in the 1830s, and establishes that the first original name was "''Steel Jack''{{-"}}, a possible reference to his supposed armoured appearance.</ref>

=== Official recognition ===
[[File:Mansion House-Public Session.jpg|thumb|A public session at the Mansion House, London (c. 1840).]] A few months after these first sightings, on 9 January 1838, the [[Lord Mayor of London]], [[John Cowan (sheriff)|Sir John Cowan]], revealed at a public session held in the [[Mansion House, London|Mansion House]] an anonymous complaint that he had received several days earlier, which he had withheld in the hope of obtaining further information. The correspondent, who signed the letter "a resident of [[Peckham]]", wrote:

{{quote|It appears that some individuals (of, as the writer believes, the highest ranks of life) have laid a wager with a mischievous and foolhardy companion, that he durst not take upon himself the task of visiting many of the villages near London in three different disguises—a ghost, a bear, and a [[devil]]; and moreover, that he will not enter a gentleman's gardens for the purpose of alarming the inmates of the house. The wager has, however, been accepted, and the unmanly villain has succeeded in depriving seven ladies of their senses, two of whom are not likely to recover, but to become burdens to their families.

At one house the man rang the bell, and on the servant coming to open door, this worse than brute stood in no less dreadful figure than a spectre clad most perfectly. The consequence was that the poor girl immediately swooned, and has never from that moment been in her senses.

The affair has now been going on for some time, and, strange to say, the papers are still silent on the subject. The writer has reason to believe that they have the whole history at their finger-ends but, through interested motives, are induced to remain silent.<ref>As quoted by Jacqueline Simpson, ''Spring-Heeled Jack'' (2001).</ref>}}

Though the Lord Mayor seemed fairly sceptical, a member of the audience confirmed that "servant girls about [[Kensington]], Hammersmith and [[Ealing]], tell dreadful stories of this ghost or devil". The matter was reported in ''[[The Times]]'' on 9 January, other national papers on 10 January and, on the day after that, the Lord Mayor showed a crowded gathering a pile of letters from various places in and around London complaining of similar "wicked pranks". The quantity of letters that poured into the Mansion House suggests that the stories were widespread in suburban London. One writer said several young women in Hammersmith had been frightened into "dangerous fits" and some "severely wounded by a sort of claws the miscreant wore on his hands". Another correspondent claimed that in [[Stockwell]], [[Brixton]], [[Camberwell]] and [[Vauxhall]] several people had died of fright and others had had fits; meanwhile, another reported that the trickster had been repeatedly seen in [[Lewisham]] and [[Blackheath, London|Blackheath]].{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}

The Lord Mayor himself was in two minds about the affair: he thought "the greatest exaggerations" had been made, and that it was quite impossible "that the ghost performs the feats of a devil upon earth", but on the other hand someone he trusted had told him of a servant girl at [[Forest Hill, London|Forest Hill]] who had been scared into fits by a figure in a bear's skin; he was confident the person or persons involved in this "[[pantomime]] display" would be caught and punished.<ref>Peter Haining, ''The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack'', based on reports from ''[[The Times]]'' of 10 and 12 January 1838.</ref> The police were instructed to search for the individual responsible, and rewards were offered.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}

A peculiar report from ''The Brighton Gazette'', which appeared in the 14 April 1838 edition of ''The Times'', related how a gardener in Rosehill, Sussex, had been terrified by a creature of unknown nature. ''The Times'' wrote that "Spring-heeled Jack has, it seems, found his way to the Sussex coast", even though the report bore little resemblance to other accounts of Jack. The incident occurred on 13 April, when it appeared to a gardener "in the shape of a bear or some other four-footed animal". Having attracted the gardener's attention by a growl, it then climbed the garden wall and ran along it on all fours, before jumping down and chasing the gardener for some time. After terrifying the gardener, the apparition scaled the wall and made its exit.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Times]] |title=The Whitechapel murder |page=7 |date=14 April 1838 |url=http://archive.timesonline.co.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006085903/http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/ |archive-date=6 October 2008 }}</ref>

=== Scales and Alsop reports ===
[[File:Spring Heeled Jack-penny dreadful.png|left|thumbnail|Illustration of Spring-heeled Jack, from the 1867 serial ''Spring-heel'd Jack: The Terror of London'']]
Perhaps the best known of the alleged incidents involving Spring-heeled Jack were the attacks on two teenage girls, Lucy Scales and Jane Alsop. The Alsop report was widely covered by the newspapers, including a piece in ''[[The Times]]'',<ref name=oldford>{{cite news | title = The Late Outrage at Old Ford | work = [[The Times]] | date = 2 March 1838 | url = http://archive.timesonline.co.uk | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081006085903/http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/ | url-status = dead | archive-date = 6 October 2008 }}</ref> while fewer reports appeared in relation to the attack on Scales. The press coverage of these two attacks helped to raise the profile of Spring-heeled Jack.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}

====Alsop case====
Jane Alsop reported that on the night of 19 February 1838, she answered the door of her father's house to a man claiming to be a police officer, who told her to bring a light, claiming "we have caught Spring-heeled Jack here in the lane". She brought the person a candle, and noticed that he wore a large cloak. The moment she had handed him the candle, however, he threw off the cloak and "presented a most hideous and frightful appearance", vomiting blue and white flame from his mouth while his eyes resembled "red balls of fire". Miss Alsop reported that he wore a large helmet and that his clothing, which appeared to be very tight-fitting, resembled white oilskin. Without saying a word he caught hold of her and began tearing her gown with his claws which she was certain were "of some metallic substance". She screamed for help, and managed to get away from him and ran towards the house. He caught her on the steps and tore her neck and arms with his claws. She was rescued by one of her sisters, after which her assailant fled.<ref name=scotsman1/><ref name=burke>{{cite book | last = Burke | first = Edmund | author-link = Edmund Burke |author2=Ivison Stevenson  | title = The Annual Register of World Events: A Review of the Year | publisher = Longmans, Green | year = 1839 | location = London | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sdkHAAAAIAAJ&q=spring-heeled | page = 23 }}</ref>

====Scales case====
On 28 February 1838,<ref>''[[The Morning Post]]'' of 7 March 1838, in Mike Dash, 'Spring-heeled Jack', ''Fortean Studies'' 3, p.pp.62–3</ref> nine days after the attack on Miss Alsop, 18-year-old Lucy Scales and her sister were returning home after visiting their brother, a butcher who lived in a respectable part of [[Limehouse]]. Miss Scales stated in her deposition to the police that as she and her sister were passing along Green Dragon Alley, they observed a person standing in an angle of the passage. She was walking in front of her sister at the time, and just as she came up to the person, who was wearing a large cloak, he spurted "a quantity of blue flame" in her face, which deprived her of her sight, and so alarmed her, that she instantly dropped to the ground, and was seized with violent fits which continued for several hours.<ref name="Burke, pp. 26-27">Burke, [https://books.google.com/books?id=sdkHAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA26&vq=spring-heeled pp. 26–27]</ref>

Her brother added that on the evening in question, he had heard the loud screams of one of his sisters moments after they had left his house and on running up Green Dragon Alley he found his sister Lucy on the ground in a fit, with her sister attempting to hold and support her. She was taken home, and he then learned from his other sister what had happened. She described Lucy's assailant as being of tall, thin, and gentlemanly appearance, covered in a large cloak, and carrying a small lamp or bull's eye lantern similar to those used by the police. The individual did not speak nor did he try to lay hands on them, but instead walked quickly away. Every effort was made by the police to discover the author of these and similar outrages, and several persons were questioned, but were set free.<ref name="Burke, pp. 26-27"/>

=== Popularisation ===
''The Times'' reported the alleged attack on Jane Alsop on 2 March 1838 under the heading "The Late Outrage at Old Ford".<ref name=oldford/> This was followed with an account of the trial of one Thomas Millbank, who, immediately after the reported attack on Jane Alsop, had boasted in the Morgan's Arms that he was Spring-heeled Jack. He was arrested and tried at Lambeth Street court. The arresting officer was James Lea, who had earlier arrested William Corder, the [[Red Barn Murder]]er. Millbank had been wearing white [[overall]]s and a [[greatcoat]], which he dropped outside the house, and the candle he dropped was also found. He escaped conviction only because Jane Alsop insisted her attacker had breathed fire, and Millbank admitted he could do no such thing. Most of the other accounts were written long after the date; contemporary newspapers do not mention them.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}
[[File:Jack4.jpg|thumb|Ad for ''Spring Heeled Jack'', a [[penny dreadful]] (1886)]]
After these incidents, Spring-heeled Jack became one of the most popular characters of the period. His alleged exploits were reported in the newspapers and became the subject of several [[penny dreadful]]s and plays performed in the cheap theatres that abounded at the time. The devil was even renamed "Spring-heeled Jack" in some [[Punch and Judy]] shows, as recounted by [[Henry Mayhew]] in his ''[[London Labour and the London Poor]]'':

