Six Degrees of Separation, 6 May 2023

First, I have Lestrade and the Giant Rat of Sumatra by M.J. Trow. Well, if you like Holmes, then you might also like Holmes pastiches. M.J. Trow’s Lestrade series is based around Inspector Lestrade of the Holmes fame. While in the original series, Lestrade is somewhat of a ‘tube light’ (slow to connect the dots), in Trow’s pastiche, it’s the opposite. There’s a scene where Lestrade finds an old woman on the street and says “Hey, Holmes” and Holmes is like, “Oh, man, my get-up isn’t good enough.”

Well, these aren’t their exact words (not quoted from the book, I mean) but you get the idea.

When it comes to monsters and creepy animals, the first book that comes to my mind is The Hound of Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle.

I had nightmares when I read this book. I also had nightmares when I watched the TV adaptation of it – featuring Jeremy Brett as Holmes. (I don’t like the one with Cumberbatch)

Another classic by Conan Doyle. This is, once again, a nightmare inducing, creepy story. The plot reminds me a tad of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Strange goings-on in the house of a professor brings Holmes and Watson to investigate.

I read this book as well as watched the TV adaptation of it. I found the TV adaptation creepier (probably because of the background music).

My god, this book! I suppose this is one of the creepiest and scariest books I have ever read. The detailed description of the gruesome murders is something that I didn’t expect in a mystery classic.

I first read this book a couple of years ago. I made a mistake of reading this before bedtime. I cannot get that orangutan out of my head. (I am not talking about my monkey mind. Please don’t make jokes about it. :P)

I remember reading this classic when I was a child. I must have read it a gazillion times. Creepy, yes. But the multiple reads might have reduced the creepy factor a tad.

I cannot help but wonder if Hulk was loosely based on stories like these. A concoction gone wrong turns man into monster. What say?

The last and final book in this chain is a modern-day cozy mystery by Jan Durham. In Death at Neptune Yard, one of the characters has a terrifying encounter with Barghest – Yorkshire’s legendary Dog of Death. This is followed by a series of fatalities in the small-town fishing community.

See, this is why I am a cat person. They are not as terrifying as dogs. Unless you count the bigger cats like tigers, leopards, cheetahs… Never mind, cats are always better. This is not up for discussion. Thanks! 😉