Scritch Scratch

Scritch Scratch draws on a historical shipwreck, the SS Eastland, which capsized in Chicago Dock in 1915. The shipwreck is a famous local disaster and forms an important part of Chicago’s cultural history. Lindsay Currie embeds this history to support her real-life setting and the mystery element of the supernatural plotline. Her book also encourages the young reader to learn about the history of the shipwreck.

The Eastland was a large passenger ship built in 1903. It had a troubled history from the start, with six crew members staging a mutiny that same year. From 1904, the Eastland started to have problems with balance, listing to the side and nearly capsizing on multiple occasions. After the Titanic sank in 1912, it became standard to equip all passenger vessels with sufficient life jackets and lifeboats for all passengers and crew. Unfortunately, in the Eastland’s case, adding these potentially life-saving but heavy elements worsened the ship’s balance issues. The lifeboats, the very high passenger allowance, and other engineering choices made the boat very top-heavy and unstable.

By 1915, the SS Eastland was used for public tours and excursions in Chicago. On July 24, 1915, it was meant to carry 2,573 passengers and crew members to a park across Lake Michigan. Most of the passengers were from working-class immigrant families. It was raining, so passengers went below decks as soon as they boarded. The ship listed to one side while still in dock. While many people were able to clamber onto the side of the boat or swim to safety, hundreds were trapped inside. Recorded death tolls vary slightly: Between 840 and 844 passengers and four crew members died. Gravediggers and hearses in Chicago were obliged to work overtime to cope with the massive influx of bodies caused by the disaster. Most victims were identified and buried within a couple of days, although “boy 396,” a seven-year-old, remained in the morgue for a week. He was eventually identified as Willie Novotny; it had taken so long to identify him because his parents and sister had also died in the disaster. Seventy percent of the people who died in the Eastland disaster were under the age of 25.