Shadows Over Baker Street : New Tales of Terror!

Registered by wingGoryDetailswing of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 1/1/2006
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10 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingGoryDetailswing from Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Sunday, January 1, 2006
I enjoy reading Lovecraft's stories, and I enjoy reading about Sherlock Holmes - so when I found that there was a collection of stories in which Holmes has to cope with Lovecraftian monstrosities, I put it on my Christmas list at once.

Given that the contributors included such notables as Neil Gaiman, Poppy Z. Brite, and Caitlin R. Kiernan, I was pretty sure the stories would be good, but anthologies - especially crossover anthologies - can be iffy. But I was pleased with nearly every story here, and even the least of them was quite good. Elizabeth Bear's "Tiger! Tiger!" does indeed do a riff on the poem - how that combines with Lovecraft and Holmes is something you'll have to read the story to discover, but I admit I'll never hear that poem again without remembering this tale. And Poppy Z. Brite and David Ferguson used an actual Victorian sensation - the case of a woman who allegedly lived for years without eating anything - as the basis for their tale, "The Curious Case of Miss Violet Stone"; it does provide an interesting explanation for the symptoms! Barbara Hambly's story includes a nod to the Lovecraft tale "Rats in the Walls," and Caitlin R. Kiernan brings in an unexpected but reasonable reference to another fictional character of Holmes' era. Some nice crossovers here.

[Note: I suggest that you not read more than one or two stories at a time; since each of them presents the main characters in a particular light, and many of them would be mutually exclusive, reading them all at once would not only be confusing but would muddy the effect of the individual stories. Treat each of them as an alternate-universe tale and let each stand alone. They do integrate very nicely with the official canon, though - well, most of them do; Gaiman got a little carried away {grin}. I very much liked his twist on things in "A Study in Emerald," but I don't know how it will sit with most Holmes fans...]

Journal Entry 2 by wingGoryDetailswing from Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Saturday, July 15, 2006
I'm offering this for a bookray (see forum post here).

Bookray/ring instructions:

When you receive the book, please journal it, and PM the next person in line for their address so you'll have it ready when you've finished the book.
Note: even if you've sent books to that person before, please PM them before mailing this one, to confirm that the address is correct and that they're able to take on a bookring book at this time.
Try and read the book promptly - ideally, within a month of receiving it. (If you expect to take longer, you can request to be put at the end of the list. If you find you're swamped with other books when the person before you contacts you about the bookring, you can ask to be skipped, and then let me know whether you'd like to be moved down the list or dropped entirely. If you receive the book and find it's taking longer than you'd planned to get through it, I'd appreciate an update in its journal entries or on your profile, just to let me and the other participants know you haven't forgotten it.)

When you're ready to pass the book along, please make another journal entry containing your comments about the book and stating where you've sent it, and set the book's status code to "traveling". [If you find that you're having problems contacting the next person in line, or don't think you can manage to mail the book as originally agreed, please let me know; I'll be glad to try to work something out.]

***

Participants, in mailing order:

eicuthbertson [Canada]
mojosmom [Illinois]
labmomnm [New Mexico]
Jare [New Mexico]
krin511 [Maryland]
rebeccaljames [Ohio] [skipped on request]
Bookworm-lady [Spain]

Journal Entry 3 by wingGoryDetailswing from Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Monday, July 31, 2006
Controlled release:

I'm sending this to BCer eicuthbertson in Canada to kick off the bookring. Hope you enjoy it!

Journal Entry 4 by eicuthbertson from Burnaby, British Columbia Canada on Friday, August 11, 2006
Just received. I did read your note, GoryDetails, & I will try to read each story as a 'treat' late at night! I'm not a purist by any definition (!) so I intend to enjoy these.

Journal Entry 5 by eicuthbertson from Burnaby, British Columbia Canada on Monday, September 18, 2006
I did take my time over this book & I did enjoy reading each of these!

