Is Jack the Ripper coming to Collinsport?

Here's a bit of news from an unlikely source:

Lara Parker is in Mobile, Ala., this weekend, attending the annual MobiCon with her DARK SHADOWS co-star Kathryn Leigh Scott. While there, Parker took some time to visit a historic house on the city's Government Street to view a portrait of her ancestor Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar (see the photo to your right.) Here's a little about the man from Wikipedia:

Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar (1798–1859) was a Texas politician, poet, diplomat and soldier who was a leading Texas political figure during the Texas Republic era. He was the second President of the Republic of Texas after David G. Burnet (1836 as ad-interim president) and Sam Houston.

AL.com posted a photo of Parker's visit, and included this bit of information: She's conducting research on Jack the Ripper for her next (as yet untitled) DARK SHADOWS novel. According to the news site, one of Parker's ancestors was a cousin of John Archibald Campbell, who has a federal courthouse named for him in Mobile. Campbell's sister was the grandmother of a woman married to James Maybrick, one of many people considered a suspect in the Jack the Ripper murders.

Florence and James Maybrick

So, we know Victoria Winters returns in the next book, and it appears that Jack the Ripper may also play a part in that story. We have to just wait and see if Jack's last name is "Collins."

SOURCE: AL.com