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Gilded Nightmares – Timeless British Library Books
Playing with Fire: The Weird Tales of Arthur Conan Doyle
Although best known for the stories of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a remarkable number of weird and supernatural tales. Pulling at this thread of his fiction reveals a writer deeply fascinated in matters of the occult, the uncanny and the unexplainable, with his belief in spiritualism later in life only adding to his passion for the unknown.
This volume collects Doyle's most enduring strange stories - ranging from monster encounters and deadly hauntings to dark tales of mesmerism - and also includes a new introduction along with Doyle's never-before-reprinted essay on his own spiritual experiences, 'Stranger than Fiction'.
This volume collects Doyle's most enduring strange stories - ranging from monster encounters and deadly hauntings to dark tales of mesmerism - and also includes a new introduction along with Doyle's never-before-reprinted essay on his own spiritual experiences, 'Stranger than Fiction'.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published September 24, 2021
6 people are currently reading
107 people want to read
About the author
Arthur Conan Doyle
15.4k books24.1k followersSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.
Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.
Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 15, 2022
Beautiful hardback edition. No-one tells stories like Conan Doyle, even if they are a bit silly! (To be fair there is some menace in The Winning Shot.)
June 26, 2022
It's a collection of stories like this that makes you realise how talented ACD was as an author and that it wasn't just the appeal of Sherlock that provided him with acclaim.
October 21, 2023
4.5/5 ⭐️s. Fantastic collection of tales of the supernatural. Some short stories were stronger than others, but excellent overall. This edition from The British Library would make an excellent gift.
October 9, 2023
📖 𝙼𝚈 𝚁𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶: 𝟹.𝟻 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜. ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
⚠️ 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝚃𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝚁𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶: 𝙿𝙶-𝟷𝟹.
“It is rather when you look closely into the intimate workings of your own mind and spirit, the queer intuitions, the strange happenings, the inexplicable things which come suddenly to the surface and are glimpsed rather than seen, the incredible coincidences, the stories which should end one way but either end the other or else have no definite finish at all, tailing off into oblivion with ragged fringes of mystery behind them instead of the neat little knot of the tidy-minded romancer—it is these, I say, which seem to be really stranger than any fiction.” – “Stranger than Fiction”
💜 𝙾𝙿𝙸𝙽𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂 💜
Playing with Fire is a fascinating collection of literature that encompasses many of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's short stories that relate to the supernatural, occult, or weird in any sense of the word. Some of the stories infringe on horror/thriller, while others seem as lighthearted as Ghostbusters. It went darker than I expected for some of the stories, but all in all was very much redeemed by some of my all-time favorite stories from the collection (namely "The Terror of Blue John Gap," "The Brown Hand," "The Captain of the Pole-star," "The Horror of the Heights," and "How it Happened" [the latter reminding me almost exactly as if it could be a short episode of Rod Serling's classic The Twilight Zone]).
This book packs a punch of paranormal power (like the alliteration? XD), and is extraordinarily thrilling to read. I highly recommend this book for anybody who likes the supernatural or the occult and does not mind a little bit of confusion.
By confusion, I mean this: Many of the short stories in this collection have rather unsatisfying or confusing endings. "The Parasite," for example, had this. I will already warn you that if you have read his amazing Sherlock Holmes mystery series and expect for this collection to be just as good, it isn't. I don't just mean the subject matter or the absence of our dear detective, but also the stories themselves in their expositions, crescendos, and plot-lines. Some of these stories frankly do feel a bit like the store-bought version of a good Sherlock Holmes story, which was incredibly surprising to me as I thought he'd have enjoyed writing these supernatural stories which adhere to his passion much, much more than those of his long-hated detective. The one thing I couldn't help thinking as I read some of these was, "No wonder he's only known for his SH stories." 😬
Now, to be fair, some of these stories (like the four I mentioned above) are phenomenal, and I highly recommend them. Here are individual ratings for each story in the collection. I made a separate review for "The Parasite," which is linked below. (Stick around for the content warnings, by the way!)
📚 𝚂𝚃𝙾𝚁𝚈 𝚁𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂 📚
• Stranger than Fiction: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• The Captain of the Pole-star: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
• The Winning Shot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
• John Barrington Cowles: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
• De Profundis: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• The Parasite: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
• The Story of the Brown Hand: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• Playing with Fire: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• The Leather Funnel: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• The Terror of Blue John Gap: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• How it Happened: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• The Horror of the Heights: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• The Bully of Brocas Court: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
⚠️ 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝚃𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝚆𝙰𝚁𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂 ⚠️
I rate this collection PG-13 for dark/supernatural elements, frightening imagery, mentions of suicide, death, and spiritualism (a couple of psychics and one séance). This collection is much darker than many other Victorian/classic literature I've read, and I warn you that it is not for the faint of heart.
