Call me po-faced, but I always fail to see the attraction "Ripperology".
Would people like to view where the Yorkshire Ripper operated with lurid descriptions of his crimes?

Not now, but in 150 years time? Maybe.

I think the time does make a difference, it's like the point when it stops being grave robbing and starts being archaeology.

It's because he was never caught (well he was - but that's another story and is my pension plan).

So people can play with the evidence and play sherlock Holmes.

Also it's a very tight little parcel - five murders (actually lots more) in a six monthe period (actually much longer) escalting in intensity until the last one - which is beyond imagining - and then nothing.

It was also the first serial killer (they didn't call them that of course) of the mass media age - so it had a greater impact than it would have done if 50 years earlier. That's why yanks have heard of it - it was possibly the first global news event.

Also it was the first such case where there was an organised police force to respond to it (and they did really rather well given what was available to them at the time).

I've got the Mets Murder Squad to roleply it as a training excercise - and they couldn't catch him either using what was vailable at the time (he'd be toast with modern methods).

I would put it up there with the wax museum.

"<i>I would put it up there with the wax museum.</i>"

Actually, I'd place Madame Tussaud's well above JTR - An argument <i>can</i> be made for the wax museum. Maybe not a great argument, but it can be fun. Not really any reason to take a JTR walk.