Study in Terror

Derrick Belanger

Description

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is one of those authors whose literary creation is much more famous than the man himself. Those who do know the name Arthur Conan Doyle tend to know him only as the inventor of the world's greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes. A smaller segment of this group goes further and remembers Doyle as the inventor of the great detective who squandered his fame with crackpot beliefs in faeries and the supernatural. Sadly, there is so much more to the man who revolutionized the writing not just of detective fiction but also of the genre of horror, the supernatural, and even influenced history itself.This two volume anthology's point is to put Doyle back on the pedestal he so rightly deserves. Its aim is twofold. First, to introduce readers to Doyle's lesser known (yet no less important) works. These works speak for themselves in showing a master writer at his craft. The stories are timeless, enjoyable, and hopefully will lead to new fans embracing a great author's somewhat forgotten tales. The second aim is to show the relevance of Doyle's works. Through a collection of articles written by current scholars and experts, readers can see just how revolutionary Doyle's writings remain even today.

Informations

• Publié par: Andrews UK
• Date de parution: 24 septembre 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781780926636
• Langue: English

Extrait

Title Page
A STUDY IN TERROR
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Revolutionary Stories of Fear and the Supernatural
Volume 1
by
Derrick Belanger
&
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle



Publisher Information
First edition published in 2014 by MX Publishing
335 Princess Park Manor, Royal Drive, London, N11 3GX
www.mxpublishing.co.uk
Digital edition converted and distributed in 2014 by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
© Copyright 2014 Derrick Belanger, Brian Belanger, and Chuck Davis.
The right of Derrick Belanger, Brian Belanger, and Chuck Davis to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998.
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without express prior written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted except with express prior written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damage.
The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and not of MX Publishing.
Cover Illustration by Brian Belanger
Cover Compilation by www.staunch.com



Anthology Introduction
By Derrick Belanger
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is one of those authors whose literary creation is much more famous than the man himself. Those who do know the name Arthur Conan Doyle tend to know him only as the inventor of the world’s greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes. A smaller segment of this group goes further and remembers Doyle as the inventor of the great detective who squandered his fame with crackpot beliefs in faeries and the supernatural. Sadly, there is so much more to the man who revolutionized the writing not just of detective fiction but also of the genres of horror, science fiction, the supernatural, and even influenced history itself.
This two volume anthology’s point is to put Doyle back on the pedestal he so rightly deserves. Its aim is twofold. First, to introduce readers to Doyle’s lesser known (yet no less important) works. These stories speak for themselves in showing a master writer at his craft. The tales are timeless, enjoyable, riveting, and hopefully will lead to new fans embracing one of the Victorian and Edwardian time periods greatest author’s somewhat forgotten tales. The second aim is to show the relevance of Doyle’s works. Through a collection of articles and interviews with scholars and experts of today, readers can see just how revolutionary Doyle’s writings were. Indeed it may be hard to fathom just how different literature in multiple genres would be today if Doyle had kept his pen strictly on the stories involving 221 B Baker St.
To guide the reader through these revolutionary writings, I have grouped the writings of the first volume of the anthology into three sections. The first looks at some of Doyle’s science fiction/ horror stories and how they seemingly fit as a transition from the writings of 19 th century writers like Poe to the more intergalactic horror of writers like Lovecraft and Bloch in the early 20 th century. The article Oceans of the Sky by author Chuck Davis shows how visionary Doyle was with technology, particularly his foresight of heavier than air flight in the continued development of the airplane. The second section focuses on the nautical writings of Doyle. In his time, Doyle’s adventures on the sea were compared to the writings of Robert Louis Stevenson. As I show in my article, Revisions of History: Arthur Conan Doyle and the Mystery of the Mary Celeste, one of Doyle’s pieces went on to form the basis for the greatest maritime legend of the 20 th century. The third and final section of volume one deals with the supernatural stories of Doyle. Brian Belanger’s interview-article Towards the Horizon with occultist Christopher Penczak shows that Doyle’s beliefs were not that of a crackpot but were actually ahead of their times and are embraced by today’s New Age movement.
It is truly astounding that over a century after these stories were penned, they still paint a picture in one’s mind of untapped worlds just outside our Earthly realm. The hope of the contributors to this anthology is that a whole new generation of fans will connect to these works, that this collection will be shared, go viral, and Doyle’s writings beyond that of Sherlock Holmes will be just as widely read as that of the world’s greatest detective. Enjoy!



