Shadows Over Baker Street

Shadows Over Baker Street
Michael Reaves & John Pelan (Eds.)
2003, Del Rey
ISBN 0-345-45528-2

Shadows Over Baker Street combines two of my favorite subjects for pulpy pastiche — Sherlock Holmes and the Cthulhu Mythos — and doesn’t disappoint.

The eighteen stories are arranged in chronological order, spanning Holmes’ career from 1881 (the year of the first canonical Holmes case, “A Study in Scarlet”) to 1915 (one year after the last canonical Holmes case, “His Last Bow”). Together they suggest that Holmes’ apparently endless casebook had its eldritch side, perhaps not so surprising for a brilliant, drug-addicted consulting detective who admitted to spending some of his lost years pursuing forbidden secrets in the Orient.

Gaiman’s story, “A Study in Emerald,” kicks off the collection with a bang and is just about worth the price of the book alone. It’s deftly told, imaginative, and left me wanting much more.

Other notable works in the collection include “A Case of Royal Blood,” by Steven-Elliot Altman, which takes Holmes and H.G. Wells into the Netherlands in a not-quite-gothic ghost story; and “The Weeping Masks,” by James Lowder, in which Watson reveals, somewhat wistfully after Holmes’ death at Reichenbach Falls, how he got his shoulder wound and what else he encountered deep in Afghanistan.

Some of the stories stand out primarily for their interesting twists and speculations: “Art in the Blood” by Brian Stableford offers a titillating glimpse into the hidden agenda behind the Diogenes Club; “The Mystery of the Worm” by John Pelan offers a suggestion for Holmes’ taking up the study of bees after retirement (bees are also mentioned in Lebbon’s “The Horror of the Many Faces” and Reaves’ “The Adventure of the Arab’s Manuscript”); and “The Mystery of the Hanged Man’s Puzzle,” by Paul Finch, exports Captain Obed Marsh’s legacy to London.

Canny readers will appreciate references to Nikolas Tesla, Dracula’s ship The Demeter, and William Hope Hodgson's Carnaki the ghost-hunter. Lovecraft fans will run into plenty of unwholesome diseases and eldritch abominations here, but it’s the Holmes fans who will most enjoy encountering familiar faces, such as Irene Adler, Mycroft Holmes, and Colonel Sebastian Moran, once more. Professor Moriarty is lurking on the threshhold, too, and if you can’t imagine what an evil genius of a mathematics professor might get up to in a Lovecraftian world, well, a number of answers are provided here.

I was pleased that several authors convincingly addressed the clash between the madness of the Elder Gods and the precise rationality of Holmes’ approach, and I was also warmed to find that Holmes’ and Watson’s friendship is reaffirmed in many of the tales. Although Watson far too often suffers convenient lapses of memory that save his sanity from complete collapse, he also gets many chances to prove his bravery, competence, and loyalty, proving that he’s more than just a bumbling foil for Holmes’ brilliance.

While the stories vary in quality and canonicity, overall this collection is an enjoyable read for those who enjoy their unspeakable horrors by gaslight.

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