By special invitation, I spent last Saturday afternoon hanging out at Arlen's Studio's here in Northern California. Owned and operated by Keith Arlen, the small shop specializes in the design and manufacture of high quality magical apparatus of a very unique nature.

By unique, I mean to say that the props and effects Arlen produces not only look very old and rare, but smell of something one might find buried away in some ancient tomb, or perhaps hidden in the cellar of a very haunted house.

After a grand tour, and several hours of good solid magical discussion, It was time to head back home. On my way out, Keith handed me one of his best sellers, asking if I would be so kind as to give it a look over... I agreed.

The following is what I walked away with, and a few of my thoughts on the subject.

Dear Boss - The infamous Jack the Ripper letter
By Arlen Studio
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Effect & description:After an evening of magic and illusions, the performer produces a letter that he/she states they have purchased off of some on-line auction site or from a private collector, etc. (the original is in the archives of Scotland Yard). The performer goes on to tell that they do not believe the letter to be genuine but when they went to contact the seller, they were not to be found. He/she now uses it as a conversation piece and usually brings out the controversial letter to set the mood for the next few illusions.

The performer hands out the letter for inspection, asking that the handlers be careful with it, as it is very old. Once examined, the performer places the letter in the center of the table for all to see. He/she states, Let’s have some fun. I want to see if we can get the spirit of Jack the Ripper to come into the room. Perhaps he will finally divulge who he really was.

Let’s start by reading the letter. At that point, the performer starts to read the letter. Once the letter starts to be read, the performer is using a normal voice and pacing. As he/she gets to the middle of the body of the text, the performer starts to act strangely (right about where it says;The next job I do, I shall clip the ladies ears off) At that point he/she starts to stumble over the text and becomes demented. As he/she continues, the voice seems to adopt an English cockney accent. At this point, the performer is Jack. As he/she gets to the end of the letter, the performer holds their hand up high for all to see. The hand is completely clean and shows no sign of any discoloration.

As the performer reads the end (P.S. They say I am a doctor now. Ha ha. Wasn't good enough to post this till I got all the blood off my hands). Boom, right there, the performer slaps his hand down on top of the letter. The performer then turns over his/her hand to reveal that a bloody hand-print has been left on the letter. The combination of the loud slap on the letter and the visualization of the bloody hand-print gets them everytime.

Don’t be surprised if people run from the room and those in the group never talk to you again. The letter may-be autographed by the performer and left with the evening’s host as a souvenir, if it can be found!
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A little history...

During the Autumn of Terror in 1888, hundreds of letters were sent to the police and local press, purporting to be written by the Whitechapel fiend. Most of them were
deemed to be fakes written by either newspaper men trying to start a story or fools trying to incite more terror. Many Ripperologists believe them all to be hoaxes. Other experts believe some (specifically the Dear Boss letter) to be genuine.

The Dear Boss letter was received on September 27th, 1888 at the Central News Agency, this letter was originally believed to be just another hoax. Three days later, the double murder of Stride and Eddowes made them reconsider, especially once they learned a portion of the latter's earlobe was found cut off from the body, eerily reminiscent of a promise made within the letter. The police deemed the Dear Boss letter important enough to reproduce in newspapers and postbills of the time, hoping someone would recognize the handwriting.

A postcard received at the Central News Agency on October 1st, making direct reference to both the murders and the Dear Boss letter, is believed to have been written by the same hand. Whether or not the letter is a hoax, it is the first written reference which uses the name Jack the Ripper in reference to the Whitechapel murderer.
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The letters you are given to perform this illusion, are exactly as written by the Whitechaple fiend. Careful attention to detail and historical accuracy was given when putting this presentation together. Only slight modifications were made to the text so as to make the effect more easily performed. You are actually reading the words as written by Jack the Ripper himself over one hundred years ago!
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The idea of a bloody hand appearing on a supposed old letter is not a new one. Over the years creators such as Larry White and Bruce Kevlar have all added their versions to the mix as well.

This concept has appeared under various titles such as: The Marquees Letter, The Vampire Letters, In Lizzies Hand, Charlie Manson Touched Me, The Vampire Diary, etc..., and is therefore not a new idea at all.

However, the quality of the Arlen Studio version is very good, with the bloody hand-print actually looking like blood, as opposed to some versions appearing more like grape juice.

Okay, this is obviously a very creepy and bizarre type of effect. With Halloween just around the corner, this makes for some really spooky presentation possibilities.

This effect is very easy to perform, from a technical point of view, as there are no kind of knuckle busting moves to be concerned about.

The instructions are easy to follow, and the letters supplied look very real indeed. When the bloody hand-print appears on the page, there is no evidence that the performer had anything to do with it, it's that clean. With the lights down low, or just a candle or two burning, this is a haunting in the making.

However, like any really good magic, the real key here is the actual presentation. The props do all the work for you, leaving you a wide birth to showcase your acting abilities. Played correctly, this could be a real reputation maker. (Presented in a manner that is not convincing, all you will see is a room full of folks puzzling over the letter in a quest to figure out where the blood came from.) If you use up the supply of letters provided (and you will), refill packages are available. Even though I'm a card kind of guy, I liked this one a lot, very spooky. Recommended.

My rating:

Available from your favorite dealer, or directly from Arlen Studio.
Suggested retail is $37.00

Arlen Studio
P.O.Box 991712 Redding, Ca. 96099-1712
Phone/Fax: (530)221-7324

You can also contact Keith Arlen directly at: arlen@c-zone.net
To visit the Arlen Studio site: Click here!