Section 1
Unimaginable Worlds of the Imagination
Introduction
We start this anthology off with two of Doyle’s stories that are considered his contribution to weird fiction, that otherworldly blend of horror, science fiction, and madness quite prevalent in the early twentieth century. One can easily see the transition of horror fiction from Poe to Lovecraft and find Doyle as a link in this evolutionary chain. In Poe’s The Tell Tale Heart, the unnamed narrator commits an ugly and brutal murder but keeps insisting to his audience that he is not mad. In Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness , geologist William Dyer escapes from an unspeakable horror in the Arctic with a graduate student by the name of Danforth. The narrator escapes with his mind intact (or so the reader is led to believe); the graduate student does not.
Was Lovecraft directly influenced by Doyle? “I’d say (Doyle) was a very strong influence on Lovecraft,” said Stephen Seitz, author of Sherlock Holmes and the Plague of Dracula . “As a kid, (Lovecraft) was an avid fan, and the similarity in prose styles is sometimes uncanny.”
Doyle’s stories do make an interesting transition from one type of horror like Poe (he was inspired by and even borrowed heavily from Poe’s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym in Nantucket) to the cosmic horror of Lovecraft. As you read Doyle’s The Horror of the Heights and The Terror of Blue John Gap ask yourself if the narrators are truly reliable. Are we being shown true worlds beyond worlds like the interstellar writings of Lovecraft, or like in some of Poe’s pieces, are the writers not right in the head? That, dear reader, is for you to decide.
We end this section with Chuck Davis’s essay, Oceans of the Sky , which shows Doyle’s visionary mind. By asking the question, “How accurate was Sir Arthur?” Mr. Davis shows Doyle was quite close in predicting where advancements of flights would evolve in the early part of the twentieth century. As Nebula award winning author Jack McDevitt says of The Horror of the Heights and Oceans of the Sky , they are a “fascinating read on the science and possibilities of aeronautics in the early years of the 20 th century.”
--Derrick Belanger
The Horror of the Heights
The idea that the extraordinary narrative which has been called the Joyce-Armstrong Fragment is an elaborate practical joke evolved by some unknown person, cursed by a perverted and sinister sense of humour, has now been abandoned by all who have examined the matter. The most macabre and imaginative of plotters would hesitate before linking his morbid fancies with the unquestioned and tragic facts which reinforce the statement. Though the assertions contained in it are amazing and even monstrous, it is none the less forcing itself upon the general intelligence that they are true, and that we must readjust our ideas to the new situation. This world of ours appears to be separated by a slight and precarious margin of safety from a most singular and unexpected danger. I will endeavour in this narrative, which reproduces the original document in its necessarily somewhat fragmentary form, to lay before the reader the whole of the facts up to date, prefacing my statement by saying that, if there be any who doubt the narrative of Joyce-Armstrong, there can be no question at all as to the facts concerning Lieutenant Myrtle, R. N., and Mr. Hay Connor, who undoubtedly met their end in the manner described.
The Joyce-Armstrong Fragment was found in the field which is called Lower Haycock, lying one mile to the westward of the village of Withyham, upon the Kent and Sussex border. It was on the 15 th September last that an agricultural labourer, James Flynn, in the employment of Mathew Dodd, farmer, of the Chauntry Farm, Withyham, perceived a briar pipe lying near the footpath which skirts the hedge in Lower Haycock. A few paces farther on he picked up a pair of broken binocular glasses. Finally, among some nettles in the ditch, he caught sight of a flat, canvas-backed book, which proved to be a note-book with detachable leaves, some of which had come loose and were fluttering along the base of the hedge. These he collected, but some, including the first, were never recovered, and leave a deplorable hiatus in this all-important statement. The note-book was taken by the labourer to his master, who in turn showed it to Dr. J. H. Atherton, of Hartfield. This gentleman at once recognized the need for an expert examination, and the manuscript was forwarded to the Aero Club in London, where it now lies.
The first two pages of the manuscript are missing. There is also one torn away at the end of the narrative, though none of these affect the general coherence of the story. It is conjectured that the missing opening is concerned with the record of Mr. Joyce-Armstrong’s qualifications as an aeronaut, which can be gathered from other sources and are admitted to be unsurpassed among the air-pilots of England. For many years he has been looked upon as among the most daring and the most intellectual of flying men, a combination which has enabled him to both invent and test several new devices, including the common gyroscopic attachment which is known by