Join Me Around the Campfire

‘Creative nonfiction writers have a complicated obligation to their readers: to entertain like novelists but to educate like journalists.’ – Lee Gutkind.

To entertain and to educate, is the aim when telling a good true story according to Gutkind, and I would have to agree but with a good twist.

I believe, the thing that makes a true story even better, is disbelief. Campfire stories are a good example. Sitting around a fire, trying to think of the strangest story you have ever heard. The ones where people refuse to believe what you are saying is true - until they go and research it for themselves.

So join me around the campfire while I give a brief intro to three different tales while identifying their potential to make good ‘true stories’.

Edward Mordake (sometimes referred to as Mordrake)

First accounted for in an 1895 'Boston Post' article, Mordrake was a man of English Heritage who was said to have a face on the back of his head which he referred to as his ‘devil twin’.

He claimed that the face whispered to him when he was alone ‘things that could only come from hell’ and he felt tortured enough to committed suicide at the age of 23.

While it is entirely possible for someone to be born with a face on the back of their head, it is difficult to believe that the face was that of the devils and therefore reflects more of a ‘tall tale’ than a true story.

It should be mentioned that there are no dates of birth and death for Mordrake, nor are there any pictures/paintings; although it was rumoured that Mordake kept himself in isolation and therefore, it is doubtful he would have allowed any photographs to be taken.

NOTE: The picture below shows a sculpture of what Mordrake is expected to have looked like.

Sweeney Todd

Widely known as a musical, Sweeney Todd is believed to be nothing more than a work of fiction However, Todd was a real person born October 26, 1756 with a rough upbringing and a ‘taste’ for murder.

It was not proved how many murders Todd committed exactly but on a police raid, the clothes for at least 160 people were found.

Todd’s story would be interesting to look into as it would educate readers of the true story and I could search online for newspaper clippings and see if there are existing police reports from the time.

My problem would be finding an interested audience, as many people will feel as though they already know the story due to the number of films and musical; therefore, the story may be considered ‘over-told.

The Deerfield Massacre

The 1704 Raid on Deerfield occurred during Queen Anne's War, on February 29th when French and Native American forces attacked the English frontier settlement at Deerfield, Massachusetts. The attack happened just before dawn, and part of the town was burnt, killing 47 villagers, and 112 settlers were taken captive to Canada, of whom 60 were later redeemed.

I’m interested in this event as some of the captives (mainly children) decided to stay with their captors and were later adopted into families. I would like to see if I can find out why they chose to stay.

History books will come in handy as this is a documented part of time and therefore there will be lots of research available with true accounts; however it will be a task to sort through the mass amounts of research and decide which accounts are true.