Publisher's Synopsis
While Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is most widely known today for his logical skeptic, Sherlock Holmes, horror aficionados recognize him as the inventor of the malevolent mummy, the writer of one of English literature's best ghost stories, and an early dabbler in Lovecraftian weird fiction. Indeed, Doyle is to the mummy what Stoker is to the vampire, and his tales of pickaxe-wielding serial killers, haunted torture instruments, specters in the sunless North Pole, seductive werewolves, gelatinous monsters in the skies above us, and seances gone awry are just as chilling as Holmes adventures are thrilling. Among its lushly illustrated stories, this annotated collection of Doyle's very best horror stories includes his two famous mummy stories (which were merged to form the plot of the 1932 Boris Karloff film), his aviation spine-tingler "The Horror of the Heights" (which presages Lovecraft beautifully), and his most elegant ghost story, "The Captain of the Polestar," not to mention two of Sherlock Holmes' most terrifying cases. Richly painted with a broad brush, Doyle's supernatural fiction spans a myriad of delightful tropes -- zombies, psychopaths, torture chambers, werewolves, vampires, reincarnations, haunted antiques, rampaging elementals, and more than one old fashioned English ghost -- so whether you are a fan of the Great Detective or tales of the great beyond, you are sure to be pleased. TALES INCLUDED in this ANNOTATED EDITION: The Captain of the Polestar - The Bully of Brocas Court - The Leather Funnel - The Brown Hand - The Speckled Band - The Devil's Foot - The Terror of Blue John Gap - The Sussex Vampire - A Pastoral Horror - The Silver Hatchet - The Striped Chest - John Barrington Cowles - The Horror of the Heights - Lot No. 249 - De Profundis - The Ring of Thoth - Through the Veil - Playing With Fire - How it Happened
