Edward Mordrake; It has even inspired TV series, movies, songs and books. One of the most well-known examples of these is the character “Quirinus Quirrell” in Harry Potter, which will immediately come to mind for all of us.
Is it really possible to be born with another face in the back of your head? What is the essence of Edward Mordrake’s story, which has been a question mark for centuries?
The demonic face wouldn’t shut up until he whispered to Mordrake and did his bidding.
Charles Lotin Hildreth was a poet and science fiction writer. Unlike factual stories, his stories were fantastic and Mordrake was featured in this book. In one of his books, it was written that Edward Mordrake was a 23-year-old musician living in seclusion and his back head was laughing while he was crying. The demonic face wouldn’t shut up until he whispered something to her and made her do what she wanted.
Edward’s mental state was broken. The female face in the back of his head wasn’t eating or drinking, but he was constantly harassing him by speaking the “language of hell”.
Mordrake finally wanted to get rid of that face, even if the result was death, and appealed to the doctors for help. Not getting what he wanted, he committed suicide and wrote in his letter that the “devilish face” had to be destroyed before it was buried.
Even medical professionals believed it without question.
The eerieness of the story caught people’s attention and was constantly being added to it. The public was dying for more details on Mordrake, and even the medics approached the story without skepticism.
However, looking at the history of the period when he was thought to live, no trace of the doctors he called for help was found. In other words, such a situation seemed to be scientifically impossible.
There were cracks in the credibility of the story.
Moreover, the demon face was a woman. This eliminated the possibility of conjoined twins. Because conjoined twins must have the same sex as they come from one egg.
Also, the story said that Edward was a nobleman. However, when investigated, neither a tombstone nor a body was found. In short, the evidence that the case was a fiction was increasing.
The source of some of the images we come across is still unknown.
As might be expected, many newspapers in the late 19th century did not have publishing standards similar to those today. Although it was a source of information, short and fictional stories were also included. So people believed everything they read in the newspapers.
While some of the pictures and photographs circulating are works of art inspired by the story, the fate of a few is still not fully resolved. The most well-known photograph above is said to have been made to represent it with a wax.
Here are a few examples that inspired Edward Mordrake:
The Harry Potter character, Professor Quirrell, as you can see in the image above, had a face on the back of his head; besides, that face was the “evil” Voldemort. This character is also thought to be inspired by Mordrake.
The song “Poor Edward” from Tom Waits’ 2002 album “Alice” was written for Mordrake.
Also, the character of Edward Mordrake is featured in season 4 of American Horror Story (bottom image).
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