Mr. Scratch

Mr. Scratch is an entity introduced in Part Thirty One. He is able to manipulate nightmares, and feeds on them.

## Personality

Mr. Scratch is a malevolent entity - he feeds on nightmares, and takes joy in it. He sees this as a game that he plays with its victims. In Part Thirty One, his goal is to get Arthur to free him from Marie's house, which he expresses gratitude for. He revels in the thought of causing suffering outside the confines of Marie's house.

## Description

Mr. Scratch is described as having deep violet skin and silver eyes. His eyes are large and sinister, and seem to float above its body.

"Mr. Scratch" is most likely a name that he took from Arthur's subconscious - the Butcher calls himself a "old scratch" in Part Twenty Nine. Characters other than John and Arthur do not refer to him with any name, only using "it" or "him."

## History

For 200 years, Mr. Scratch was trapped in Marie's house at East 83rd Street, though how he came to be there is currently unknown.

Prior to Part Thirty, Mr. Scratch possessed Marie's husband, Albert. Oscar, a local clergyman, "helped" Marie with Albert - the exact nature of this help is currently unknown, but Albert is no longer alive. Some time after, Mr. Scratch possessed Marie's sister, Hattie. Marie kept Hattie tied and locked in a room on the second floor of her house.

In Part Thirty, John and Arthur investigate the door to this room, and hear sniffing and movement behind the door. Later, when John and Arthur try to investigate a crack in the floorboards of their room, the Hattie sniffs them again, and possibly licks the wall between them. John notes that it/she probably recognized their scent.

In Part Thirty, Marie is heard speaking to Hattie. Most of the conversation is unintelligible, but she mentions bringing her a "bite to eat."

In Part Thirty One, Mr. Scratch appears in Arthur's nightmares, and his influence over them causes Arthur to sleepwalk and untie Hattie. Mr. Scratch, in control of Hattie's body, says he is indebted to Arthur for allowing him to cause "agony and nightmares once again," and calls Arthur his "favorite."

In Part Thirty Two, Hattie confirmed to be missing. Marie brings Oscar over, who has helped her with Mr. Scratch in the past, and has even seen him before. Marie explains that Hattie was able to fight it, better than Albert did, but that she was having a harder and harder time "waking up." Oscar is reluctant to be involved, but agrees to help look for Hattie.

In Part Thirty Two, John and Arthur explore the room Hattie was kept in. They note a line of dust in front of the door, disturbed by Arthur's footsteps the previous night. They overhead Oscar asking Marie about this dust, implying it served some purpose in keeping Mr. Scratch contained. In the hidden room is the remains of a summoning ritual. Skeletal remains laying on a large symbol (circular with a pattern that repeats into its center) carved into the floor. The body was laying face down, in tattered clothing completely rotted through, with no flesh left on the bones. On the desk, a rodent's skull, a bottle fallen over, and an open book. The cover of the book has the same symbol carved into the floor.

## Known Abilities

* Creation of/influence over nightmares
* Possession of human hosts. Can move between hosts.
* Feeds on the fear caused by nightmares.
* Possibly glass warps in its presence.

## Trivia

* Currently, Albert and Hattie are Scratch's only known hosts
* Oscar has seen Mr. Scratch

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Part 31
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Part 32
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Part 30