What Happens In The Dark | Some good ol' fashion murder

The Fun Adventures of Historical Context

I've always been a huge fan of history; it was consistently one of my favorite subjects in school and had I not chosen the lucrative and stable career path of an artist, my second choice would've been to become a history teacher. This love of history has taken its true form of constantly seeking content regarding urban legends, mythology & folklore, and learning about any creepy/weird things that have happened. Because real-life events somehow always seem wilder than anything our minds can imagine. Just take one look at the podcasts I listen to and you'll see exactly where my interests lie (Just A Story Podcast, Astonishing Legends, Lore, My Favorite Murder).

In art school whenever I had to come up with a new story or subject matter for a comic or illustration this fascination with the past was always the first thing I turned to for inspiration. This was no exception when it came time to fashion an idea for my main portfolio piece my senior year of college.

The Story Behind The Story

What Happens In The Dark is based off of real-life events that took place in Scottland during the 19th century, known as the Burke and Hare murders.

As the field of science was developing in the 1800s, so was the demand for cadavers for medical research purposes. Under Scottish law, only the bodies of those who died in prison, suicide victims, and bodies of orphans were allowed to be used for research. As the popularity of medical training grew, the legal supply of "suitable" corpses was not meeting with the increasing demands. This, unfortunately, led to the rise in grave robbing. Grave robbing was becoming such an issue that people took measures to make sure their deceased loved ones were not taken from their graves.

Cue William Burke and William Hare

I guess as any good entrepreneurs would do, two men decided to form a business around the hospital's needs for cadavers. But instead of waiting for people to die and to risk trying the infiltrate increasingly protected graveyards they thought, "Hey, what if we just killed people and sold their bodies instead??"

The two utilized Hare's lodging to wait for unknowing victims to murder and bring to the hospital to turn a profit. Imagine that Shark Tank episode for that business venture...

They ended up amassing 16 murders over a period of about ten months before their heinous acts came to an end. Their last murder was of a woman named Mary Docherty, whom Burke lured into the lodging house and killed. The body was discovered by two other guests the following evening when they found Docherty’s body stuffed underneath their bed. The horrified couple alerted the police and William² were brought in for justice.

Soon after Burke and Hare were caught, Hare was given the opportunity to testify against his partner in exchange for immunity. In the ensuing trial, William Burke was found guilty and was sentenced to death. A month later, in January 1829, Burke was hung before a crowd of more than 20,000 people. (Because in those days it was entertainment to watch people be put to death. Thank the modern age for television)

I think Lore did an episode on the events, so check it out if you want to listen to a much more detailed telling of the account.

It was from this case, that What Happens In The Dark was based off of.

If you'd like to read about the other posts I made about my horror anthology you can check them out here:

Under The Bed
The Graveyard Shift
Creating Characters

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Twitter: @TheresaChiechi
Website: https://www.theresachiechi.com/