My special favourite would be Elizabeth Bear's "Tiger! Tiger!", next (closely) would be "The Case of the Wavy Black Dagger (1884)" by Steve Perry ---both these I thought kept Holmes 'Holmes' while dealing with the supernatural & then, "The Mystery of the Hanged Man's Puzzle" by Paul Finch---good use of the hidden places in London which the 'real' Holmes always is familar with, I felt.

Some surprises & twists in each story though. This was a good introduction to new authors for me---I'll watch for them all again.

Journal Entry 6 by eicuthbertson from Burnaby, British Columbia Canada on Monday, September 18, 2006
This book is now on its way to mojosmom in Illinois, U.S.A.

Journal Entry 7 by mojosmom from Chicago, Illinois USA on Thursday, September 28, 2006
Figures. I limit the bookrings I join, and what happens? One shows up yesterday and this one shows up today. Maybe I'll just alternate chapters in the other one with stories in this one!

Journal Entry 8 by mojosmom from Chicago, Illinois USA on Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Sorry about the delay. The book got buried, and was just recently excavated!

What I think is that Holmes is far too rational and logical to be combined with Lovecraft's atmospheric miasmas, no matter how talented the writer is otherwise.

PMing the next person for an address.

Journal Entry 9 by mojosmom at -- By Hand Or Post, Ray/Ring, Meet-Up, RABCK in Chicago, Illinois USA on Friday, November 24, 2006

Released 17 yrs ago (11/24/2006 UTC) at -- By Hand Or Post, Ray/Ring, Meet-Up, RABCK in Chicago, Illinois USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

This book is now shambling its eldritch way to the next person.

Journal Entry 10 by winglabmomnmwing from Albuquerque, New Mexico USA on Monday, December 4, 2006
Arrived in the mail this weekend - thanks. BTW - I hadn't seen that bookplate before - spiffy!

21 December 2006 - Finished this last night. I think some of the stories really worked well, but some were too "stock" Lovecraft - I guess I prefer the ones with more of a twist; stories based on the two traditions, but that showed some originality. The Gaiman was my favorite; *where* does that man come up with some of his ideas?! Someone else mentioned the "wavy dagger" story - I really liked that one, too. Thanks for sharing, GD!

Jare & I are plotting to meet tomorrow so I can hand off the book.....

Journal Entry 11 by wingjarewing from New Port Richey, Florida USA on Friday, December 22, 2006
Met with labmomnm for coffee this afternoon and got the book. I'm so excited about this one! About to relax with my foot spa and start in on the book right now. Thanks for sharing, GoryDetails!

Journal Entry 12 by wingjarewing from New Port Richey, Florida USA on Thursday, February 1, 2007
My apologies for keeping this book a bit longer than I should have. That being said, I highly enjoyed the stories! I did have to take time between each one so I could enjoy them on an individual basis more. My favorites in this collection would be Gaiman's A Study In Emerald, Bear's Tiger! Tiger!, and Kiernan's The Drowned Geologist. Thanks for sharing, Gorydetails, I will have this in the mail to the next person this weekend!

*** UPDATE 02-02-07, Shipping to Krin511 today.
Keeping this moving as part of the Keep Them Moving Challenge of 2007

Journal Entry 13 by krin511 from Olney, Maryland USA on Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Arrived today. I'll probably start reading it next week if not sooner.

Journal Entry 14 by krin511 from Olney, Maryland USA on Saturday, March 3, 2007
I finished this book last week and enjoyed it very much. My favorite stories include "A Case of Royal Blood" narrated by H.G. Wells and "The Horror of the Many Faces" in which Watson "sees" Holmes murder someone.

Mailing today to GoryDetails who will mail it to Bookworm-lady.

Journal Entry 15 by wingGoryDetailswing from Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Wednesday, March 7, 2007
The book made it back here safely; many thanks! As soon as I have an address it'll be on its way to Bookworm-lady in Spain...

Update: got the address, and the book's on its way! [Surface mail; allow a month or so, though I hope it doesn't take that long to get there!]

