Tales of Mystery & Terror

The first part contains stories which had been a part of a larger volume already discussed. These being the Tales of Terror, contains The Horror of Heights, The Leather Funnel, The New Catacomb, The Case of Lady Shannox, The Terror of Blue John Gap and The Brazilian Cat. But the inertia of terror continues in the first two Tales of Mystery bearing the names The Lost Special and The Beetle-Hunter. The former is the mystery of a special train seemingly vanishing into thin air while the later is a curious anecdote of a doctor witness to a strange behaviour of a seemingly sane scientist. Though there is mystery in each but the strain of terror predominates to make them horrifyingly gripping. The next is the story of The Man with the Watches who is found murdered in a first class carriage without any tickets but with six watches in the dead man's pockets. A gleam of scandal seems to lurk in the the residence of a widower with the entire household doubting the master when a chance situation reveals the truth in The Japanned Box whose content had been the centre of speculations to all. Again an apparent murder of The Black Doctor causes much stir and it remains to be seen whether the accused can be acquitted in a courtroom drama. The curious apparent desecration of The Jew's Breastplate torments the curator and he sets a trap to catch the perpetrator only to reveal a painful truth. But drama is at its extreme in the final piece of The Nightmare Room where everybody will be held unguarded when the mystery is spawned with the last line giving the solution so refreshingly beautiful. Only one bad thing about the publication is the confusion in closing page sequences along with orientations that will cause a bit of a bother to the flow of reading during the finale otherwise so tersely grand.

The Great Tales of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The versatility of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle can be felt in the pages of this book that comprises stories penned  by the creator of Holmes and Challenger some of which equals if not surpasses his more popular titles. Categorised  as the following the stories are a treasure trove of adventure, fun, terror, history and much more:

• Tales of the Ring
1. The Croxley Master
2. The Lord of Falconbridge
3. The Fall of Lord Barrymore
4. The Crime of the Brigadier
5. The King of the Foxes
6. The Bully of Brocas Court

• Tales of Pirates

7. Captain Sharkey: How the Governor of Saint Kitt's came Home
8. The Dealings of Captain Sharkey with Stephen Craddock
9. The Blighting of Sharkey
10. How Copley Banks slew Captain Sharkey
11. The “Slapping Sal”
12. A Pirate of the land (One Crowded Hour)

• Tales of Blue Water

13. The Striped Chest
14. The Captain of the “Polestar”
15. The Fiend of the Cooperage
16. Jelland’s Voyage
17. J. Habakuk Jephson’s Statement

• Tales of Terror

18. Horror of the Heights
19. The Leather Funnel
20. The New Catacomb
21. The Case of lady Shannox
22. The Terror of Blue John Gap
23. The Brazilian Cat

• Tales of Twilight and the Unseen

24. The Brown Hand
25. The usher of Lea House School
26. B.24
27. The Great Keinplatz Experiment
28. A literary Mosaic
29. Playing with Fire
30. The Ring of Thoth
31. The Los Amigos Fiasco
32. How It Happened
33. Lon No. 249
34. “De Profundis”
35. The Lift

• Tales of Long Ago

36. The Last of the Legions
37. The Last Galley
38. Through the Veils
39. The coming of the Huns
40. The Contest
41. The First Cargo
42. An Iconoclast
43. Giant Maximin
44. The Red Star
45. The Silver Mirror
46. The Home-Coming
47. A Point of Contact

The author's fascination for the pugilists and their game and his inclination towards the paranormals are expressed in the volumes in some of the most fantastic stories of the genre that sometimes mixes both with an unique blend. But this does not prevent him to tell science fictions with the similar classic touch. Again, devoid of paranormals, some of the tales of terror are so chilling that it will match a horror story based on the supernaturals. But his mastery seemed at its supreme with the anecdotes of historical fictions that depicts the cruel yet brave world of a time long ago when the earth was defined by the adventures of her heroins and heroes. The cruelty of Captain Sharkey and his downfall (a bit confusing as two different stories hints at two different ways) is depicted in the stories of the seas and other stories also fills in with adventures of sailors each stranger than the other. Humour also finds place in some of the most fun filled misadventures that makes them more refreshing.

The Complete Professor Challenger

I don’t know what attracted me most during ’97, the title that I came across for the 1^st time or the appealing price tag so much encouraging as to coax my parents easily into buying this for me. At that point of time Conan Doyle, to me, was the creator of Sherlock Holmes and a few spine chilling terrifying anecdotes. What I didn’t know was that he was equally brilliant in the realms of science fiction and when it comes to merge the limitless imagination that science offers in literature, none other than Sir Arthur will come as one of the greatest in the British literature.