{{Quote|This here is Satan, – we might say the devil, but that ain't right, and gennelfolks don't like such words. He is now commonly called 'Spring-heeled Jack;' or the 'Rossian Bear,' – that's since the war.|Henry Mayhew|''London Labour and the London Poor'', p. 52<ref>{{cite book | last = Mayhew | first = Henry | author-link = Henry Mayhew | title = London labour and the London poor | publisher = Griffin, Bohn, and Company | year = 1861 | location = London | url = https://archive.org/details/londonlabourand01mayhgoog | page = [https://archive.org/details/londonlabourand01mayhgoog/page/n76 52] }}</ref>}}

But, even as his fame was growing, reports of Spring-heeled Jack's appearances became less frequent if more widespread. In 1843, however, a wave of sightings swept the country again. A report from [[Northamptonshire]] described him as "the very image of the Devil himself, with horns and eyes of flame", and in [[East Anglia]] reports of attacks on drivers of [[mail coach]]es became common. In July 1847 "a Spring-heeled Jack investigation" in Teignmouth, Devon led to a Captain Finch being convicted of two charges of assault against women during which he is said to have been "disguised in a skin coat, which had the appearance of bullock's hide, skullcap, horns and mask".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71608928 |title=British And Foreign Gleanings. |newspaper=[[The South Australian]] |location=Adelaide |date=27 July 1847 |access-date=21 August 2013 |page=4 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The legend was linked with the phenomenon of the "[[Devil's Footprints]]" which appeared in [[Devon]] in February 1855.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}

=== Last reports ===
In the beginning of the 1870s, Spring-heeled Jack was reported again in several places distant from each other. In November 1872, the ''[[News of the World]]'' reported that Peckham was "in a state of commotion owing to what is known as the "Peckham Ghost", a mysterious figure, quite alarming in appearance". The editorial pointed out that it was none other than "Spring-heeled Jack, who terrified a past generation".<ref>News of the World, 17 November 1872, cited in "Fortean Studies volume 3" (1996), pp. 78–79, ed. Steve Moore, John Brown Publishing</ref> Similar stories were published in ''[[The Illustrated Police News]]''. In April and May 1873, it reported there were numerous sightings in [[Sheffield]] of the "Park Ghost", which locals also came to identify as Spring-heeled Jack.<ref>The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes By Michael Newton pp. 355</ref>

====Aldershot====
[[File:North Camp Aldershot 1866.jpg|thumb|left|North Camp in [[Aldershot Garrison|Aldershot]] as it looked in 1866.]]
This news was followed by more reported sightings, until in August 1877 one of the most notable reports about Spring-heeled Jack came from a group of soldiers in [[Aldershot Garrison]]. This story went as follows: a sentry on duty at the North Camp peered into the darkness, his attention attracted by a peculiar figure "advancing towards him." The soldier issued a challenge, which went unheeded, and the figure came up beside him and delivered several slaps to his face. A guard shot at him, with no visible effect; some sources claim that the soldier may have fired [[blank (cartridge)|blanks]] at him, others that he missed or fired warning shots. The strange figure then disappeared into the surrounding darkness "with astonishing bounds."<ref>"The Aldershott Ghost", ''The Times'', 28 April 1877 (cited in "Fortean Studies volume 3" (1996), p. 95, ed. Steve Moore, John Brown Publishing)</ref><ref>"Our Camp Letter" –  ''Surrey and Hants News & Guildford Times'' – 17 March 1877, section ''Aldershot Gazette''</ref><ref>[[Elliott O'Donnell]], ''Haunted Britain'' – Consul Books (1963) p. 89</ref>