Journal Entry 16 by wingBookworm-ladywing from Madrid, Madrid Spain on Monday, April 23, 2007
Thanks, Krin511 and GoryDetails!

Really looking forward to reading this one!

I received it on April, 19th...

Journal Entry 17 by wingBookworm-ladywing from Madrid, Madrid Spain on Sunday, October 28, 2007
Finally finished reading it.
Some stories are really, really good, like "A Case of Insomnia", or "The Adventure of Exham Priory".
I didn't like that much "A Study in Emerald".
Overall, most authors went into Holmes' universe wholeheartedly; I am not so familiar with Lovecraft's works, but both seem to be well brought together...
Ah,and I really liked "The Adventure of the Wavy Black Dagger", where Sherlock Holmes falls in love...
And the H.G.Wells' twist on "A Case of Royal Blood" is superb!
A great read, I hope it will continue its way soon...
Thanks for sharing, GoryDetails!

Journal Entry 18 by wingBookworm-ladywing from Madrid, Madrid Spain on Thursday, August 28, 2008
Now a mini-bookray...

Members so far;

1) Nell-Lu (Scotland)
2) Chich (France)
3) Pitluv4 (U.S.A.)(the book is here!)

Usual rules apply.

Enjoy!

Released 15 yrs ago (8/28/2008 UTC) at -- Por correo, entregado en mano/ by mail, in person--, Madrid Spain

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sent this morning to Nell-Lu in Scotland to kick off this book-ray.
Enjoy!

Journal Entry 20 by Nell-Lu from Edinburgh, Scotland United Kingdom on Monday, September 1, 2008
This just arrived - thanks Bookworm-lady! Ta also to GoryDetails for originally sharing and to everyone else for passing this on.

I've just received another pile of books that have to be read (I'm on a readers' panel for the Guardian First Book Award) so I'm going to be a bit short on reading time for a while. I'll read these stories one at a time in between other books, if that's okay. I'm looking forward to them.

Journal Entry 21 by Nell-Lu from Edinburgh, Scotland United Kingdom on Friday, September 19, 2008
I enjoyed this - the stories were generally fun and interesting. I was pleased that most writers allowed Holmes to confront the seemingly impossible with perfect rationality, while poor Watson was left incredulous; it felt very true to their characters. The only downside is that I couldn't read too many stories in a row as they started to seem very "same-y" after a while. So, this is the ideal volume to read in between other reading commitments.

I'm now inspired to read more Lovecraft as I'm much less familiar with that world than with Sherlock Holmes' world.

Thanks for sharing, everyone. I've got chich's address and will post this out today.

Journal Entry 22 by chich from Ibiza - Sant Antoni de Portmany, Illes Balears/Islas Baleares Spain on Friday, September 26, 2008
Image hosting by Photobucket Book received today, thanks so much for passing it on Nell-Lu (a huge thanks for the extra book!!!). And thanks for starting this ray Bookworm-lady:)

Journal Entry 23 by chich from Ibiza - Sant Antoni de Portmany, Illes Balears/Islas Baleares Spain on Thursday, October 9, 2008
I'm not usually a fan of short stories but I did enjoy this book quite a lot:) I particularly liked the way both Holmes & Watson felt true to their characters, as mentioned by Nell-Lu. I think the stories I liked most were "A Case of Insomnia", "A Case of Royal Blood" and "The Adventure of Exham Priory".

Thanks again for sharing Bookworm-lady!

Journal Entry 24 by chich from Ibiza - Sant Antoni de Portmany, Illes Balears/Islas Baleares Spain on Thursday, October 9, 2008
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Book sent to Pitluv4 today, enjoy!



Entry #38 for the 2008 Keep Them Moving Challenge

Journal Entry 25 by pitluv4 from Toronto, Ontario Canada on Monday, November 3, 2008
Just got this book this morning!!! Looking forward to reading it & sending to the next person! :>

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