The Best Horror Stories of Arthur Conan Doyle

This was my first venture into Conan Doyle's horror yarns. While in Sherlock Holmes he created a truly unique character, his horror stories are far less distinctive - which is not to say they aren't worth reading.

Conan Doyle's prose is fabulous yet again, retaining that special stylistic flair no matter the subject. Being a man of truly many talents (skiing, alpinism, aviation, sailing, whaling, etc.) the setting of each tale varies widely: one takes place on a whaling ship stuck in the icy Pole, another features a pilot encountering a terror of the heights, yet the next has medical students dealing with mummies... All these fields were familiar to Conan Doyle, and due to his first-hand knowledge, there's a discernible degree of authenticity in his writing.

However, do consider the following...

The plots themselves, on the other hand, are always predictable. This is not detective fiction. Those who like a mystery shall be greatly disappointed, since you can guess all the "twists" almost from the get go. The proceedings in these yarns are rather simplistic, sometimes to the point of absurdity (when viewed with contemporary eyes). Instead, what carries them is the undeniable strength of Conan Doyle's prose.

To conclude, if you like the classic horror literature from the 19th and early 20th century, you should give this collection a look. It just so happens I not only like that period, but love it, so I probably enjoyed it a bit more than I objectively should've had.

A great horror anthology

Incredible that Doyle could write great stuff like this and at the same time turn out that awful Challenger rubbish.

I've always been a fan o Sherlock Holmes and decided to try this book of his other writings. I honestly didn't finish it because it seemed that many of the stories were occult based. There were several that were passable however, and these included Case of Lady Sannox, Fiend of the Cooperage and J Habakuk Jephson's Statement. Terror of the Heights is cleverly done, but reading it a century later its more comedy than horror.

Wouldn't recommend, but those 4 stories are ok.

Known best for his beloved Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was extremely gifted in his other writings as well. This collection of some of his short horror stories is as brilliant as it is varied. From mummies, to funnels to stripes and to a terrifying flight in up into the heights, his brilliant style leaves the reader begging for more.

Each story in this collection is unique and the terror that we are introduced is different from the previous one. His skill in bringing suspense and horror is as exciting and surprising as his stories with Holmes.

Of this collection the two that stand out to me are the "Horror in the Heights" which has an almost Lovecraftian feel, and "The Striped Chest" which is a brilliant locked-door horror/mystery. I strongly recommend this collection to any fan of Mr. Doyle.

Think I going to like it. Did like it.

First, my usual quibbles: Why did it take three editors to compile 14 stories by one author? Why do they not grant Doyle the courtesy of his title? I currently have three other books by Doyle in my collection; all of them properly give his byline as "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle."

That aside, in general I can say that these are not the author's best stories. This volume is probably more for the Doyle aficionado or completist. However, there are a couple of hidden gems.

"The Captain of the Polestar" * One star. A generic ghost story with little to recommend it. I don't know why the editors chose to lead off with this one, because it is the weakest of the lot. The setting--a whaling ship trapped in arctic ice with a captain who has apparently lost his mind--would seem to be a promising one for a horror story, but Doyle fails to take advantage. He does himself no favors by framing the story as journal entries by the ship's doctor.

"The Case of Lady Sannox" ** Two-and-a-half stars. The "case" of the title refers to a medical consultation; it is not a mystery story. I've never been a fan of stories in which husbands or wives take gruesome revenge on their cheating spouses, but this one is at least well-written.

"The Fiend of the Cooperage" ** Two stars. An African monster story.

"The Horror of the Heights" * One-and-a-half stars. Again, the device of writing the story as a series of journal entries handicaps the action.

"J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" No rating. Although this is an effective piece of fiction, I cannot render a positive review because it plays on white paranoia of a race war. Racial tropes from 1884 are (or should be) offensive to the modern reader. This is early Doyle. Thankfully, he went on to bigger and better things (something about a consulting detective, I think).

"John Barrington Cowles" *** Three stars. An unusual, and creepy, departure for Doyle.

"The Leather Funnel" & "The Lift" *** Three-and-a-half stars each. Doyle's talents are on display here: He draws memorable characters with a few deft strokes (including two very menacing villains), plunges the reader into a situation of intense danger, and then resolves everything at a breakneck pace. I compare these two to a Nilla wafer--an insubstantial treat, leaving you wanting more.

"Lot No. 249" ***** Five stars. Easily the best story in the collection, as well as the longest, at 40 pages. I have always felt that Doyle's short fictions were better than his novels, and perhaps the novelette format was the best fit for him. Here he develops several memorable characters, creates tension, and sets the action in a unique venue (student life in Victorian-era Oxford University). From what I have read elsewhere, we can thank (or blame) "Lot No. 249" for the later prevalence of evil mummies in stories and film. I have never been a fan of the mummy/zombie genre myself, but this one is very well done.

"The New Catacomb" * One star. Doyle must have been reading "The Cask of Amontillado" and thought "I could do that!" Except he couldn't--at least, not very well.

"The Silver Hatchet" ** Two stars. Another early story by Doyle, and it shows.

"The Striped Chest" **** Four stars. Here Doyle does what he failed to do in "The Captain of the Polestar": He uses his shipboard experience to good effect. Also, he abandons his habit of writing his stories as journal entries. I think it is no coincidence that the best stories in this collection do NOT use that device.

"The Terror of Blue John Gap" ** Two stars. A likely premise--that of a subterranean Lost World--is wasted with, again, a series of journal entries. No memorable characters are developed here, and the "Terror" turns out to be a laughable anticlimax. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Blue John is an actual semi-precious stone known from ancient times, and thus the device of an abandoned Roman-era mineshaft (the "Gap" of the title) was a very plausible thing. I wish he had done better with this one, because I really wanted to like it.

Like all short story collections, some are better than others, and overall not as good as my beloved Sherlock Holmes stories. But a nice lil intro to spooky season, and making me realize I need to reread some Sherlock. These are not really super scary, more like spooky/creepy.