[[Lord Ernest Hamilton]]'s 1922 memoir ''Forty Years On'' mentions the Aldershot appearances of Spring-heeled Jack; however, he (apparently erroneously) says that they occurred in the winter of 1879 after his regiment, the [[King's Royal Rifle Corps|60th Rifles]], had moved to Aldershot, and that similar appearances had occurred when the regiment was barracked at [[Colchester]] in the winter of 1878. He adds that the panic became so great at Aldershot that sentries were issued ammunition and ordered to shoot "the night terror" on sight, following which the appearances ceased. Hamilton thought that the appearances were actually pranks, carried out by one of his fellow officers, a Lieutenant Alfrey.<ref>{{cite book | last = Hamilton | first = Ernest | author-link = Lord Ernest Hamilton | title = Forty Years On | publisher = Hodder and Stoughton | year = 1922 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/fortyyearson00hami/page/163 163]–164 | url = https://archive.org/details/fortyyearson00hami }}</ref><ref>"Our Camp Letter" – ''Surrey and Hants News & Guildford Times'' – 14 December 1878, section ''Aldershot Gazette''</ref> However, there is no record of Alfrey ever being court-martialled for the offence.<ref>Judge Advocate General's Office: General Courts Martial charge sheets: 1877–1880 – the National Archives, Kew</ref>

====Lincolnshire====
In the autumn of 1877, Spring-heeled Jack was reportedly seen at [[Newport Arch]], in [[Lincoln, England|Lincoln]], [[Lincolnshire]], wearing a sheep skin. An angry mob supposedly chased him and cornered him, and just as in Aldershot a while before, residents fired at him to no effect. As usual, he was said to have made use of his leaping abilities to lose the crowd and disappear once again.<ref>Illustrated Police News, 3 November 1877, cited in "Fortean Studies volume 3" (1996), pp. 96, ed. Steve Moore, John Brown Publishing</ref>

====Liverpool====
By the end of the 19th century the reported sightings of Spring-heeled Jack were moving towards the north west of England. Around 1888, in [[Everton, Liverpool|Everton]], north Liverpool, he allegedly appeared on the rooftop of [[Church of Saint Francis Xavier, Liverpool|Saint Francis Xavier's Church]] in Salisbury Street. In 1904 there were reports of appearances in nearby William Henry Street.<ref>News of the World, 25 September 1904, cited in "Fortean Studies volume 3" (1996), pp. 97, ed. Steve Moore, John Brown Publishing</ref>

===Aftermath and impact upon Victorian popular culture===
The vast urban legend built around Spring-heeled Jack influenced many aspects of Victorian life, especially in contemporary [[popular culture]]. For decades, especially in London, his name was equated with the [[bogeyman]], as a means of scaring children into behaving by telling them if they were not good, Spring-heeled Jack would leap up and peer in at them through their bedroom windows, by night.

However, it was in fictional entertainment where the legend of Spring-heeled Jack exerted the most extensive influence, owing to his allegedly extraordinary nature. Three pamphlet publications, purportedly based on the real events, appeared almost immediately, during January and February, 1838. They were not advertised as fiction, though they likely were at least partly so. The only known copies were reported to have perished when the [[British Library]] was hit during [[The Blitz]], but their catalogue still lists the first one.

The character was written into a number of [[penny dreadful]] stories during the latter half of the 19th century, initially as a villain and then in increasingly heroic roles. By the early 1900s he was being represented as a costumed, altruistic avenger of wrongs and protector of the innocent, effectively becoming a precursor to [[Pulp magazine|pulp fiction]] and then [[comic book]] [[superheroes]].

==Theories==
No one was ever caught and identified as Spring-heeled Jack; combined with the extraordinary abilities attributed to him and the very long period during which he was reportedly at large, this has led to numerous and varied theories of his nature and identity. While several researchers seek a normal explanation for the events, other authors explore the more fantastic details of the story to propose different kinds of [[paranormal]] speculation.

