Verum Fabula – True Story
"If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write something worth reading or do things worth writing." – Benjamin Franklin
The Curious Case of Edward Mordrake.
Hello!
Something more on the serious side.
Well, by now you might’ve figured I’m a medical student. It’s no news that “Strange” cases would excite me.
This one definitely did.
Ever heard of two-faced people?
This one case is. Well, literally!
Saw this one picture trending on social networking sites.
Did a couple of hours worth research on it.
Deemed it may be possible.
*picks up axe and swings it like a Mythbuster*
Please stay with me as I unravel this mystery.
This guy.
He’s Edward Mordrake.
DATE
Now, I have no clue as to the date of this picture.
My take on it is, it would be around late 19th century.
Reason :
-According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_camera), the first commercial camera began sales at the consumer level at around 1885, and I don’t see any reason why a picture may be clicked using any other camera.
-An article was published in the “Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine” (see later) in 1896.
-The article stated his death. I believe if an article was published in a professional Journal, the death must not be very long ago.
-Internet sources reveal he died around the age of 23 years.
-Given this picture, he looks around the same age, within 20-23 years.
Hence, late 19th century – 1890-1900.
SYMPTOMS/SIGNS
-He had a face occupying the posterior part of his skull.
-The face couldn’t talk, but could laugh or weep : ”it would be seen to smile and sneer as Mordrake would weep”. Though Edward gave a history that he couldn’t sleep at night because of the “hateful whispers of his ‘devil twin’”
-Eyes would “follow movements of spectators” and lips would “gibber without ceasing”.
- He, thus, wanted it removed, however, no surgeon would attempt to remove it, fearing it might cost him his life.
-The face seemed to be that of a beautiful woman, which was “lovely as a dream, hideous as a devil”.
The excerpt from ”Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine” is as follows :
As you can see, the story looks very much supernatural. Apart from this, there are no other records of Edward Mordrake, it’s only the word of mouth that we have the given information.
INVESTIGATIONS
Well, firstly let me tell you one thing. I’m a medical student. I may not YET know a lot about this topic, however, I do know one thing, this is very much a case of Siamese/Conjoined twins.
This is my classification :
CONJOINED TWINS –> PARASITIC –> CEPHALOPAGUS
Here, they are conjoined.
Parasitic, because the development is asymmetrical. The part is vestigial, it is dependent on the fully–formed fetus for it’s nutrition and needs.
Cephalopagus is attachment of the Siamese to the head i.e. both the Siams are attached to ONE skull.
Theoretically, the chance of survival is very slim, because the brain is underdeveloped and malformed.
POINT 1 – Such twins may have a hard chance of living, hence 23 years seems a lot of time for him to live. I may be wrong here, but this is my take.
POINT 2 – Such twins are ALWAYS MONOZYGOTIC. In lay language, they are ALWAYS IDENTICAL twins. THEY CAN NEVER BE OF OPPOSITE GENDER. Hence, the “lovely as a dream” seems to be impossible.
But we know the power of the word of mouth and how often stories tend to metamorphose.
POINT 3 – The case complained of ”whispers” and moving of the eyes. However, in parasitic twins, the second part would be equal to dead. It wouldn’t be able to accomplish the above-mentioned complaints.
However, if a medical journal has published it, there may have been actual proof at that time.
POINT 4- There are no records, as such, apart from the book.
I know, for a fact, that Medicine doesn’t work that way. EVERY case has to be documented.
Things may have been different then though.
DIAGNOSIS
Well, I leave it for you to decide : Myth or Truth?
My take is that, the word of mouth spreads like fire, twisted and turned in it’s own will.
Well, all we can do, is accept that there WAS such a man, however, it may not have been like the way it has been described.
Hope you enjoyed this read.
Please like/share/leave a comment so I can know where I stand.
Thanks for reading!
Please share/like/rate(at the top of this page) this post – will be very much appreciated : it takes a lot of hard work and a great deal of thinking to write posts! Efforts would feel rewarded!
-yC
60 Comments on “The Curious Case of Edward Mordrake.”
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A well-written article, similar to this one is :
http://curioustendency.blogspot.in/2011/10/edward-mordrake-was-he-truly-real.html
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Thanks for the info. It’s good article to read.
Hey, thanks a lot for your feedback, appreciated! And glad you enjoyed the read, I tried to make it as reader-friendly as possible with a slight tint of humour.
so after all is that person really exist with another face behind?
it is very creepy…it is like some kind of mutations or something unexplained..
really scared me off
anyway, thanks for spending the time to post this article out.thanks
Hey, thanks for your feedback!
