Category: Reviews

Just over a year ago, Hera (Zee9) revealed her take on Whitechapel, the district of East End London infamous for the predatory wandering of Jack the Ripper and, as a result, the influence for many a film and TV series – perhaps most recently that of BBC’s Ripper Street, with its mix of the fictional stories built around very real figures from the period (notably Edmund Reid, and to a lesser extent Frederick Abberline, although after Season 1 the series strayed much, much further from the story of Edmund Reid).

At the time, the build was fascinating (as Hera’s builds inevitably are) in weaving together her own vision for the district and its rich history together with and equally rich mix of fiction. At the time, the fictional elements included not only Ripper Street, noted by the presence of the H Division station, but also touches of Penny Dreadful, the Jekyll and Hyde and Frankenstein stories, and more – all of which I noted at the time in Hera’s Whitechapel in Second Life.

Well, as of mid-December(ish). Hera’s Whitechapel is back, together with another of her popular builds, that of Whitby – a setting I have twice covered in these pages, in October 2021 and again in April 2022. The two locations are reached via a common landing point, and each is accessed via teleport points at the posters alongside their respective trains, and both recreate the look and ambience of their previous iterations whilst also offering some new twists.

However, while I recommend Whitby to both Hera’s fans and to those who have not previously had the opportunity of seeing her unique take on the town and its links to Bram Stoker’s Dracula (with Hera augmenting this with a few additional fictional and real touches), I am here focusing on her Whitechapel build, as it offer a nice twist on the original iteration.

Unless you read the introductory note card available at the landing point, this twist might not initially be obvious on arrival within the setting – which remains the Whitechapel underground station. But climb the steps up to street level, and it starts to make its presence felt in a very subtle manner. Firstly, there are the street lights; hardly the typical gas lamp of late Victorian London (which, by the 1880s were starting to be converted to electric use within the City of London, if not its outlying districts), these are bulky units with pressure tanks, gauges and valves, suggesting stream is their medium for energy.

Similarly, whilst the early automobiles from the original build are present, several are now apparently steam-powered, adding to the sense that this version of Whitechapel has stepped sideways into Steampunk. This is further added to when one looks up to sky two great steam-powered airships overhead, one apparently following the line of a street towards its eventual destination, the other moored alongside a tall iron-built tower connected to a part of the elevated metal walkways that cling to the sides of many of the buildings and reached by the occasional stairs dropping to ground level.

Just across the road are the first hints of the fictional links waiting to be discovered: Sweeny Todd’s infamous barbershop has been transplanted from Fleet Street to Whitechapel’s Commercial Road, together with Mrs. Lovett’s pie shop. As with the original story, these two places of business are separated (courtesy of an intervening alleyway), but sadly no underground tunnel links the two for the transfer of victims.

Its an interesting place for the couple / partners in crime to go about their business, given they are located just across the street from the H Division headquarters building from which Edmund Reid and his men might instantly sally forth to solve a crime. Or if not a crime, then to make their way to the other end of Commercial Road  and Spitalfields’s famous Ten Bells pub to sup a hard-earned pint at the end of a long shift (a pub that remains open to this day – so do be sure to step inside when visiting Hera’s Whitechapel!).

And speaking of Edmund Reid; the mixing of Steampunk with the fictional world of Reid and H Division is seen in Ripper Street actually has the strand of a link to the detective’s real life: in 1883, the Balloon Association of Great Britain awarded him a gold medal for his record-breaking ascent in the balloon Queen of the Meadow from London’s Crystal Palace – one of over 20 flights he made by balloon (and if that weren’t enough to earn him at least a documentary on his life – in 1877 he was the first person to make a descent by parachute from an altitude of 1,000 ft!).

This iteration of Whitechapel retains other element from the original. There is Hanbury Street, where both Florence Eleanor Soper, the daughter-in-law of General William Booth of The Salvation Army, established The Women’s Social Work in 1884, and the location of the yard in which Jack the Ripper’s second canonical victim, Annie Chapman, was found; then there’s Berner Street, Miller’s Court, Buck’s Row and Mitre Square, the locations of the Ripper’s other four canonical victims.

Whilst seeking these out, explorers might also happen across the office of Messrs. Scrooge & Marley (adding a nice Dickensian seasonal twist to the setting), and the apothecary of one Dr. H. Jekyll, together with H. Rider Haggard’s (et al) Allan Quartemain’s townhouse, and Dr. Frankenstein’s loft lab, all of which also carry forward from the original. New (I think) to this build is the Grand Guignol theatre, hopping across the channel from Paris, and – referencing both the seamier side of the East End and giving a slight Sherlockian twist to things – a slightly hidden opium den. A further location I don’t recall from the original (but am obviously open to correction on this) is the Freemason’s lodge.

