A Brief Consideration of TALES OF UNEASE by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

While exploring nineteenth-century supernatural horror, I came across this presentation of suspenseful and supernatural horror in Tales of Unease which highlight Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's mastery of these genres.

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Tales of Unease by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a collection of fifteen short tales written between 1883 and 1921 and presented in no particular order. This edition was published in 2008 by Wordsworth Editions and is part of the Tales of Mystery and the Supernatural series. A fine series of reprints and collections which, as I have stated in previous posts, I wholeheartedly endorse.

The General Editor of the Wordsworth's Tales of Mystery & the Supernatural series is David Stuart Davies, a noted expert on Sherlock Holmes. Davies also wrote the Introduction to this volume.

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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the world famous creator of Sherlock Holmes, was also a strong figure in the genre of supernatural horror fiction from the late 19th through the early 20th century. In addition to these already considerable accomplishments, later in life Doyle became a leading supporter and advocate of Spiritualism. He saw Spiritualism as a complement or maybe even a modern substitute for what he believed were out-of-date religions.

In his introduction to this collection, Davies wrote:

The idea of ghosts, of course, come close to Conan Doyle's unswerving belief in Spiritualism and the existence of a shadowy realm beyond death. . . . In this collection several stories deal in different ways with the world of the Spiritualist.[i]

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A few of the tales possess strong supernatural elements, having to do with ghosts and other such things. Others have nothing supernatural about them at all. In most cases, the tales fall into several thematic groups:

~Ancient Egypt

~Vengeance

~Found Manuscript

~Spiritualism

Below is a listing of the stories contained in this collection, together with a few comments and observations which I thought pertinent.

List of tales in this collection:

"The Ring of Thoth" (1890) – A supernatural love story with strong Ancient Egyptian elements.

"The Lord of Chateau Noir"(1894) – A vengeance tale of a father; very Poe-like.

"The New Catacomb" (1898) – Another vengeance tale. Also very Poe-like, "The Cask of Amontillado" vibe.

"The Case of Lady Sannox" (1893) – Another vengeance tale, again with strong Poe-like feeling.

"The Story of the Brazilian Cat" (1898) – Another Poe-like tale. Calls to mind Holmes' "The Speckled Band": a creature of nature harnessed by greed of family member to secure inheritance.

"The Story of the Brown Hand" (1899) – A ghost story with a happy ending, again highlights Spiritualist beliefs.

"The Horror of the Heights" (1913) – A found manuscript story, like modern found footage story, with a strong sci-fi feeling.

"The Terror of Blue John Gap" (1910) – Another found manuscript story with strong crypto-zoological elements. It uses science to attempt to explain the weird and mysterious.

"The Captain of the Polestar" (1883) – Conan Doyle makes use of the literary tool of telling the tale via journal entries. I view this as a variation of the found manuscript type. Or, perhaps, vice versa. Further, in many tales of this sort, the supernatural element is assumed present but never really confirmed. However, the setting, the environment, and their role in establishing the mood of the tale contribute to make the tale truly "weird."

"How It Happened" (1913) – A very powerful tale as recorded by a medium. What happens immediately after the moment of death? Strong endorsement of Spiritualism.

"Playing with Fire" (1900) – Another tale highlighting the power of Spiritualism. The unexpected occurs during a séance. The result of an occult experiment suggested by a Frenchman.

"The Leather Funnel" (1902) – Tale with strong Spiritualistic elements as well as presenting occult truths.

"Lot No. 249" (1892) – Ancient Egypt and occult scholar vs. scientific contempt of protagonist. Who wins?

"The Los Amigos Fiasco" (1892) – The arrogance and blind faith in science and technology, while foolishly ignoring the Spiritualistic and occult leads to unforeseen outcomes.

"The Nightmare Room" (1921) – All is not as it seems in this last offered and latest written tale in this collection. I suspect that Doyle is playing with his audience in this expertly presented exercise in building drama.

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At the conclusion of his introduction, Davies stated that:

There can be no doubt that the fifteen stories in this collection are among the best of their genre. The reasons that they may not have been recognized as such by the general reading public is probably because they have been lost . . . under the dominating shadow of his most potent creation: Sherlock Holmes.[ii]

In all these stories, whatever the setting or theme, there is always a powerful sense of uncertainty for both the reader and the central characters. . . . Hence the title of this collection.[iii]

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed these selected short stories from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

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References

Print Resources

Doyle, Arthur Conan. Tales of Unease. Wordsworth Editions: Hertfordshire, 2008.

Online Resources 

Diniejko, Andrzej. "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A Biographical Introduction."

Accessed 14 January 2017.

http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/doyle/bio.html.

 

The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia. "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Complete Works."

Accessed 26 January 2017.

https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php?title=Sir_Arthur_Conan_Doyle:Complete_Works.

 

Vault Of Evil: Brit Horror Pulp Plus! "Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle - Terror & Mystery." 20 April 2008

Accessed 20 January 2017.

http://vaultofevil.proboards.com/thread/991/arthur-conan-doyle-terror-mystery.

 

Wikipedia. "Arthur Conan Doyle."

Accessed 15 January 2017.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Conan_Doyle.

Wikipedia. "Arthur Conan Doyle Bibliography."

Accessed 18 January 2017.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Conan_Doyle_bibliography.

Wordsworth Editions. "David Stuart Davies."

Accessed 20 January 2017.

http://www.wordsworth-editions.com/authors/davies-david-stuart.

Wordsworth Editions. "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle." Accessed 28 January 2017.

http://www.wordsworth-editions.com/authors/doyle-conan-arthur-sir.

 

 

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[i] Page xii.

[ii] Page xiv.

[iii] Page xiv.