Gaslight Gothic: Strange Tales of Sherlock Holmes

Description

A delightful mixing of Holmes and Horror. Cloaked in gothic shadows, soaked in blood, darkness descends on the world of Sherlock Holmes. "I have heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold wickedness of the human heart." Vengeance from beyond, forbidden passions and sadistic cruelty draw the great detective and his faithful companions into storms of madness and otherworldly violence which threaten to cloud the clarity of logic. Facing the eldritch reach of ancient talismans and arcane science, from the streets of London and Paris to the loneliest of manor houses, the great detective battles the weird and uncanny. Can steadfast reason hold against unspeakable terror when Sherlock Holmes can no longer eliminate the impossible? Follow the great detective through ten new tales of terror as he doggedly pursues investigations leading him to the edge of reason and beyond! Contributions by: David Stuart Davies, Lyndsay Faye, Nancy Holder, Mark A. Latham, James Lovegrove, Mark Morris, Charles Prepolec, Josh Reynolds, Angela Slatter, Kevin P. Thornton, and Stephen Volk. Testimonials: "The editors have put together some fantastically high-quality Sherlock Holmes stories which fully take advantage of the anthology’s gothic theme, including stories that provide moments of genuine horror, frank interrogations of the nature of gothic fiction and Sherlock Holmes as a character, and some genuinely unnerving endings. If only all Sherlock Holmes anthologies could be of this quality." - Adam Selby-Martin Review: Fun read, back to the world of Sherlock Holmes - Enjoyed this series of stories. Many of them struck exactly the right tone with Holmes and Watson. Enjoyed it thoroughly! Review: Mostly Solid, With A Few Weak Links - This could have been the single best Holmesian anthology I’ve read in quite a while were it not for several duds at the end. Overall, however, even the “filler” stories couldn’t ruin what I have to say turned out to be a worthy, and worthwhile, collection. Since there was such a vast discrepancy of quality, I thought it only fair to give each one its due. ‘THE CUCKOO’S HOUR’ by Mark A. Latham - 5 stars A perfect amalgamation of tightly plotted mystery, stellar characterizations, and somewhat unconventional gothic trappings. Enjoyed this one immensely. ‘THE SPIRIT OF DEATH’ by David Stuart Davies - 3.5 stars This well written, concise tale of telekinetic powers being put to horrible use was a solid pastiche but its denouement was a bit too predictable. ‘FATHER OF THE MAN’ by Stephen Volk - 5+ stars Incredible. Volk manages to pull of the delicate balancing act that is florid, intelligent writing that neither becomes overwritten nor loses the plot. It veritably radiated gothic atmosphere. Incidentally, I had the pleasure of reading it at a very late hour with actual fog billowing outside. ‘THE STRANGE CASE OF DR SACKER AND MR HOPE’ - 3.5 stars Could have been much better, especially considering that deliciously dark twist it ended on. My main gripe was the dialogue/writing became overly formal to such a degree everyone from Mrs Hudson to Lestrade sounded like a Victorian aristocrat. ‘THE IGNOBLE SPORTSMEN’ by Josh Reynolds - 4 stars A refreshing spin on what could have been a stale plot, this one spun an exciting yarn while making good use of Holmesian deductions. ‘THE STRANGE ADVENTURE OF MARY HOLDER’ by Nancy Holder - 2.5 stars Strange indeed. Never really hit its stride, plot points were pulled out of the proverbial hat, and not knowing what the antagonist’s true nature was made me merely shrug over what was supposed to be their dramatic death. ‘THE LIZARD LADY OF PEMBERTON GRANGE’ by Mark Morris - 4 stars Basically a good pastiche with some very Holmesian deductions leading to an unexpected conclusion. I had no idea where this one was going, but took off a star because it didn’t even so much as attempt a gothic atmosphere. ‘THE MAGIC OF AFRICA’ by Kevin P. Thornton - 1 star Every anthology has its dud, and this was it. The plot verged on ridiculous and the resolution was even more so. Besides that, it was out of character. Also, African “leprechauns”. ‘A MATTER OF LIGHT’ by Angela Slatter - 1 star A piece of Mary Sue fan fiction narrated by said literary device. The less said about this one, the better. ‘THE SONG OF A WANT’ by Lyndsay Faye - 2.5 - 3 stars High marks for gothic atmosphere and the idea behind its opening, but overwritten and so riddled with period slang it descends into bad writing. Most cringe worthy of all, Holmes apparently becomes a SJW when he’s been raiding the 7% solution. It was logic defying that a former street urchin (Wiggins) could ever have penned a work of such verbose, purple prose that even Oscar Wilde might have thought it a tad overdone. And the ending’s big reveal was painfully stupid. I wavered between hating and liking it, hence the uncertain rating. That being said, I would recommend this one without hesitation for the several exceptional stories it did contain. It was a mostly enjoyable read, with the first five inclusions being among some of the better short pastiches I’ve read in recent years.