💜 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝙲𝙻𝚄𝚂𝙸𝙾𝙽 💜
All in all, this is a good collection, despite the references of dark arts which I admit did make me uncomfortable upon a couple of occasions. I may re-read "The Terror of Blue John Gap" (monster thriller-esque) or "How it Happened" (an EXTREMELY short Twilight Zone-esque story); those were truly the jewels on this paranormal crown.
In conclusion, though Playing with Fire is not the best of Conan Doyle's work, it was certainly enjoyable; and above all, regardless in belief of spirituality, it reinforces the very true fact that life can be and often is, indeed, much stranger than fiction.
⚠️ 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝚃𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝚁𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶: 𝙿𝙶-𝟷𝟹.
“It is rather when you look closely into the intimate workings of your own mind and spirit, the queer intuitions, the strange happenings, the inexplicable things which come suddenly to the surface and are glimpsed rather than seen, the incredible coincidences, the stories which should end one way but either end the other or else have no definite finish at all, tailing off into oblivion with ragged fringes of mystery behind them instead of the neat little knot of the tidy-minded romancer—it is these, I say, which seem to be really stranger than any fiction.” – “Stranger than Fiction”
💜 𝙾𝙿𝙸𝙽𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂 💜
Playing with Fire is a fascinating collection of literature that encompasses many of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's short stories that relate to the supernatural, occult, or weird in any sense of the word. Some of the stories infringe on horror/thriller, while others seem as lighthearted as Ghostbusters. It went darker than I expected for some of the stories, but all in all was very much redeemed by some of my all-time favorite stories from the collection (namely "The Terror of Blue John Gap," "The Brown Hand," "The Captain of the Pole-star," "The Horror of the Heights," and "How it Happened" [the latter reminding me almost exactly as if it could be a short episode of Rod Serling's classic The Twilight Zone]).
This book packs a punch of paranormal power (like the alliteration? XD), and is extraordinarily thrilling to read. I highly recommend this book for anybody who likes the supernatural or the occult and does not mind a little bit of confusion.
By confusion, I mean this: Many of the short stories in this collection have rather unsatisfying or confusing endings. "The Parasite," for example, had this. I will already warn you that if you have read his amazing Sherlock Holmes mystery series and expect for this collection to be just as good, it isn't. I don't just mean the subject matter or the absence of our dear detective, but also the stories themselves in their expositions, crescendos, and plot-lines. Some of these stories frankly do feel a bit like the store-bought version of a good Sherlock Holmes story, which was incredibly surprising to me as I thought he'd have enjoyed writing these supernatural stories which adhere to his passion much, much more than those of his long-hated detective. The one thing I couldn't help thinking as I read some of these was, "No wonder he's only known for his SH stories." 😬
Now, to be fair, some of these stories (like the four I mentioned above) are phenomenal, and I highly recommend them. Here are individual ratings for each story in the collection. I made a separate review for "The Parasite," which is linked below. (Stick around for the content warnings, by the way!)
📚 𝚂𝚃𝙾𝚁𝚈 𝚁𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂 📚
• Stranger than Fiction: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• The Captain of the Pole-star: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
• The Winning Shot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
• John Barrington Cowles: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
• De Profundis: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• The Parasite: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
• The Story of the Brown Hand: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• Playing with Fire: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• The Leather Funnel: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• The Terror of Blue John Gap: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• How it Happened: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• The Horror of the Heights: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• The Bully of Brocas Court: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
⚠️ 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝚃𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝚆𝙰𝚁𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂 ⚠️
I rate this collection PG-13 for dark/supernatural elements, frightening imagery, mentions of suicide, death, and spiritualism (a couple of psychics and one séance). This collection is much darker than many other Victorian/classic literature I've read, and I warn you that it is not for the faint of heart.
💜 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝙲𝙻𝚄𝚂𝙸𝙾𝙽 💜
All in all, this is a good collection, despite the references of dark arts which I admit did make me uncomfortable upon a couple of occasions. I may re-read "The Terror of Blue John Gap" (monster thriller-esque) or "How it Happened" (an EXTREMELY short Twilight Zone-esque story); those were truly the jewels on this paranormal crown.
In conclusion, though Playing with Fire is not the best of Conan Doyle's work, it was certainly enjoyable; and above all, regardless in belief of spirituality, it reinforces the very true fact that life can be and often is, indeed, much stranger than fiction.
December 11, 2023
First things first; this book is a collection of tales of the supernatural. It comes across as boring campfire tales. From what I know of ACD he probably thought these stories were real and so didn't embellish them to be 'a good story'. On the other hand his actual fiction isn't that much more engaging so who knows. Either way; if you don't believe in such stuff you will find this taudry and silly. If you do believe in such things you will probably find these an unrealistic depiction of such things. If you are on the fence and want to believe you will probably find this not as good as the history channel.
February 8, 2025
This is an older book. I had to look up some of the older English slang.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews