Embedded Files
GOTHIC NOVELS
GOTHIC NOVELS
SWEENEY TODD
SWEENEY TODD
This year you are going to read 1 compulsory book:
This year you are going to read 1 compulsory book:
Three tales of terror anD mystery
Three tales of terror anD mystery
By ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician, most famous for his fictional stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes. He began to write while still at university. He sold his first story, The Mystery of Sasassa Valley, to Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal in 1879, worked as a ship’s doctor and later opened a medical practice in Southsea, England. However, he didn’t find his work very absorbing and began to write novels in his spare time.
In the late 1880s, Doyle started to write the stories of Sherlock Holmes, these stories were a huge success and very popular. He also wrote some stories about a character called Professor Challenger, from The Lost World, as well as other fantasy and science-fiction stories, plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction and historical novels.
Written by Arthur Conan Doyle
Written by Arthur Conan Doyle
The creator of Sherlock Holmes
The creator of Sherlock Holmes
It contains 3 different stories:
It contains 3 different stories:
The Beetle Hunter
Dr Hamilton, a medical man with an interest in beetles, is hired by Lord Linchmere to accompany him on a visit to his brother-in-law, Sir Thomas Rossiter. Lord Linchmere warns Dr Hamilton that the job poses certain risks, but Dr Hamilton decides to take the job as he is desperate for money.
When they arrive at Rossiter’s house, Dr Hamilton still has no idea why he is there. After a pleasant evening, they go to bed. Dr Hamilton is surprised when Lord Linchmere asks him to stay awake and watch him while he sleeps, and then Lord Linchmere will watch Dr Hamilton. Just as Dr Hamilton is taking his turn to sleep, Rossiter attempts an attack on Lord Linchmere and is subdued by Dr Hamilton and some servants. Lord Linchmere explains to Dr Hamilton that Rossiter has got a serious mental illness which makes him violent, and they need a doctor to sign the papers so that Rossiter can get help.
All ends well, as Rossiter is sent to an institution to receive the help he needs, and Dr Hamilton becomes lifelong friends with Lord Linchmere and the Rossiters.
The Man with the Watches
A train ride ends mysteriously when two elderly passengers and another younger passenger disappear from their first class carriage, and in their place a young man is found dead.
Despite the police’s best efforts to solve the crime, they are unable to do so. After many years, the police receive a letter explaining everything that happened.
The writer of the letter, James Watson, explains how his younger brother, Edward, had become involved in criminal activity with his notorious criminal friend, Sparrow McCoy. In an attempt to save his brother and convince him to change his ways, James gets on a train which he believes is heading in the same direction as his brother, only to discover his brother and McCoy on that very train, disguised as an elderly couple! A heated conversation follows, in which Sparrow McCoy tries to shoot James and accidentally kills Edward. The two men jump off the train and decide to keep the tragic events of the day to themselves, as they are devastated by the death of Edward.
The Brazilian Cat
The narrator, Marshall, comes from an aristocratic family, but he doesn’t have any money or a job. He is desperate for money and can’t pay his rent. Therefore, he is very happy to receive an invitation from a very rich distant cousin, Everard King, to come and visit him at his estate. Marshall hopes to befriend his cousin and hopefully receive some financial help. He arrives at his cousin’s estate and finds his cousin very friendly and hospitable, but not so his wife, who does everything she can to make Marshall leave. But Marshall is determined to get what he came for, so he stays, and they spend several pleasant days together. Everard takes Marshall to visit his prize pet, a Brazilian cat. Then, to Marshall’s horror, Everard tricks him into entering the room and locks him in and removes the only barrier between him and the Brazilian cat. Everard leaves Marshall there overnight, assuming that he will be dead by the morning. But by using his strong willpower and wits, Marshall manages to stay alive, although injured. The next morning, when Everard comes in to check on his cousin, he ends up getting attacked by his own pet cat! After a few weeks of recovery, Marshall returns home, only to discover that he is now the rich heir of his now deceased uncle, Lord Southerton, and that Everard had tried to kill him so that he would inherit Lord Southerton’s large fortune.
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