Like I pointed out here, he was probably twins – a Siamese cephalopagus twins. It’s a very rare possibility of such twins to exist, and even for that matter survive. Rare, though possible!
..haha…even your picture also creep people out.
yash i like!! shicked a bit bt great ya.. d research n al..good goin
Haha thank you
just thought I’ll find out a bit more on this topic for curiosity sake!
dude…. it’s voldemort
Hahaha! Only he didn’t speak Parseltongue.
if you think about it, it makes sense; mordrake might as well be prof. quirell, who also died young with a face in the back of his head. makes you think if rowling’s inspiration of the character came from this story…
The picture is of a wax sculpture made as a artists rendition from stories. Its not a picture of the man himself. They dont even know if he really existed or was just a myth
Hey, thanks for your feedback!
Yes, I came over such an argument of this photo being a wax statue during my research.
However, after reading the “Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine” , which I reiterate, is a medical book (the above photo is from the ACTUAL book itself), could not have written such an episode if it was PLAIN BOGUS. Being a medical student myself, I know that cases are actually proven before they are published.
However, the facts do not coincide with science, as mentioned above.
And hence, I have questioned his existence here.
At the end, I leave it up to you to decide if he was actually real or just a myth.
“Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine” is not a medical journal and does not recount cases that the authors themselves encountered or had reliable documentation about, it is a “review of medical literature” going back to Roman times. The authors were in no way bound to “prove” any of the cases they wrote about, and the standards of peer-reviewed medical science at the time were…well, nonexistent. A number of the cases they include *are* in fact “plain bogus”. It was sensationalist “medical” literature for Victorians…not medical science.
And whether or not the photo was in “the ACTUAL book itself”…it *is* a picture of the wax statue. There are other (color) photographs on the internet of the exact same statue. And compare the black-and-white photo with early photography–it is far to clear to be a photograph from the 19th century or even early 20th century, as well as being the wrong color (early photography was sepia (brown) toned, due to differences in the photographic process and chemical used). The *original* printing of this book included black and white line drawings, not photographs. The copy you have with photos was a reprint with photos added.
It is especially apparent that this isn’t really him when you read from someone who actually saw Moredrake and depicts what he looked liked. It was said the face was only on a smaller portion of his skull and that it looked like a beautiful woman… This picture shows a male face that is a little disfigured.
Does it not strike you as to how much his complaints sound like a schizophrenics? Had there been only one face, that would have been his diagnoses.
Ive been thinking about this possible connection for years. Sadly, thinking about it is all I’m capable of doing. You however!
He definitely sounds like a paranoid schizophrenic!
That’s also a very logical aspect and explanation to the case!
.
However, through this post, I was hoping to harp on the curiosity of this case and the way the facts varied, which is very strange!
Thanks for your feedback though, appreciated
Wow! Such a good read. Ive been seeing alot of this man around, thanks for more in sight
Thank you so much for your feedback
. Makes my day seeing my work appreciated!
soo are u a medical student or something?
Yes, I’m a medical graduate
. As my blogpost begun -
“Well, by now you might’ve figured I’m a medical student…”
Yes!
without solid evidence we can’t rely on such STORIES.
good article.
Thank you for your feedback!
The picture is not Edward Mordrake himself it is a plater cast of what they think he may have looked like/
*plaster
Hmmm, as I mentioned in my previous comments, that through the course of my research, I DID come across such statements that the photo was actually of a statue. But it’s still a very intriguing case, nonetheless!
Did see the story of this character flash up in my Facebook news feed and being curious I had to do some more research.
I am also a medical student so I was very interested in this story and your take on it. Thankyou, was an interesting read.
Yeah, exactly! Being a medical student intrigues us even more about this case. Thanks a lot for your feedback.
From what I have researched, there are no actual pictures of Edward Mordrake. The picture is of a wax figure that was made by someone looking to show what he may have looked like. However, it is said that the face on his skull was that of a beautiful woman, so the depiction can’t be very good.
Yup, as I have mentioned in my earlier comments.
However, this blogpost is regarding the curiosity of this case.
I do believe this is very plausible that this man existed. For example take Manar the baby born in Egypt with a second head. It’s second head could cry, smile and blink yet had no other body parts other than a head. http://youtu.be/betgxtosi7Y you can watch her story on youtube or google Manar baby with two heads.
That’s a classical case of a CRANIOpagus (differentiate that from a CEPHALOpagus). These cases are very interesting, and we, in this generation, are VERY fortunate to have a life expectancy even with people born with such cases.
Fantastic article; your work paid off and we appreciate it
Thank you so much!
