Decemystery (2022.3) 6: Richard Curle’s Nighttime Visitor

 

Before I even get into the introduction, the image source is from Anomalous Illustrations, which is a part of Thack! Pow! Productions. Really great art; I wish I had any level of artistic skill. Unfortunately, I have the drawing capabilities of a kindergartener.

Hello, dear reader; welcome back to my humble little blog. Here, we (or rather I) talk about anything and everything Fortean; if you want the strangest stuff imaginable, just visit here. Yeah, I’m not the best at advertising, but it’s a work in progress. The point is, it’s time for another bout of Decemystery goodness!

Today’s story, in my eyes, exemplifies that evolution as it’s classifiable as quintessential weirdness in its purest form. People claiming to have seen something strange is by no means remarkable on its own, but I believe that changes when it’s from someone of higher status. Richard Curle was a Scottish traveler, author, and critic; when he was but a young lad, he saw something truly bizarre; it was a creature most unexplainable. So come along, dear reader; it’s time to dive into the story of Richard Curle’s Nighttime Visitor.

Mystery: Jack the Ripper

 

Having grown up with a father who’s a law enforcement officer, my childhood was heavily influenced by shows centered on crime and stories of those who committed acts of evil being caught. This ranged from Scooby-Doo to Forensic Files and America’s Most Wanted, all of which I greatly enjoyed.

As life went on, my fascination in these stories only grew. While I never planned on pursuing a career in law enforcement (not that I could at this point given my physical disabilities), I always loved to read about how these horrible people would slip up and get caught and what their motivations were. It has never ceased to blow my mind as to how little it takes for someone to decide that they’ll take another human’s life. That’s not even touching on unsolved crimes, which are even more fascinating in my eyes. The many questions that surround them really put into perspective the tagline to the 2007 film Zodiac. There’s more than one way to lose your life to a killer.

This brings me to today’s story. Our subject today has brought many detectives and sleuths—amateur and professional—to their knees. So, if you would be so kind as to join me, let’s take a gander at one of the luckiest humans to have ever lived. This is the story of Jack the Ripper.

Mystery: Belle Gunness

I’m sorry to inform all of you that Belle Gunness bears absolutely relationship—inspiration or otherwise—to the Belle that was voiced by Paige O’Hara in Beauty and the Beast. However, I do have reason to believe that she inspired Emma Watson in the 2017 live action version as just like Watson’s singing, Belle is one of America’s most notorious female serial killers, and most certainly left me cringing.