Tales of Unease

A collection of short and readable 'chillers' from one of the great populist storytellers, Arthur Conan Doyle. Fans of the writer will find much to enjoy here, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that some of the stories have survived as little more than museum pieces. We get a great sense of Doyle's influence on horror writing from this selection – an understated part of his legacy – but little to match up with some of his greatest short pieces, not least that great elephant in the room: Sherlock Holmes.

What we have here includes two Egyptian mummy stories, 'The Ring of Thoth' and 'Lot No. 249', which were pioneers in that particular sub-genre. We have stories like 'The New Catacomb' and 'The Terror of the Blue John Gap', stellar show more tales which are almost blueprints for the later H. P. Lovecraft and give definitive proof, if proof were needed, of Doyle's great influence on subsequent writers. Stories like 'The Captain of the Polestar' bring to mind not only Lovecraft but our contemporary horror stories like The Terror, while the likes of 'The Case of Lady Sannox', 'The Brown Hand' and 'The Horror of the Heights' reach back in time to recall Edgar Allan Poe. Doyle's link in this chain of macabre writing is often under-appreciated, but it won't be any longer to those who read Tales of Unease.

Some of the stories can appear predictable, because of how ubiquitous this style has become, and the spiritualist-inspired ones (a fad which Doyle became very keen on in his later years) are the weakest in this 15-strong collection. Doyle can always tear a story along, but here he doesn't always pinch them off at the end, and I finished some of the tales thinking they'd been taken off the hob before they'd truly boiled. The contrast to the perfect balance of that great elephant in the room, at his Baker Street best, is marked. Nevertheless, in Tales of Unease, Conan Doyle impresses us with his ever-present atmosphere, pace and imagination, and you can't go wrong with them. show less

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Tales of Unease, in the Wordsworth Tales of Mystery & the Supernatural series, reveals the author’s master storytelling ability with these fifteen tales of suspense. An unmistakable vein of sadism runs through a few of the stories, and Doyle’s interests, such as paleontology, Egyptology, occultism, and spiritualism, are all on display in this anthology. Skip David Stuart Davies’s spoiler-laden introduction until the end.

The Ring of Thoth - John Vansittart Smith, an Egyptologist visiting the Louvre is intrigued by the strange appearance of a museum attendant. Exhausted, Smith falls asleep in the museum, and when he awakens after hours, his interest is further piqued when he espies the attendant show more unwrapping one of the mummies. Published in 1890, this is one of the first mummy stories, and certainly among the best. Much like M.R. James, Doyle includes the scholarly details which lend an air of authority and authenticity.

The Lord of Chateau Noir - During the occupation of France Colonel von Gramm, exasperated by a series of murders of his German soldiers, acts on a lead he has received and sends Colonel Baumgarten and a contingent of twenty men to find the suspect, Count Eustace of Chateau Noir. A powerful story of retribution which adheres to the adage that turnabout is fair play.

The New Catacomb - A delicious tale of retribution whose path and ultimate destination are telegraphed early on, but there is still great fun in having Doyle take us there.

The Case of Lady Sannox - This pairs nicely with the previous story as a ghastly and shocking tale of revenge, with the lingering effects on the victims almost too devastating to imagine.

The Brazilian Cat - Greed is the motivating force here, as a nearly destitute man eagerly accepts an invitation to visit his well-to-do cousin.

The Brown Hand - Dr Hardacre surprisingly becomes the heir to the estate of the famous Indian surgeon Sir Dominick Holden. It seems Hardacre earned that inheritance by devising an ingenious appeasement to a ghost that had been stalking Holden and his wife for years.

The Horror of the Heights - There is so much good stuff packed into this one, I can’t possibly summarize it all, so here but a few thoughts: (1) Instead of mining the “depths“ of the ocean for horror, Doyle looks skyward to the heights, which in the early years of airplane travel was a ripe new frontier for the imaginative author. (2) The tantalizing opening raises expectations to a high bar indeed - which Doyle meets and exceeds. (3) A forerunner of the modern “found footage” video device, here we have the fascinating premise of the retrieved notebook of a lost aeronaut - the Joyce-Armstrong Fragment. (4) Doyle’s inclusion of blood forensics, a scientific advance which must have thrilled his detective mindset. (5) The subtle hint in the prefatory remarks that the real danger to airmen is unrelated to mechanical failure or atmospherics. (6) Flight sequences written so authoritatively that I can almost hear the buzzing drone of the ill-fated monoplane overhead…. A stunning Lovecraftian tale!

The Terror of the Blue John Gap - A clear precursor to Doyle’s The Lost World, here we have a story of a rumored subterranean beast in the British Midlands. Atmospheric tale with episodes of deep, accelerating tension.

The Captain of the Polestar - As the whaling ship Polestar is hemmed in by encroaching ice fields, Captain Craigie’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic, with occasional hints that he may have a death wish. Though out on the open sea, this is a claustrophobic ghost story with a postscript that throws the entire story in a new light, though a careful reading of the story reveals some subtle foreshadowing. In crafting this tale, Doyle’s seems to have drawn inspiration from his own seafaring adventures, as well as a number of literary homages: Coleridge’s The Ancient Mariner, Poe’s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, and Shelley’s Frankenstein.

How It Happened - A writing medium provides an account of a man’s unfortunate decision to learn to drive his new car in the dark. Doyle’s affinity for spiritualism is displayed here, as the tale will be a comfort to those who believe in the afterlife.

Playing With Fire - A seance take a frightful turn when a guest medium sets out to prove his notion that “thoughts are things.”

The Leather Funnel - Lionel Dacre, owner of a singular occultist library and fantastic curiosities, performs an experiment wherein a guest will sleep next to a strange leather funnel and see if he has the same vivid dream of its origin which Dacre himself once had.

Lot No. 249 - Edward Bellingham has been developing something of a bad reputation among his fellow students at Oxford. It’s not just his repellent appearance and foul disposition but also his collection of strange relics from Egypt and the East, including a rather large mummy which he purchased at auction. And when a neighbor overhears strange sounds emanating from Bellingham’s room, suspicions intensify.

The Los Amigos Fiasco - The Western town of Los Amigos, seeking to employ the quickest and most lethal form of electrocution for its most irredeemable criminals, decides to use the full power of its electrical dynamos. The results are, of course, not what the powers that be had planned.

The Nightmare Room - A tense love triangle reaches its climax as yet a fourth person remains unseen in the Masons’ posh apartment. show less

This book is a collection of 15 mystery, ghost, and horror stories by the author. There’s much more to this brilliant author than Sherlock Holmes! He has a great imagination, and these tales will keep your eyes glued to the page featuring ancient curses, odd creatures, Egyptian mummies and much more. Two famous tales included are The Captain of the Polestar and one of my all-time favorite spine chillers- Lot 249.