The first story I read, and the one I liked least, was ‘The Sussex Vampire’. The story begins with Sherlock Holmes receiving a letter, which informs him of actions of “Vampirism” and of a family from Sussex. The letter tells us how a beautiful Peruvian woman of “alien religion” has married a man who already has a disabled child from a previous marriage; they too now have a child. However, the family appears to be far from normal, as the woman has been caught assaulting her husband’s child on two occasions. Even worse though, it seems that the woman has bitten her own child twice on the neck, as she has been found with her mouth around his bloody neck. Upon reaching the family’s ancient farmhouse, Holmes sets to work collecting clues, in order to get to the bottom of the mystery. He discovers a variety of things, including South American weapons, a sick dog, the fact that the woman has kept to her room and also that the young boy has ‘strong likes and dislikes’. After piecing together all of the clues, Holmes comes to the conclusion that it was the boy Jack who had poisoned the baby and the mother was sucking out the poison to save him. She did not tell anyone because she could not bear to have her husband disappointed at his son, as they are very close. Holmes’ main clue was the fact that he saw a reflection of Jack’s envious face in the window as his father showed affection to the small child.
Even though ‘The Sussex Vampire’ was my least favourite of the stories, it still contains the qualities expected of a good detective story. There is a good mixture of true and false clues, and as you read the story for the first time it is hard to distinguish between the two. For example, there is an assumption throughout the story that the woman is some kind of vampire: “he saw his wife rise from a kneeling position beside the cot, and saw blood upon the child’s exposed neck” “It was she – she beyond all question – who had drunk the poor baby’s blood.” This leaves no doubt in the reader’s mind that that the woman has hurt her child and there appears to be no other explanation. Another example of a false clue is the mention of different cultures and the way the atmosphere helps create a certain impression. We find out that the woman is from Peru and is of a different ‘alien’ religion. This gives a feeling of the unknown and it seems that the woman is quite mysterious and different. Couple this with the fact that the atmosphere and description is built up to be quite eerie, the reader really suspects something supernatural. “An odour of age and decay pervaded the whole crumbling building.” This is also an example of interesting use of language as it paints a very clear picture of an old frail building on the verge of falling down. This is often the kind of house associated with horror stories of vampires. The reader receives the same clues as the detective in the story, but the detective sometimes sees slightly more. For example, we understand that Holmes stares at the window with supreme concentration, but it is only he who sees the reflection of Jack with hatred on his face. This allows the detective to solve the puzzle more easily than the reader would be able to. Also, Holmes is the only one who sees an empty quiver, making it clearer to him, but not the reader, what happened.
The second story, ‘The Speckled Band’, is the one that I enjoyed the most. This story begins with Sherlock Holmes being visited by a woman called Helen, who tells him of her stepfather and his violent past. She goes on to tell Holmes about the strange event of her sister’s death, just two weeks prior to her wedding. Helen then informs Holmes that she is getting married soon and due to repair work is sleeping in her sister’s room. During the night she hears a low whistle, which was also heard the night her sister died. After agreeing to take the case, Holmes receives a visit from Helen’s stepfather, Dr. Roylott, who tells them to stay clear of his business. Upon examining the rooms, Holmes deems it necessary that he and Watson stay the night in the suspicious room. During the night they hear some commotion, which ends in the death of Dr. Roylott. It turns out that he had been attempting to kill his stepdaughters by allowing a deadly Indian snake to bite them.
This story makes good effective use of the features expected of a detective story. There is definitely a good mix of true and false clues. The false clues are obviously the presence of the baboon and cheetah, the mention of gypsies and this being linked to a ‘speckled band’, possibly a band of people. The true clues are just as obvious, but it is harder to presume how they would fit into the mystery. For example, it would be nigh on impossible to have guessed that the whistling noise was Dr. Roylott recalling the snake, which I think makes this a very good clue. There are also very clever subtle clues, like the fact that the doctor had previously lived in India, and Helen’s room having construction work done for no reason. These clues are always given to both the reader and the detective, meeting another of the criteria. In my opinion, the ending was a complete surprise and was a very effective one, as all the clues were utilised. The author uses interesting and descriptive writing sparingly but extremely effectively in the story. One sentence in particular that really helped to build suspense was the description of Dr. Roylott when he first appears: “A large face, seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun and marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes and his high, thin, fleshless nose gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old bird of prey.” This is a very effective description, because it builds up tension and makes the reader think that something exciting is about to happen. It also suggests that Roylott is a wicked man and it makes the reader suspicious of him.
My main reason for preferring ‘The Speckled Band’ over ‘The Sussex Vampire’ is due to the fact that ‘The Speckled Band’ is longer, more in depth and builds up to more of a climatic finish. I like the way that the story builds up to the moment when Holmes and Watson are in the pitch black bedroom, when suddenly Holmes lashes out at the snake. I also think that the clues in ‘The Speckled Band’ fit together better, making the story complete. In addition, I think that ‘The Sussex Vampire’ was let down by the fact that in two cases, the detective saw more than the reader did. In my opinion, this turned the ending into something of an anti-climax and made me feel rather cheated. Nonetheless, I did enjoy the story, just not as much as ‘The Speckled Band’.
