Of Surnames and Serial Killers...

[fenderlove]

Well, I'm a little shocked at finding out about Spike's surname. I mean, it's not show-canon, but Whedon did approve it, so... I don't know. William Pratt? It's cool 'cause Boris Karloff (real name: William Henry Pratt) is awesome, but I just wish 'prat' wasn't also an insult. I always thought that Spike would have a name more associated with an infamous serial killer. In my fics, I've often used the name 'Boarden', a combination of Lizzie Borden (my favourite murderess) and Billy Idol (real name: William Michael Albert Broad)'s surnames.
After doing some research on another project, I found out that 'Pratt' was the surname alias that H. H. Holmes used! H. H. Holmes is considered one of America's first serial killers, luring people into his "Murder Castle" (an imposing three-story home fitted with asphyxiation chambers, rape rooms, a live dissection room complete with acid vat, trap doors, and secret passage ways), which he used to board and kill over 50 victims during the 1893 Chicago's World Fair. And people think that vampires are evil! I wonder if he and Spike are related?

Comments

[commievampire.livejournal.com]

there's a killer episode of babylon 5 where one character is jack the ripper abducted by aliens. really odd little twist to an already fucked up character.

[fenderlove.livejournal.com]

There's this weird ep of the new Twilight Zone series where Jack the Ripper was actually an alien infesting in the bodies of prostitutes, and it would rip their bodies apart to get out, only to crawl into another prostitute's body, eventually killing them as well.