The Haunted Grange of Goresthorpe

by Arthur Conan Doyle (Editor)

Late in the 1870s, the young Arthur Conan Doyle submitted a ghost story, 'The Haunted Grange of Goresthorpe', to BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE in Edinburgh. It was never published, and Conan Doyle seems to have believed it had been destroyed. Certainly BLACKWOOD'S never returned his manuscript, which remained in their files until the company's archives were presented to The National Library of Scotland in 1942. History reminds us that Conan Doyle went on to greater things, not least the creation of master detective Sherlock Holmes; but the name Goresthorpe Grange remained in his mind, and he was later to use it in another story, 'Selecting a Ghost', which appeared in 1883 - a few short years after composition of the 'lost' story.

By arrangement with the copyright holders and The National Library of Scotland, The Arthur Conan Doyle Society is now pleased to present the first publication of 'The Haunted Grange of Goresthorpe'.

This historic edition, the first wholly unpublished story by Arthur Conan Doyle to appear in seventy years, features the complete text of the story; prefatory remarks by Charles Foley and Ian D. McGowan, Librarian of The National Library of Scotland; a comprehensive introduction by Owen Dudley Edwards; and an afterword by Christopher Roden.

Genres: Horror, Fiction

72 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2000

About the author

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish 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.

Reviews

[George Ilsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unpublished in ACD's lifetime, this short story was discovered in the archives of a magazine where it had been submitted by the author (possibly his first story), and was never returned.

This is a ghost story that even deigns to provide a theory of ghosts, and why they might persist.

I read this in the anthology Ghosts From the Library: Lost Tales of Terror and the Supernatural, a collection of stories which had been "lost" or published in magazines but never reprinted. I started with this one, on page 185.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note from the Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia:The Haunted Grange of Goresthorpe is a short story written by Arthur Conan Doyle but never published in his lifetime. The manuscript was submitted by Conan Doyle to Blackwood's Magazine in Edinburgh at the end of 1870s but held in company archives and never published. The manuscript is now in The National Library of Scotland (MS 4791). The Arthur Conan Doyle Society published the story in 2000. The editors of that edition believe it to have been written about 1877, when Doyle was 18. It is not the same story as The Secret of Goresthorpe Grange . They just so happen to have similar titles.

The Haunted Grange of Goresthorpe contains characters similar to the famed London detective Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Dr. Watson in the guise of Tom Hulton and his friend Jack, the chronicler of the story. “The story shows the idea of a Holmes and Watson story came to him earlier than we had thought,” said the Conan Doyle Society’s Owen Dudley Edwards.
https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/in... Plot Summary: Tom Hulton visits his friend Jack who lives in Goresthorpe in Norfolk. In order to convince him of the existence of ghosts, he proposes to go ghost hunting in his mansion. They go and choose a small room to wait. A few minutes later, they hear drops falling from the old ceiling. To their surprise and fright, they notice it's not water but blood. They decide to visit the room above, but as they enter the hall, they saw an apparition approaching them. It is the ghost of a man of the 18th century who looks scared and chased. When he disappears, another appearance arises, a ghost of a woman this time. She seems to follow the first one with a threatening manner. The two men quickly leave the house and return to the village. Analyzing the situation, they understand that the ghost of the woman was the victim of the man, and she now haunts the ghost of her killer. It was a real treat reading this early short story of Conan Doyle even though it is a more juvenile version of what he later produced the author's brilliance still shines through.

On the other hand, The Secret of Goresthorpe Grange is Doyle's humorous ghost story about Argentine D'Odd, missing only one thing to accompany his new wealth, fabricated knighthood, and historic mansion: a scary ghost to roam its halls and make him a legend. Argentine D'Odd is a successful man with a lovely wife, thriving bank account and a dignified (if fabricated) knightly heritage. But Goresthorpe Grange, his newly purchased 'ancestral' home, lacks the one thing he wants most in the world: a ghost. Fortunately, there are people that can help with that.

[April Helms]

A funnier, light-hearted spooky tale (although a bit ironic, given Doyle's firm believe in the spiritual world). The new owner of Goresthorpe Grange has found everything he wants in his new abode, save one thing that would make everything complete: the manor needs its own ghost. So a relative of his wife goes to procure someone who promises to find such a resident spook. The results are creepy and hilarious at the same time. The ending can be seen early on but it's still enjoyable.

[K. Anna Kraft · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have arranged my thoughts into a haiku:

"A sad, self-made man,
So desperate to leave his roots,
He leaves logic too."

[Ron Kerrigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of Arthur Conan Doyle's early tales is a 10-page ghost story that foreshadows the author's mastery of words. This 65 page book tells how the story was "lost" and how it came to light. Also included is a 35-page Introduction by the President of the Arthur Conan Doyle Society, which goes into much detail about Doyle's early writing efforts and analyzes how this Goresthorpe Grange story fits into the fabric of a career just starting out. That part will be of interest to people looking for insight into Doyle's motivation and how his writing developed. The actual short story of the ghost is entertaining enough, although ends a bit abruptly.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Argentine D'Odd is a successful man with a lovely wife, thriving bank account with a dignified (if fabricated) knightly heritage and as recently purchased Goresthorpe Grange as his 'ancestral' home However, it lacks the one thing he wants most in the world: a ghost. This is a short short of how he goes about trying to acquire such.

[Kaethe · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Haunted Grange Of Goresthorpe - Arthur Conan Doyle   Wow, that's a fine example of an author's early ant not-quite successful efforts. That would be an interesting project, to get several different people to take the same not-great story and rework it into something better. 

[Forked Radish · Rating 1 out of 5]

Review for “The Haunted Grange of Goresthorpe”, allegedly c. 1877, first published 2000: Whilst the story is amusing, I am convinced that it’s a latter day forgery e.g. the term “model” is an anachronism in the sense that it’s used. Also “Old Boy”, “stony gaze”, “horrible shriek”, “foolhardy”, “spellbound”, “ghastly” etc. indicate the modern influences of movies and television. Finally “credo-quod-tango” is very poor Latin and shouldn’t be hyphenated, though I’d have to see the original MS to confirm this.

[Lois · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this short story. I was even able to foresee the end of the story which is unusual for me.

[Bostonlotus · Rating 1 out of 5]

What the hell was this? Okay, a drugging and a heist. I get that much. The guy was taken because he was too stupid not to want to keep spirits OUT of his house. A haunting is never a good idea. But what the hell?! Just skip it. Skip it. Skip it.... Yeah, skip it.