Old Scratch Explained

Old Scratch or Mr. Scratch is a nickname or pseudonym for the Devil. The name likely comes from Middle English scrat, the name of a demon or goblin, derived from Old Norse skratte.

Mentions

Examples of usage of the name "Old Scratch" are found in:

Literature

• "The Devil and Tom Walker" (1824) by Washington Irving
• A Christmas Carol (1843) by Charles Dickens
• The Three Clerks (1857) by Anthony Trollope
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) by Mark Twain
• The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo (1900) by Rudyard Kipling
• "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (1936) by Stephen Vincent Benét
• "Prologue to an Adventure" (1938) by Dylan Thomas
• "The Fair to Middling (1959) by Arthur Calder-Marshall
• "The Last Rung on the Ladder" (1978) by Stephen King
• Miracle Monday (1981) by Elliot S. Maggin
• Windswept House (1996, pg 402) by Fr. Malachi Martin
• Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (2004) by Susanna Clarke
• The Barn at the End of Our Term (2007) by Karen Russell
• Homestuck (2009) by Andrew Hussie
• I, Ripper (2015) by Stephen Hunter
• Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #6 (2016) by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
• "Disappearance At Devil's Rock" (2016) by Paul Tremblay
• Scratchman (2019) by Tom Baker

Film

• The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
• The Story of Mankind (1957)
• Crossroads (1986)
• Prince of Darkness (1987)
• The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
• Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare (1987)
• Crazy as Hell (2002)
• 5ive Girls (2006)
• Mud (2012)

Television

• Constantine
• American Dad! (Episode: "Permanent Record Wrecker")
• Lucifer (Episode: "Lucifer, Stay. Good Devil.")
• Quantum Leap (Episode: "The Boogieman")
• The Messengers (Episode: "Death Becomes Her")
• Billions (Episode: "The Wrong Maria Gonzalez")(2018)
• American Horror Story (Episode: "Sojourn")
• Criminal Minds
• Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Netflix TV Series (2018) by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
• Being Human
• Hap and Leonard (TV series) (Season 3, Episode 1)
• The Cuphead Show (season 1, episode 1, Carn-Evil)
• A Christmas Carol (FX, 2019)
• Lawmen: Bass Reeves (Episode 7)
• Agatha All Along

Music

• "Beelz" song written by Stephen Lynch
• "Three Men Hanging" song by Murder by Death
• "Tight Like That" by Clutch
• "Un-Reborn Again" by Queens of the Stone Age
• "Bewitched" by Beat Happening
• ”The Devil Lives in a Mason Jar” by John Driskell Hopkins
• "Oldscratch" by The Distillers
• "Old Scratch Blues" by Jack White

Video games

• Alan Wake
• Alan Wake's American Nightmare
• Alan Wake 2
• Descent 3
  • Pirate101

Miscellaneous

• Episode 12 of the podcast Welcome to Night Vale
• Parts 31-38 of the Malevolent podcast
• A proposed Doctor Who feature film developed by Tom Baker and Ian Marter was given the working title Doctor Who Meets Scratchman.