===Sceptical positions===
Sceptical investigators have dismissed the stories of Spring-heeled Jack as [[mass hysteria]] which developed around various stories of a [[bogeyman]] or devil which have been around for centuries, or from exaggerated urban myths about a man who clambered over rooftops claiming that the Devil was chasing him.<ref>Randles, ''Strange and Unexplained Mysteries of the 20th Century''</ref>

[[File:Marquess of Waterford.jpg|thumb|[[Henry Beresford, 3rd Marquess of Waterford|Henry de La Poer Beresford]], 3rd Marquess of Waterford (1840)]]
Other researchers believe that some individual(s) may have been behind its origins, being followed by imitators later on.<ref name="ReferenceA">Dash, "Spring Heeled Jack", in ''Fortean Studies'', ed. Steve Moore.</ref> Spring-heeled Jack was widely considered not to be a supernatural creature, but rather one or more persons with a macabre sense of humour.<ref name=scotsman1/> This idea matches the contents of the letter to the Lord Mayor, which accused a group of young aristocrats as the culprits, after an irresponsible wager.<ref name=scotsman1/> A popular rumour circulating as early as 1840 pointed to an [[Peerage of Ireland|Irish nobleman]], [[Henry Beresford, 3rd Marquess of Waterford|the Marquess of Waterford]], as the main suspect.<ref name=scotsman1/> [[Peter Haining (author)|Haining]] suggested this may have been due to his having had bad experiences with women and police officers.<ref>Haining, ''The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack''.</ref>

The Marquess was frequently in the news in the late 1830s for drunken brawling, brutal jokes and vandalism, and was said to do anything for a bet; his irregular behaviour and his contempt for women earned him the title "the Mad Marquis", and it is also known that he was in the London area by the time the first incidents took place. In 1880 he was named as the perpetrator by [[E. Cobham Brewer]], who said that the Marquess "used to amuse himself by springing on travellers unawares, to frighten them, and from time to time others have followed his silly example."<ref>Jacqueline Simpson, ''Spring-Heeled Jack''.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Brewer |first=Ebenezer Cobham|editor=Marion Harland|title=The reader's companion: Character sketches of romance, fiction and the drama|chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/charactersketche07brewuoft#page/82/mode/1up|edition=Revised American |volume=VII: Skeggs-Trovatore|year=1896|publisher=Selmar Hess|location=New York|page=30|chapter=Spring-Heeled Jack}}</ref> In 1842, the Marquess married and settled in Curraghmore House, [[County Waterford]], and reportedly led an exemplary life until he died in a riding accident in 1859.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}

Sceptical investigators have asserted that the story of Spring-heeled Jack was exaggerated and altered through mass hysteria, a process in which many sociological issues may have contributed. These include unsupported rumours, superstition, [[oral tradition]], [[sensationalism|sensationalist]] publications, and a folklore rich in tales of [[fairy|fairies]] and strange roguish creatures. Gossip of alleged leaping and fire-spitting powers, his alleged extraordinary features and his reputed skill in evading apprehension captured the mind of the superstitious public—increasingly so with the passing of time, which gave the impression that Spring-heeled Jack had suffered no ill effects from age. As a result, a whole urban legend was built around the character, being reflected by contemporary publications, which in turn fuelled this popular perception.<ref>Massimo Polidoro, "[http://www.csicop.org/si/show/return_of_spring-heeled_jack/ Notes on a Strange World: Return of Spring-Heeled Jack]", ''[[Sceptical Inquirer]]'', July. Accessed on 24 March 2005.</ref>

===Paranormal conjectures===
[[File:jack2.jpg|thumb|Spring-heeled Jack illustrated on the cover of the 1904 serial ''Spring-heeled Jack'']]A variety of speculative paranormal explanations have been proposed to explain the origin of Spring-heeled Jack, including that he was an [[extraterrestrial life|extraterrestrial]] entity with a non-human appearance and features (e.g., [[retroreflector|retro-reflective]] red eyes, or [[phosphorus]] breath) and a [[superhuman]] agility deriving from life on a high-gravity world, with his jumping ability and strange behaviour,<ref>''[[Charles Berlitz]]'s World of Strange Phenomena''.</ref> and that he was a [[demon]], accidentally or purposefully summoned into this world by practitioners of the [[occult]], or who made himself manifest simply to create spiritual turmoil.<ref>Supporters of this theory include [[John Keel]], author of ''[[The Mothman Prophecies]]'', and [[Jacques Vallée]].</ref>

