Shadow People

Shadow people (also known as Shadow men, shadow folk or shadow beings) are said to be shadow like creatures of supernatural origin that appear as dark forms in the peripheries of people's vision and disintegrate, or move between walls, when noticed.
Reports of shadow people are similar to ghost sightings, but differ in that shadow people are not reported as having human features, wearing modern/period clothing, or attempting to communicate. Witnesses also do not report the same feelings of being in the presence of something that 'was once human'. Some individuals have described being menaced, chased, or (more rarely) attacked by shadow people. There have also been reports of shadow people appearing in front of witnesses or lingering for several seconds before disappearing. Witnesses report that encounters are typically accompanied by a feeling of dread.

Spring Heel Jack

Spring Heeled Jack was a frightening spectre reported on in stories for most of the nineteenth century. He was so well known that many hoaxers tried to imitate him, sometimes with disastrous results.


Attack in London
In February of 1838, a young woman from London was lured from her home by a policeman calling for help. Her name was Jane Alsop, and she heard the policeman call "For God's sake, bring me a light, for we have caught Spring Heeled Jack here in the lane." She rushed out of her East End home with a candle and ran to the scene. As she gave it to the man he attacked her visciously. She screamed bloody murder to raise the alarm, and with that he made a great leap and was gone into the night. She later recounted her tale to the magistrate. She said he was wearing some kind of helmet, a whitish tight garment and a cape. He had long claws, had eyes like fire and indeed spat out flames of white and blue color.

Jackboots with springs
Jane Alsop's encounter with this being was the first encounter where Spring Heeled Jack actually attacked someone. However there had been reports of him a year previously, in Barnes Coomon in London. He was usually descibed as being around 6 and a half feet tall, wearing a black cloak and with springs in his heels which he used to jump over the hedges. In west Norfolk he reported to be wearing bullock's horns, with a red raggedy cloak and a stiff curving tail. This is very significant because at one time this outfit was discovered in a loft, alongside a pair of jackboots with springs on their heels.

More sightings
In September 1904, Spring Heeled Jack had moved north and was spotted in south Liverpool on a rooftop near a reservoir. He was further seen on the steeple of St Francis Xavier's in Salisbury Street in Everton before jumping down and disppearing only to be spotted running towards the crowd who had gathered - appearing as a 'helmeted, egg headed figure in white.' He then flew over their heads towards William Henry Street, before vanishing.

Identity theories and disappearance
One of the first theories as to the identity of Spring Heeled Jack was the Marquis of Waterford. He was a widely known jokester. Towards the late 1800's in Warwickshire, there were several attacks by Spring Heeled Jack. It turned out to be the work of a youth "not overburdened with common sense." The hoaxes of imitators were not without consequences. While it may not be directly related, one man in Berkshire went insane afterwards. In 1845 in Yarmouth, a man named Purdy was attacked when a mob mistook him for the Spring Heeled Jack. Most of the attacks were on women. There were novels written about him, and he caused quite a bit of alarm in southern England and the midlands for more than 60 years. Some murders were also blamed on him. And after a day of terror in 1907, he was never seen again.