October 2025
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    A great short story where Sherlock Holmes meets Lovecraft

    I've always loved the short stories about detective Sherlock Holmes and his abilities of deduction. I've been less enthralled by the horror fiction of H.P. Lovecraft, but I'm familiar enough with the genre to respect it and to understand something of the Cthulhu Mythos.

    In this short story, Neil Gaiman combines both these worlds, in a Sherlock Holmes pastiche set in an alternate version of 19th century London. Even the title – "A Study in Emerald" – is a nod to Arthur Conan Doyle's "A Study in Scarlet", which was his very first work featuring Holmes.

    Gaiman has made it freely available on his website, so you can read it here:

    https://www.neilgaiman.com/mediafiles/exclusive/shortstories/emerald.pdf

    As Gaiman's story progresses, as readers we increasingly realize that we are in a world where Lovecraft's "Old Ones" have assumed power, and the murder that the Holmes-like detective and his sidekick are investigating is of one of their ruling elite. It's good stuff, and besides the concept and setting, I also liked the ending. The graphic novel version is true to the text of the short story, and is also worth reading.

    by EndersGame_Reviewer

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