[[Charles Fort|Fortean]] authors, particularly [[Loren Coleman]]<ref>Mysterious America</ref> and [[Jerome Clark]],<ref>Unexplained!</ref> list "Spring-heeled Jack" in a category named "phantom attackers", with another well-known example being the "[[Mad Gasser of Mattoon]]". Typical "phantom attackers" appear to be human, and may be perceived as prosaic criminals, but may display extraordinary abilities (as in Spring-heeled Jack's jumps, which, it is widely noted, would break the ankles of a human who replicated them) and/or cannot be caught by authorities. Victims commonly experience the "attack" in their bedrooms, homes or other seemingly secure enclosures. They may report being pinned or paralysed, or on the other hand describe a "siege" in which they fought off a persistent intruder or intruders. Many reports can readily be explained psychologically, most notably as the [[night_hag|"Old Hag" phenomenon]], recorded in folklore and recognised by psychologists as a form of hallucination. In the most problematic cases, an "attack" is witnessed by several people and substantiated by some physical evidence, but the attacker cannot be verified to exist.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}

==Counterpart in Prague==
A similar figure known as [[Pérák, the Spring Man of Prague]] was reported to have been seen in [[Czechoslovakia]] around 1939–1945. As writers such as [[Mike Dash]] have shown, the elusiveness and supernatural leaping abilities attributed to Pérák bear a close resemblance to those exhibited by Spring-heeled Jack, and distinct parallels can be drawn between the two entities.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The stories of Pérák provide a useful example of how the traits of Spring-heeled Jack have a broad cultural resonance in urban folklore. Pérák, like Spring-heeled Jack, went on to become a folklore hero, even starring in several animated superhero cartoons, fighting the [[Schutzstaffel|SS]], the earliest of which is [[Jiří Trnka]]'s 1946 film ''Pérák a SS'' or ''[[Springman and the SS]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-press-release-jiri-trnka-at-bfi-southbank-in-april-2012-03-06.pdf|title="Jiří Trnka At BFI Southbank in April 2012", (Trnka Shorts for Adults) BFI press release March 2012.}}</ref>

==In contemporary popular culture==
The character of Spring-heeled Jack has been revived or referenced in a variety of 20th and 21st century media, including:

''Spring-Heeled Jack'' (1989) – a combination prose and graphic novel by [[Philip Pullman]] in which Spring-heeled Jack saves a group of plucky orphans from the malevolent Mack the Knife.<ref>{{cite web |title=Spring-Heeled Jack |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-440-41881-8 |website=[[Publishers Weekly]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706133900/https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-440-41881-8 |archive-date=July 6, 2015 |date=March 1, 2004 |url-status=live}}</ref>

"Spring Heeled Jack" – a song composed by [[Neil Cicierega]], published under the pseudonym [[Lemon Demon]], which was released on his 2008 album ''[[View Monster]]''.

''[[The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack]]'' (2010) – an alternate history novel by author Mark Hodder, portraying Spring-Heeled Jack as a time traveler.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-61614-240-7 |website=[[Publishers Weekly]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310072800/https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-61614-240-7 |archive-date=March 10, 2013 |date=July 19, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

''[[The Springheel Saga]]'' (2011) – a three-series audio drama produced by the Wireless Theatre Company.<ref>{{cite web |author1=J. R. Southall |title=The Secret of Springheel'd Jack Series 3, Episode Two: The Tunnels if Death |url=http://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/audio-reviews/14201-audio-review-the-secret-of-springheeld-jack-series-3-episode-two-the-tunnels-of-death |website=[[Starburst (magazine)|Starburst]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125141102/http://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/audio-reviews/14201-audio-review-the-secret-of-springheeld-jack-series-3-episode-two-the-tunnels-of-death |archive-date=January 25, 2016 |date=2016 |url-status=unfit}}</ref>

