Abstract
This chapter explores the neglected supernatural fiction of Arthur Conan Doyle. It argues that there is a tension between Doyle's well-documented commitment to spiritualism and his creation of fictions that traffic in Gothic and sensational fictive tropes. But his ghost stories often represent their implied reader as a sceptic, in ways that suggest both his own will to investigate the paranormal, and his mission to convince doubters of the reality of mediumistic encounters.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Title of host publication | The Routledge Handbook to the Ghost Story |
Editors | Scott Brewster, Luke Thurston |
Place of Publication | New York and London |
Publisher | Routledge |
Chapter | 12 |
Pages | 124-133 |
Number of pages | 10 |
ISBN (Print) | 978-1-138-18476-3 |
Publication status | Published - 10 Nov 2017 |
Keywords
- Conan Doyle
- ghost story
- spiritualism
- Sherlock Holmes
- supernatural
- implied reader
- science