Big Persian
Slippers to Fill
When
I came across a call for submissions of alternate universe Sherlock Holmes
tales for an upcoming anthology, I found the challenge intriguing, but knew it
required extra attention. Taking on the task of including
an iconic fictional character in a new work involves special care. The stakes
are even higher when he is quite well known and a good many people believe he
truly lived.
A
recent survey in Britain found 20% of respondents identified Sherlock Holmes as
an actual, historical figure. And had they been asked, in all likelihood, they
would have described him as a rather stuffy, humorless middle-aged man who wore
a deerstalker hat and had an even older, pot-bellied friend—far from the
detective who appeared in the original stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, or even the
more recent manifestations of the man as a “high-functioning sociopath.”
When
he first appeared in A Study in Scarlet, he might have been eccentric (who keeps tobacco in the
toe of a Persian slipper?), but was only in his twenties and wore a top hat and
frock coat. The man’s ability to apply logic and science in solving mysteries,
however, lay at the heart of his popularity.
Moving
forward with this project, then, meant keeping true to the spirit of the
original Holmes, but in a very different sort of world. For the alternate
universe, I fell back on a particular fascination of mine: vampires. This would
not be my first venture into this world (you can find a free download of my
short story “Debate with a Vampire” on my website), but the first involving a
known literary figure. Immediately, I saw this world as suiting Sherlock. I’ve
never viewed the vampire lifestyle as necessarily evil, but certainly
melancholy. A life without sunshine would depress me—and I figured it would
intensify Sherlock’s own despondency. In this universe, then, Sherlock might be
a vampire, but not a happy one.
The
one thing guaranteed to pull him out of a gloomy attitude was a puzzle or
mystery to solve. Never interested in the commonplace problem, he was attracted
to the case that stumped others. Given vampires’ immortality and powers of
rejuvenation, the murder of one would provide the out-of-the-ordinary crime
that would appeal to him.
Finally,
I added some variations on well-known Sherlockian traits, but with a twist.
Vampire Sherlock keeps rats instead of bees.
The
resulting short story “The Case of the Tainted Blood” in the anthology Curious Incidents: More Improbable
Adventures provides the twists needed to create the alternate universe, but
still provides a recognizable detective ready to solve the improbable, but
nevertheless possible, murder of a vampire.
Curious Incidents: More Improbable Adventures
Welcome back to Baker Street! Holmes
and Watson are here to greet you once more spinning amazing tales of murder,
mayhem, and mystery with a supernatural twist. This time the great detective
and his stalwart companion will venture into alternate universes, histories,
and futures to solve puzzling cases of the paranormal far beyond the bounds of
imagination.
An Old West town plagued by a
legendary beast, a dystopian future where black snow falls on Baker Street, a
cyborg Holmes engaged in a psychological game with an ancient enemy, a
world-weary Holmes and Watson who must choose between vampiric immortality and
oblivion, and a classic noir with dames to kill for are just a few of the
strange adventures that await you in Curious Incidents.
Grab your deerstalker and hold on
tight! The game is afoot!