Professor Challenger had been a creation of Conan Doyle whose brain matched Holmes (both Sherlock and Mycroft) and whose curiosity in the field of science seemed to match none than his own enterprising soul. On one hand his pride prevented him from mixing with the common man on the other hand a logical brain was all welcome for him. All these combined, we start with this brilliant professor as he guides an apparently odd crew of the adventurous and ever cool Lord John Roxton (very much reflecting in appearance and mannerism to Sherlock Holmes), the apprehensive professor of Comparative Anatomy, Summerlee and the young and daring Edward D. Malone of the Daily Gazette in their epic exploration of The Lost World near the perilous seclusion of the Amazon that seemed to crawl in the Jurassic Age with the pre-historic dinosaurs and the missing links abound. The plateau built on the remains of a dormant volcano offered adventure of the highest degree that gives the readers a glimpse to the age so remote that we can only imagine in our dreams. The narration was so vividly exciting and the descriptions of the flora and fauna so realistically done that one can only crave for more once the narrative ends. Mixed with the usual humour of Conan Doyle’s, the novel uses Edward Malone’s views of the adventure. This bold young man’s exploits as he discovers the new land and also his true self is most enjoyable in the sense that the readers – the new beholders in the strange land – discovers the uniqueness right with him and thus the surprises and awes that is felt by Malone transmits well to the readers. Though this had been a second read by me but still surprises blossom once more as if I was reading it anew.

The next in the series is one of the peaks of imagination in which the author so easily dwells that exposes the Earth in a shroud of The Poison Belt which pervades the world and all that is living causing apparent death to the entire living race except amoebas which though promises life in a future million year. The ingenuity of Challenger seems to delay the onset to his friends but that too for a few hours before which their living self seemed sure to perish. But the ultimate revelation of the story is sure to bring relief from a sheer tension that gradually builds to its maximum by the classic penmanship of the writer. Another important aspect of the narrative is the introduction of Mrs. Challenger in the proper sense that her personality had come to fore. Mixed with the same feeling of awe and wander the narrative once more promises an adventure of a different type that though is curious but surely enjoyable.

Following these two adventures is another most curious and more convincing in The Land of Mist where spiritualism challenges the erudite Challenger. The adventures begin with Malone as he delves as the representative of the press into the realms of various spiritual circles, both at home and abroad. Challenger, obviously is irritated at this but Malone, after being convinced of the truthfulness of the afterlife tries to persuade the professor on the path of spiritualism. Lord Roxton, a sympathizer to the cause, also joins in. Romance also is a part of the novel that goes hand in hand with the adventure. Conan Doyle has added some significant incidents in the Appendices that, along with the story itself, will no doubt, convert many a non-believer to a believer. The patient but firm way is which several of the supernatural events have been established bears the fact that the author was not only a believer but also participant in several of the rescue circles, séances and experiments concerning spiritualism. It is also noted that his wife was a medium and along with her, he had joined in several sessions of séances that helped clearing out any doubts that he may have felt. Some very remarkable experiences and evidences are being shared that will also help in establishing the truth that lies behind the misty land where the traditional scientific brain hesitates to traverse.

The fourth in the series is The Disintegration Machine, where we find Professor Challenger less as a scientist than a dutiful citizen. Requested to investigate a seemingly fantastic yet dangerous scientific invention, prudence prevails till the climax and a classic twist reflects a part of his character yet unknown to the beholders of his exploits.

But the best, at least my favourite, is When The World Screamed that at once tells us the height of fascinating imagination that the author was capable of. Truly a marvelous work of fiction this piece alters the perspective of the reader about the nature of our very own earth. The rationale seemed a little simplified and a bit less elaborate to convince the critical reader but its style of presentation is quite wonderful. Narrated from the perspective of an artesian boring expert, Peerless Jones with Malone enjoying the show as the genius’s sidekick, the adventure is aimed to find out the true nature beneath the earth’s crust. Scattered with humour the piece is a classic that I cherish fondly though I’ve read it more than once.

The entire compilation is a revelation of Conan Doyle’s versatility as several, including me before going through it, of the readers always associate him with Sherlock Holmes only. In fact, after reading Holmes I was a fan of the detective but reading this I became a fan of the author.