The Versus Storyworld

The preceding chapters have charted the parallel developments of Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper as serial figures and culture-texts, and this one unpacks their convergence focusing on their storyworld. Around each character, a particular set of typical features has developed, and out of these, the creators of the Holmes versus Ripper narratives have construed their own story patterns and coherent narrative structures . The differences between the two formulas are easily blurred, and while certain elements seem indispensable, others are nonessential and easily discarded or (re)introduced to surprise the audience. A constellation of real and fictional characters populates this familiar storyworld, deeply immersed in the imaginary Victorian London and imbued with visually appealing Gothicising tropes. It is an effective combination of the elements of both culture-texts’ formulas, operating across different media and generic divides, relying on the concept of seriality, and catering to hybrid but manifold audiences.