After the success of Sherlock Holmes & the Occult Detectives Volumes I and II (Belanger Books, 2020), we are back, dear listener, to announce that we are now open to story pitches for a new anthology, Sherlock Holmes and the Occult Detectives III! So do read on for everything you need to know…
THE BACKGROUND
Last year I had the pleasure of editing the two anthologies mentioned at the start, in which we presented almost 200,000 words of brand new stories from a host of contemporary writers, all based on the possibility that Sherlock Holmes chose, or had of necessity, to work with those figures of the time who called themselves occult detectives, psychic investigators and the like.
Sherlock Holmes and the Occult Detectives III
Sherlock Holmes and the Occult Detectives III will once again be about detection, logic and mysteries. It will concern an authentic Sherlock Holmes, but with the same simple twist:
Perhaps Holmes is already privately aware that there may be supernatural elements in the world, but has tried to close off such thoughts, finding them too illogical. Or perhaps he is disturbed to find something quite inexplicable affecting his resolution of a particular case, and has to step beyond his normal boundaries. He may, of course, still be highly sceptical.
And maybe Dr Watson was never allowed to include any such explicit references when he wrote up his friend’s adventures, but now these instances can be brought into the light.
Does this ruin the core of Holmes’s original position? Not necessarily, for as we have oft said, Holmes’s most quoted comments on the supernatural are not quite as definitive as some might believe. Do you remember ‘The Sussex Vampire’? That particular Conan Doyle tale contains the famous lines, where Holmes tells Watson:
“This agency stands flat-footed upon the ground, and there it must remain. The world is big enough for us. No ghosts need apply.”
In ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’, what he states is that normal investigative techniques and logical deduction would be of no use in supernatural cases.
“If Dr. Mortimer’s surmise should be correct, and we are dealing with forces outside the ordinary laws of Nature, there is an end of our investigation. But we are bound to exhaust all other hypotheses before falling back upon this one.”
We could therefore say Holmes’s concern is that none of his peculiar intellectual talents can be of value in a situation where normal ratiocination is overthrown. He has dismissed that which will not yield to him.
If there are such cases, genuine ones, who will take them on? More foolish, credulous or cash-hungry ‘consulting’ detectives? Fraudulent psychics? Or, now and then, the true occult detectives, those who have developed a different blend of investigative skills and knowledge of matters apparently ‘outside the ordinary laws of Nature’…
Will they come to him for advice, will they cross his path during a case, or will he, however reluctantly, turn to them when only the impossible can explain what has happened…?
You may be able to tell us.
THE SHORT VERSION DETAILS
A Belanger Books Project, edited by John Linwood Grant
Core concept: A 5,000–10,000 word story featuring the canonical Holmes/Watson which has them encountering and working with, or even working against, an occult detective/psychic investigator. Existing literary characters or your own inventions both welcome. Period: c.1880-1925. English language, no reprints.
Your pitch must be accepted for your completed story to be read.
Pitch Deadline: 16 April, 2021.
Final Submission Deadline: 31 August, 2021.
Payment: Authors shall receive a payment of $100 or $50 plus 1% of the Kickstarter net profits, whichever amount is GREATER, and a paperback copy of the anthology.
For more information, visit: http://greydogtales.com/blog/sherlock-holmes-and-the-occult-detectives-iii
