As the story goes, Mordrake was heir to one of England’s most noble peerages but he would never claim the title. He was a gifted musician and a scholar who lived in complete isolation from the rest of the world, even the members of his own family. In the original article, the author claims that the nobleman had a graceful figure and compared his face to that of the ancient God Antonius on the back of his head.

Ever since 2007, pictures have been circulating online allegedly depicting a 19th century Englishman named Edward Mordrake. According to an article initially published in 1895, in the Boston Post, Mordrake was born with an extra face on the back of his head. Even though it couldn’t speak to the outside world the face tormented him in horrible ways.

 According to the story authored by writer Charles Lotin Hildreth, Mordrake was eventually driven to despair and committed suicide at age 23. The face, which only occupied a small portion at the back of Mordrake’s head, was described as that of a beautiful girl and said to have been ‘lovely as a dream’. It also allegedly displayed every sign of intelligence. The lips would move incessantly as the eyes followed the movements of whoever was in front of it. If Mordrake was sad or crying, the face would smile with satisfaction.

 According to Mordrake, his vestigial face which he referred to as his “devil twin” never slept. He always wondered if his ancestors were guilty of some unforgiving sin and that he was bound to such a fiend as punishment.

While talking with his doctors, Manvers and Treadwell, about the extent of his suffering, he asked them to remove the face and destroy it even at the cost of his own life. We were not told if the doctors considered his request or not rather, he took it upon himself to seek what he considered to be the only hope of freedom from his ordeal.

 Even though he was monitored carefully , he managed to get some poison and committed suicide, He left behind a letter instructing whoever found it to destroy the face prior to his burial Mordrake feared that it might continue to whisper to him even in his grave torturing him for all eternity, as per his request he was buried in a waste place in unmarked grave.

There are several medical explanations for a condition such as Edward Mordrake’s case; there are also several aspects of his situation that are inconsistent but with documented medicine. He might have suffered from extremely rare conditions which only few known sufferers might have made it past infancy but Mordrake on the other hand lived up to 23 years old.

 By definition, the conjoined twins are genetically identical but Mordrake’s supposed Devil twin was a female. Even if it might have been misinterpreted as female, it’s highly doubtful that it would have displayed any sign of intelligence. Descriptions of the vestigial face of the two-headed boy claimed that it could grimace and to some degree move its eyes but some basic form of consciousness was present yet intelligence was never observed. According to the doctors, the idea that Mordrake vestigial face could reportedly whisper troubling things to him at lengths isn’t consistent with what is known in medicine.

However, Mordrake has definitely found a place in pop culture as the subject of various films or songs. He has inspired a Tom Waits song called “Poor Edward” and three episodes of the series American Horror Story where he was portrayed by Wes Bentley. Also, two novels were based on Mordrake and his terrifying condition and currently there is also a feature of length film under the working title “Edward Mordrake” in development having “Wes Bentley” as the key player in the film. We will update you when the movie is out.