Spring-heeled Jack: The Legend and The Possible Truth - excellent documentary series

Been watching the new Netflix documentary series on Spring-heeled Jack and I've got to say, it's actually really good. Not the sensationalist rubbish you'd expect from Netflix.

Why it works: The production team actually interviewed serious historians and researchers rather than just booking randos who claim to be psychics. They visit the actual locations in London where sightings occurred, and they're honest about what we do and don't know. The episode about the 1837-1838 hysteria particularly is well-researched.

The good bits: They lay out the timeline properly, show how mass hysteria can work, and discuss the possibility that multiple different incidents got lumped into one legend. The 'Pogo stick springs as 1800s urban legend' theory is genuinely interesting.

The weak bits: Episodes 4 and 5 get a bit too 'spooky music and speculation' for my taste. They basically run out of actual evidence and start inventing theories. Also, their insistence that it had to be someone's publicity stunt gets a bit thin.

Overall: Honestly worth a watch. Not going to convince you either way, but it's thoughtful paranormal documentary work. Rare enough that it deserves credit.

All 6 episodes on Netflix now.

Just finished this after seeing your post. The Whitehall attack recreation scene is genuinely unsettling even though you know it's acted. What gets me is how genuinely terrified people seem to have been - whether Spring-heeled Jack was real or mass hysteria, the fear was absolutely real.

They basically run out of actual evidence and start inventing theories

The pogo stick theory is brilliant because it actually fits the descriptions people gave - could explain the jumping, the speed, even the reported 'strange footfalls'. But then it doesn't explain the glowing eyes and the whole sulfur smell thing. Either people were inventing details or there's something the historians are missing.

If you liked this one, check out the old BBC series 'A History of Ancient Britain'. Same production quality, similar approach to legend vs reality. They apply actual archaeological rigour to folklore which is so refreshing after watching the usual paranormal telly.

The thing about Spring-heeled Jack that always intrigues me is that it's one of the few historical 'hauntings' that genuinely could have been a person. Unlike ghosts or aliens, someone in a costume with springs doing rooftop hops is at least physically possible. Makes it more frustrating that we never found out who it actually was.