So, whether you’re new to Hera’s Whitechapel or familiar with the earlier iteration, you’re in for a treat of discovery should you drop-in this time around. However, should you add it to your list of places to visit, might be best to do so sooner rather than later; Hera has tended to take down her recent builds within a couple of weeks or so of opening them.

My thanks to Shawn Shakespeare for the nudge on Whitby / Whitechapel returning to SL.

SLurl Details

• Whitechapel / Whitby landing point (Cloud Lake, rated Adult)

Nailah Carlucci-Remain (Nailah Carlucci) recently invited me to visit her latest design, The Arctic Sanctuary. which she co-hold with Satria Pexington. Occupying a Homestead region, it is – as the name suggests – an Arctic setting, albeit it one with seasonal touches throughout and with the typical quirk of such settings in Second Life.

Walk through an arctic expanse, among the polar bears and penguins. Then climb onto the enchanted Hogwartz express. From there, stop for some tea and a look at the art and charming rooms at the classical chateau. Then warm yourself at the Christmas village for hot chocolate, ginger snaps, games and lots of skating. Take the balloon ride for a tour of the region.

– Nailah Carlucci-Remain (Nailah Carlucci)

The balloon tour is actually one of the first elements in the region arriving visitors may encounter, sitting as it does alongside the landing point in the north-west of the setting. The landing point is perhaps a little unsteady, being an ice floe tipping and pitching in the waves. From here the path runs by way of ice passing around the base of an iceberg to where the flank of a larger iceberg blocks the way forward, necessitating a climb up the ice face.

A set of climbing poses rise at the ice cliff, but these appear to be poses only, not animations; to get to the top of the ice is a manual climb. From here it is possible to climb up to a small bivouac or continue onwards over the ice to the rest of the region, starting with a headland where penguins play and polar bears hunt for fish along the edge of the water. Hot pools, there sides formed by calcified sulphur, sit across the spit of land from where the polar bears are seeking a meal, suggesting this is a volcanic location.

As the land opens out a little, visitors arrive at the express train mentioned in the description above – although a ride aboard it is liable to be problematic given the engine sits derailed with a snowdrift (not that it had anywhere to go; the rails end at the drift and rocks, presenting the train more for photographic purposes than a means of transit).

Within the carriages are the elements of the Harry Potter series also referenced in the description. These can be enjoyed by those boarding the train, the restaurant car offering tea and cakes via magically floating service tables. The best way to board the carriages is via the rails that bend away from the main track to the trestle bridge on which the carriages sit, and then entering the first carriage via the forward door.

The chateau and village lie beyond the tunnel from which the train is emerging, the tunnel or the snow and ice at the foot of hill it cuts its way through apparently the only ways by which to reach either the village or the chateau on foot. The trip through the tunnel reveals another of the region’s little quirks (the first being the presence of penguins in an Arctic setting; a not unusual factor in winter / polar settings in SL despite the incongruity, as noted at the start of this article): whilst the tunnel has at one end a railway line exiting it, at the other it has a paved footpath passing over a stone bridge, a broad drive pointing north to the chateau, steps to the east descending  down to the little village.

The chateau is pleasing furnished as a period setting offering plenty of opportunity for photography; the village offers a range of attractions, including ice skating, a catch-a-Santa game, cosy indoor sitting and outdoor paces to enjoy roasted chestnuts or hot chocolate. Interactive elements exist throughout the region, both above and below the waves.

When aboard the train for example, it is possible to obtain drinks from the elf and also touch the books for a few surprises; and should you be tempted by the treasure at the bottom of the waters under the rail bridge, you might find yourself becoming a snack for Bruce the Shark (film buffs may get the reference here). And even if you get past him, another surprise awaits at the treasure itself – you have been warned! In the meantime, for those who prefer their critters a little more sedate, there are a number of ice sculptures scattered around the setting.

An easy visit, The Arctic Sanctuary offers multiple opportunities for photography and interactive elements that help to make a visit fun and just a little bit different from the usual seasonal fare this time of year. All of which makes time spent within the region worthwhile.

SLurl Details

• The Arctic Sanctuary (illycit, rated Adult)