’Tis the season, it seems, for the return of Jack the Ripper, that figure cloaked in fog and mystery that never seems to stray far from our imaginations. A lot of writers of every stripe have written stories about him, including Harlan Ellison, Robert Bloch, my pal Tim Sullivan, and me for that matter (“From Hell Again,” a story originally penned for an earlier Ripper anthology edited by Gardner Dozois and Susan Casper). We are all in among other good company in the just-released BIG BOOK of JACK THE RIPPER, edited by Otto Penzler, and reviewed a bit on the International Thriller Writers’ The Big Thrill site. (And when Mr. Penzler says “big” he means 1000+ pages—this is the definitive gathering of stories and non-fiction pieces).
It’s been Grand Guignol ya.
-gf