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Spring-heeled Jack

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Painted illustration: cloaked leaping figure over Victorian London rooftops
AI rendition based on witness descriptions, not an actual photo.
Spring Heeled Jack as depicted in the English penny dreadful Spring-Heeled Jack #2, Aldine Publishing, 1904.
Spring Heeled Jack as depicted in the English penny dreadful Spring-Heeled Jack #2, Aldine Publishing, 1904 · Robert Prowse Jr. (1858–died circa 1934) · Public domain (via Wikimedia Commons) · Image source
Spring Heeled Jack as depicted by Robert Prowse Jr., cover of an English penny dreadful (1904)
Spring Heeled Jack as depicted by Robert Prowse Jr., cover of an English penny dreadful (1904) · Robert Prowse Jr. (1858–died circa 1934) · Public domain (via Wikimedia Commons) · Image source

A leaping entity of Victorian English folklore.

Folklore Verdict: We treat Spring-heeled Jack as folklore: the record is stories and local reports, with no specimen or verified photo.

Region
Europe · United Kingdom (England)
First reports
1837

Key sightings

Best evidence

Stories and tradition only; no physical evidence.

Sources