Kevin Morris > Quotes

“I tried to act unphased, fighting back a cold sweat. At least the smell of blood was long gone, but that was little relief. It felt like we’d been travelling a straight line, yet daring a glimpse back, I saw with horror the light of the entrance was now completely absent in darkness, so much thicker and more terrifying than night’s black cloak. It was the dark of the earth we found ourselves trapped by, a dark that would claim us all in the end, and we were walking deeper still with a man who seemed disturbingly at ease amongst the crypt’s inhabitants. More than once, he swept the light into our eyes and away, leaving us dazzled, which made each inevitable return of his hulking form all the more ominous. What fearful things might we discover if we ran, I wondered? Even ignoring that, how far could we get against someone who filled the space like him and carried our only means of sight? As it has been said, in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man reigns as king. I looked to Macnaghten for reassurance and was met only by an empty void. ~ Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline, The Ripper Lives, Into the Black (4/10)”
― Kevin Morris, The Ripper Lives: Jack the Ripper Series I - Into the Black

“Despite the extraordinary efforts taken to bring the killer to justice, one of my great disappointments with the case was that we lacked the good fortune to give the people an ending, less so the sort it deserved. In turn, those vast and interconnected stories, provided and investigated, go without an ending to this day." ~ Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline, the Ripper Lives: To Catch a Killer (1/10)”
― Kevin Morris, The Ripper Lives

“Despite the extraordinary efforts taken to bring the Ripper to justice, one of my great disappointments with the case was that we lacked the good fortune to give the people an ending, less so the sort it deserved. In turn, those vast and interconnected stories, provided and investigated go without an ending to this day.”
― Kevin Morris, The Ripper Lives

“ychoA STARTLING DISCOVERY POINTS TO GUILT ... BUT OF WHAT?
"The feeling lingered all the way to the landing, increasingly unkempt, slowly dialling up the mustiness of the odour. It wasn't blood but closer, in fact, to dried salts, with a subtle edge of wax and pine. I glanced around and found my answer ... The entryway had been sealed, lined with what appeared to be some sort of gauze, mixed with adhesive glue and applied to the entire outer frame. It was stiff, now cracked and crumbling where Mcnaughten had forced his way in and QUICKLY BEEN MET WITH REGRET." - Chief Inspector Fredrick Abberline, The Ripper Lives: Into the Black (4/10)”
― Kevin Morris

“My nostrils flared, but a dreadful sound kept me from going any further—a whistle sharp enough to tear through the mists. It came back from the way I’d come, all the way back from the cursed Buck’s Row.

I stopped. My arms fell by my side, the chill settling upon me like a blanket of ice. I knew immediately it was Macnaghten. He’d found something. What else could it be?

I looked back into the fog, into the unknown, and in my heart, I knew the worst awaited me. It was another body. Another victim. Another failure for justice. It had to be. I set off to face it. And the fog closed in around me. ~ Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline, The Ripper Lives, Into the Black (4/10)”
― Kevin Morris, The Ripper Lives: Jack the Ripper Series I - Into the Black

“The lantern held aloft; brief flashes of our surroundings were all we were privy to. The masses of bones were brown now, jaws collapsed mid-scream and crammed into boxes three at a time. Wooden coffins crumbled effortlessly to time, exposing ancient, dusty remains, some crushed by metal plate armour. They nested bugs and creatures that need never know the light of day, that probed in the darkest reaches of the world, far away from human sights and sensibilities. The loose stone floor was looser than ever, the path narrower, threatening to roll ankles and cast curious wanderers into a pit of forgotten despair. Everything felt tighter around me as if the walls of skulls were closing in, but also supernaturally colder. ~ Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline, The Ripper Lives, Into the Black (4/10)”
― Kevin Morris, The Ripper Lives: Jack the Ripper Series I - Into the Black

“Further, two steps forward, and all the chaos of the world above fell away, the smell of wet dirt and rat droppings rising to invade my nostrils. The familiar feeling froze me in fear. Immediately, alarm bells were ringing in my head. My hands trembled. I scanned every shadow for something I could not name but which crept out of view like an ambush. Macnaghten absently kicked a rock, and the tinkle as it skimmed the ground gave me cause to jump; I turned to face the sound, and something crunched underfoot - a lump of something dry and brittle, like petrified wood - reduced to dust. At that, the lantern tilted slightly, dangling, wavering ethereally in our direction. IT WAS AWARE OF US NOW. ~ Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline, The Ripper Lives, Into the Black (4/10)”
― Kevin Morris, The Ripper Lives: Jack the Ripper Series I - Into the Black

“Despite the extraordinary efforts taken to bring the Ripper to justice, one of my great disappointments with the case was that we lacked the good fortune to give the people an ending, less so the sort it deserved. In turn, those vast and interconnected stories, provided and investigated, go without an ending to this day.”
― Kevin Morris

“Contemplation filled the air as a chill rolled through the room. Silence descended as the four of us turned to study the board as one. It's overlapping pages, threadbare twine, and handwritten scrawl, overloaded with information, inundating with questions, each more pressing than the last. Were we looking for a lone killer? If so, had our eyewitnesses glimpsed him in the night? When and where would he strike next? And why? And, grimmest of all, after Kelly, what would it look like?" ~ Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline, The Ripper Lives: To Catch a Killer”
― Kevin Morris, The Ripper Lives

“,Further, two steps forward, and all the chaos of the world above fell away, the smell of wet dirt and rat droppings rising to invade my nostrils. The familiar feeling froze me in fear. Immediately, alarm bells were ringing in my head. My hands trembled. I scanned every shadow for something I could not name but which crept out of view like an ambush. Macnaghten absently kicked a rock, and the tinkle as it skimmed the ground gave me cause to jump; I turned to face the sound, and something crunched underfoot - a lump of something dry and brittle, like petrified wood - reduced to dust. At that, the lantern tilted slightly, dangling, wavering ethereally in our direction. IT WAS AWARE OF US NOW. ~ Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline, The Ripper Lives: Into the Black (4/10)”
― Kevin Morris, The Ripper Lives: Jack the Ripper Series I - Into the Black