Robert Louis Stevenson: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Dear Reader,

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote both Treasure Island and Jekyll & Hyde. That's the first surprise about this classic. The second: It's short, less than 100 pages. Wikipedia calls it a novella. And the third surprise: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was first published as a penny dreadful, a booklet for a shilling or a dollar. From a mass-market paperback to a classic - what a jump!

But yes, Jekyll & Hyde deserves the fame. It wasn't the first book about the duality of human nature, but the first to reach thousands of readers. And compared to the rest of gothic horror, Stevenson wrote beautiful prose.

For today's reader, pampered by Stephen King and William Peter Blatty, there's little gooseflesh left in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. But if you are looking for a short and agreeable foray into gothic horror, this is the book.

Yours sincerely
Christina Widmann de Fran

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

first published as a penny dreadful in 1886.

Free for download at Project Gutenberg.

Several paper editions available at Amazon.co.uk.