The London Terrors Review

Normally, I’m a little weary about books which bring together Sherlock Holmes and supernatural themes. Strange, considering that “The Hound of the Baskervilles” is by far my favourite Sherlock Holmes story (followed closely by “The Empty House”), but true. Yet, when I bought “The London Terrors” by William Meikle, it was with a good conscience. One reason for that was that I liked his Carnacki stories, the other was that I’d already read his other supernatural Sherlock Holmes tale, “The Dreaming Man.”

“The London Terrors” is actually a collection of three stories, all of which feature a strong and traditional supernatural element. The stories themselves are independent of each other and could be read in any order, not just in that in which they’re in the book. They all lead slowly but surely from the natural and normal to the supernatural and not-quite-as normal. They show a human Holmes, who is struggling with bringing together his scientific mind and the supernatural themes. They allow for Holmes to make mistakes (I like the new tales which do, because it makes Holmes more solid as a character - everyone makes mistakes, after all). They give Watson a lot to do and make them a team, instead of a hero with a chronicler in tow. They even put quite a physical strain on both Holmes and Watson, showing how far both will go in the course of their work, in order to get to the bottom of a case and help justice triumph.

Of course, the supernatural doesn’t fit too well with Sherlock Holmes, but whether or not it works out, is very much down to the talent of the author. Meikle does have the necessary talent to make it work. In addition, he’s always sure to add a good dose of science to the supernatural horrors, so they fit better with Holmes than they would otherwise (his Carnacki stories are less scientific oriented, but then, they don’t need to be, since Carnacki is a ghost hunter). Those horrors are beyond human ken, but some of their aspects can be explained and are explained by using scientific means.

The stories themselves cover quite a bit of ground, as far is horror is concerned, not only using one type of supernatural being, but three rather different ones. Each story features conundrums for Holmes - and not just because of the supernatural elements -, horrible murders, and also Holmes’ brother Mycroft, who comes in because the cases are threatening civic life in London or even the Empire. Therefore, all three stories are on a much bigger scale than your regular Sherlock Holmes story.

Meikle writes Watson’s style very well and manages to keep the voice of the good doctor the way we are used to it, while at the same time making the text fluid and quick to read. Unlike “Holmes and Houdini,” which has several viewpoints, “The London Terrors” keeps to the traditional style and only writes from Watson’s perspective and no other.

Since Watson is more likely to accept the supernatural and also more likely to be shocked by whatever kind of monster he and Holmes encounter, he makes a very good stand-in for the reader, a much better one than Holmes himself might make under the circumstances. In this case, the chronicler perspective works out well and even better than the hero’s own point of view might.

And since Watson is a doctor and all three stories deal with things which have not been seen before, with creatures which exist against all odds, his eye as a medical man, who can quickly judge the physical condition of another human, is quite useful. He might not quite believe what he sees, but he can describe very well what it is that he can’t believe his eyes about.

The characters in general, be they monsters, victims, or others, are described with quick strokes. Meikle gives enough details so a picture can form in the reader’s mind, but doesn’t overdo it. Unfortunately, there aren’t many female characters (“Holmes and Houdini” is better off in that aspect), merely the client in the third case and, of course, Mrs. Hudson herself are around. However, given the many monsters in the stories, it’s not that much of a surprise to see few humans of note overall.

Mycroft gets cast in a less-than-stellar light, he’s indeed ‘the government’ and acts accordingly, not thinking too much about the individual human, but about the general populace and the Empire as a such. This puts him at odds with his brother Sherlock, but also with Watson and, in the last story, with Lestrade, who doesn’t appreciate being called off a case which cost one of his men his life. Nevertheless, it does make the cold relationship between the brothers more believable and gives Mycroft a character which, while not always pleasant, still makes a lot of sense within the world of Sherlock Holmes. Mycroft is not uncaring as a such, but his ‘care’ is on a much higher level than the individual, whereas Sherlock’s whole career is built on caring for the troubles of individual humans.

Every story eases the reader into the supernatural part, there’s none which starts with it. There’s no ‘I’m going to tell you a story filled with horrors beyond your imagination.’ Instead, there’s the beginning you might expect from any Sherlock Holmes story: the mundane occurrence, such as a letter, a client arriving, or a talk with an old friend. And the horrors creep closer slowly, barely perceptible at first. A seemingly normal murder, a strange disease, or the hint that there’s more to the ‘night shift’ working on the new underground train. Yet, there’s also action, often more of it than you might expect from the classic stories. But then, modern readers are expecting more and Meikle writes the action very well.

If you don’t like the combination of Sherlock Holmes and supernatural topics, “The London Terrors” is not for you. But if you can put the disbelief aside for a couple of hours, you’ll find the book a good one, filled with three good stories and even accompanied by a few rather nice illustrations. I definitely enjoyed it and will reread it at some point.