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

• Dimension 20

• 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

• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

• Pirate101

• The Simpsons: Tapped Out

• Fears to Fathom - Scratch Creek

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.

References