Let's Bust a Recap : The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Tales of Terror

"Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is one of the most famous pieces of English literature, and is considered to be a defining book of the Gothic horror genre." So says wikipedia and so say I. I would even venture to say that Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson is one of the most well-known authors of all time. Even if you haven't personally read his work, you're likely to recognize titles like Treasure Island or Kidnapped and know what they're about. 

I had never actually read Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde for myself, but was familiar with the plot given how famous it is, and when Cody suggested we read it together during the power outage caused by Hurricane Helene, I immediately agreed. 

The story is narrated by a character called Gabriel Utterson, a lawyer and upstanding citizen who is friends with the titular Dr Jekyll. He becomes concerned for his friend's welfare after drawing up Jekyll's will and worrying that he is being blackmailed by a shady character called Hyde whom Jekyll has named his sole beneficiary in the event of his death or disappearance. Jekyll refuses to talk about it, but when Hyde murders another of Utterson's clients, Utterson confronts Jekyll directly. Hyde then disappears for a while, but through a twisty series of events, we learn that Hyde is Jekyll's evil alter ego and that because Jekyll has indulged this evil version of himself for so long, that side of his personality is taking over Jekyll completely. 

It's a fascinating study on good versus evil and the depravity of man. Stevenson posits through the character of Dr Jekyll that every human being has a great capacity for evil that they can either struggle against daily or completely succumb to. An interesting point to note is that the Dr Jekyll side of the dual Jekyll/Hyde personality is not completely good but has to face the normal human struggle of overcoming sin in his life; whereas the opposing personality of Mr Hyde is completely wicked and enjoys his wickedness—there is nothing good about him. 

Because I knew the famous story so well before reading it, the big reveal wasn't as shocking as I imagine it was for its original 19th century audience. But I was utterly fascinated by the plot nonetheless. 

The next story in this small collection is "The Body Snatcher", a short story first published in 1884. The characters in this story were based on criminals employed by the surgeon Robert Knox around the time of the notorious Burke and Hare murders in the early 19th century. Basically, this surgeon was buying corpses from these murderers to dissect during his anatomy lectures. In Stevenson's fictionalized short story, we see this play out from the perspective of the students employed to collect the corpses and pay the suppliers of these bodies. When the main character Fettes recognizes one of the bodies and is convinced that the woman must have been murdered, his comrade Macfarlane talks him out of reporting it, then later uses this against Fettes when Macfarlane himself kills a man and then brings the body in to Fettes for dissection and payment.

"The Body Snatcher" is a case study of the human conscience as both men are overcome with the guilt of what they've done. I found both Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde and Body Snatcher stories all the more interesting knowing that Stevenson himself rebelled against formal religion and his parents' teaching and called himself an atheist for a time before ultimately coming back to some form of his faith later in his life. 

After "The Body Snatcher", Robert Louis Stevenson's short story "Olalla" first published in 1885 was included in this collection. "Olalla" is a Gothic romance. In it, an unnamed Scottish soldier is telling his story of taking up residence with a once-noble local Spanish family at his doctor's recommendation during his convalescence. Although he is offered a room under the stipulation that he remain a stranger to the family, he is heartily welcomed by the son and soon begins a casual friendliness with the mother as well. When he finally catches a glimpse of the daughter, he immediately falls madly in love with her and she with him. But after a terrifying scene in which the mother attacks the soldier, Olalla begs him to leave. 

"Olalla" has sometimes been interpreted as a vampire story, however Stevenson's narrator clearly regards the mother's actions as the basest of animal instincts and does not ascribe any supernatural reasons to her behavior. For pure entertainment value, I enjoyed "Olalla" the most in this collection because I knew nothing about it and had no idea what was going to happen.

Finally, an abridged version of Stevenson's 1888 essay "A Chapter on Dreams" was included at the end of this collection. This contains some of his musings on dreams and nightmares and how he often remembered his dreams and adapted them into his work. It makes sense that this was included since "Olalla" and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde were both based on dreams Stevenson had. It was interesting to read, but I wish they had just included the entire essay instead of an abridged version. 

All in all, a great little collection and much spookier, in my opinion, than The Haunting of Hill House. 

Have you read any of Robert Louis Stevenson's work? Am I the only one who thinks of The Pagemaster whenever Jekyll and Hyde crop up in pop culture references?