''[[Assassin's Creed Syndicate]]'' (2015) – Spring-heeled Jack appears in the game during the "Ghost Club" missions. <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/wikis/assassins-creed-syndicate/Spring-Heeled_Jack|title=Spring-Heeled Jack|last=Saris|first=Shawn|date=October 26, 2025|access-date=June 8, 2025|publisher=[[IGN]]|website=IGN.com}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Devil's Footprints]]
* [[Jack the Ripper]]
* [[Jersey Devil]]
* [[Jiangshi]]
* [[Krampus]]
* [[London Monster]]
* [[Mothman]]
* [[Owlman]]
* [[Batman]]
* [[The Shadow]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Bell, Karl. ''The Legend of Spring-Heeled Jack: Victorian Urban Folklore and Popular Cultures'', Boydell & Brewer, Boydell Press, 2012. {{ISBN|978-1-84383-787-9}}
* [[Charles Berlitz|Berlitz, Charles]]. ''Charles Berlitz's World of Strange Phenomena''. New York: Fawcett Crest, 1989. {{ISBN|0-449-21825-2}}.
* [[Jerome Clark|Clark, Jerome]]. ''Unexplained!: Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences and Puzzling Physical Phenomena''. Detroit: Visible Ink, 1993. {{ISBN|1-57859-070-1}}.
* Clarke, David. ''Strange South Yorkshire: Myth, Magic and Memory in the Don Valley''. Wilmslow: Sigma Press, 1994. {{ISBN|1-85058-404-4}}.
* Cohen, Daniel. ''[[The Encyclopedia of Monsters]]''. Dodd Mead, 1982. {{ISBN|0-396-09051-6}}.
* [[Mike Dash|Dash, Mike]]. ''Spring-heeled Jack: To Victorian Bugaboo from Suburban Ghost'', in ''[[Fortean Times#Fortean Studies|Fortean Studies]], vol. 3'', [[Steve Moore (comics)|Moore, Steve]] [ed.], (1996), pp.&nbsp;7–125. {{ISBN|978-1870870825}}.
* {{Skeptoid | id=4064 | number=64 | title=The Attack of Spring Heeled Jack<!-- : A look at the theories surrounding Spring Heeled Jack, the scourge of England in the early 1800s --> | date=September 4, 2007| access-date=May 29, 2022}}
* [[Peter Haining (author)|Haining, Peter]]. ''[[The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack]]''. London: Muller, 1977. {{ISBN|0-584-10276-3}}.
* [[John and Caitlin Matthews#John Matthews|Matthews, John]]. ''The Mystery of Spring-Heeled Jack: From Victorian Legend to Steampunk Hero''. [[Destiny Books]], 2016. {{ISBN|978-1620554968}}.
* [[Jess Nevins|Nevins, Jess]]. ''The Encyclopaedia of Fantastic Victoriana''. Austin: MonkeyBrain, 2005. {{ISBN|1-932265-08-2}}.
* Paton, James. ''The Black Book of Ghosts, Ufo's and the Unexplained''. Amazon Kindle 2013. {{ASIN|B00EK40WGE}}.
* [[Jenny Randles|Randles, Jenny]]. ''Strange and Unexplained Mysteries of the 20th Century''. New York: Sterling, 1994. {{ISBN|0-8069-0768-1}}.
* Robins, Joyce. ''The World's Greatest Mysteries''. London: Treasure, 1991. {{ISBN|1-85051-698-7}}.
* [[Jacqueline Simpson|Simpson, Jacqueline]]. ''Spring-Heeled Jack'' (leaflet, January 2001). International Society for Contemporary Legend Research.

==External links==
* {{commons-inline|Spring Heeled Jack}}
* {{wikiquote-inline}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110619222642/http://www.mikedash.com/extras/forteana/shj-about "Spring-heeled Jack: To Victorian Bugaboo from Suburban Ghost"] by [[Mike Dash]]
* "[https://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/myths_legends/england/black_country/index.shtml Spring Heeled Jack]". Local Legends. [[BBC]].
* [http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0602571.txt ''Spring-heeled Jack: The Terror of London''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017153212/http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0602571.txt |date=17 October 2012 }}. Anonymous. Unknown novel at Project Gutenberg Australia.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160110133711/http://www.dionysos.org.uk/SHJ1.html "The Complete Spring-heeled Jack Page"]—Fortean Page on SHJ

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:English folklore]]
[[Category:Jack tales]]
[[Category:Mass psychogenic illness in Europe]]
[[Category:European people whose existence is disputed]]
[[Category:Supernatural legends]]
[[Category:Victorian era]]
[[Category:British urban legends]]