By the looks of this picture, THAT IS CLEARLY NOT AN ATTRACTIVE WOMAN BEHIND HIS HEAD.
Haha, exactly my point, about how the word of mouth twists things up.
interesting. thanks for the time and research to post this interesting article.
Thanks a lot
.
it sounds like a modern day myth,the psychology of human tragedy….great post thank you
Thank you for all your research and for sharing that remarkable story!! Very interesting!!
I was looking through my Ricky Jay, Jon Bondeson, and other medical curiosity books and couldn’t find anything on this guy. You might get a kick out of Bondeson. He has written a truckload of books on medical anomalies. He might also be the person to get in touch with to help you solve the mystery here.
It would seem as though no one has anything better to do but to dislike very one of yashvchauhan’s comments. Loser.
Has no one ever heard of or seen that chinese guy with an extra face? It’s only a mouth and some resemblance of an eye but if something like that is possible, why not this.
Maybe Im crazy….but the story reflects that it was a beautiful female back there. The photos Ive seen are not that of any beautiful woman..lol
How many of these people die of the condition or some co-morbid, and how many of them die due to murder, suicide or neglect? I wonder what the life expectancy would be in those two separate groups. I’m sure there’s not much way to tell.
I have no trouble believing this article. I am very much into spiritual things, dream a lot, do a lot of research on unusual spiritual things that are real. I.E. invisible children or a child that becomes invisible – he was possessed of a demon – a man of God delivered him of this devil and he no longer appeared or disappeared. I have seen many supernatural miracles. I have no trouble believing such a manifestation took place – too bad there was not a very strong spiritual person around at the time of this incident – he may have been able to be cured of this exceedingly wicked presence. 43 years in the Lord and called to preach the Gospel in LA California.
I don’t claim any extended medical knowledge but I have participated in tons of brain studies, fmri’s and neurological sciences over the past 25 years. Would it not be possible for the Cephalopagus to not be ‘alive’ but to have almost reflexive types of moves. I.E. “”it would be seen to smile and sneer as Mordrake would weep.” I find it interesting that it is specifically mentioned that the face did this in reaction to Mordrake’s emotions.
As you mentioned with the other gender issue. It seems quite possible (and I am a skeptic) that reflexive movements could have been considered some sort of lucidity by others, when in fact, they were simply reflexes or ticks, triggered by Mordrake’s own…on his side of the head.
I wonder if any part of this story, true or not, inspired Steven King to write the Dark Half. Because that is exactly what it reminds me of.
Reblogged this on The Mysterious Reporter.
While I want very much to believe this and too have followed it with some interest, I keep thinking if he was from a titled family, wouldn’t that have been easy enough to look into? I’d imagine they keep reasonable peerage records. And while not a medical professional myself, my grandparents were and reading books of this nature over time, interesting cases like this seem to have been well documented from antiquity. That said? It’s such a compelling tale
Thanks!
So do you think it is physically possible for the other face, if real, to get into his mind and talk to him that way like a thought and corrupt him sort of like with Smeagol/Gollum from Lord of the Rings? Btw nice information and a good read. Besides how much it makes me pee my pants….
the face on the back of this guys head does not look like a beautiful woman…its more dr. moreau – ish
Fascinating! Thank you for the time and effort you put into this research. As a medical student, I know that spare time is a luxury, and to me, this shows your dedication to the medical field all the more. Good luck, wherever you are!
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Thank you for your efforts i saw this on facebook and just had to know more! Such an intriguing case, i wish we knew more!
Hmmm. If he slept on his back,would he suffocate? Or would the other half?
i agree tomu but hennhe anatomy…the skull wud require a extra eye sockets and even if not all thenbasuc zygomatus major minor orbicularises…for the expresions to take place..even if it wer true what about the bbrain and cranium…the venous sinsus..it sounds impossible if u know ur anatomy well..besides to actally produce whispers and murmers..the face wud require a respiratory apparatus..vocal chords..and i thinks thats to tiny of a head to have all that to fit..
it wudbe possible for it to have vestigial face but wats all said in thw ,yth almost sounds impossible
I for one did not find this a very good read. Any college student, especially a med student, would know to never use Wikipedia as a source and to ALWAYS make note of the resource when doing a research piece. Especially when you aren’t paraphrasing but rather copying direct quotes verbatim. You never really even accomplished the purpose of this piece. Your goal was to dig deeper and find out if the story were true and in the end you leave it with “you decide”. This was not even close to being a well written piece in structure, object, information, research, or factual information. This is not something that you should be proud of.
Very freaky and weird but well written article and also very interesting to read. Good job👌👍