The Hound of Death
Author: Agatha Christie
The Hound of Death is a collection of 12 short stories by Agatha Christie first published in the UK in 1933. Seven of the stories were first published in magazines in the 1920s. Five of them appeared for the first time in The Hound of Death.
These stories are a departure from the usual Christie fare. The tales are more supernatural/strange in nature and not murder mysteries for the most part. The stories are varied encompassing everything from a sensational murder trial to the final séance of fake medium. I had no idea before now that Agatha Christie wrote anything like this. I knew she wrote a book about her husband's archeological digs and her autobiography, but I had no clue she ever wrote any supernatural or ghost stories. I had the best time discovering these "new to me'' Christie short stories. While not as good as her detective tales (IMHO), each of these stories was enjoyable!
The stories in the collection are:
The Hound of Death
The Red Signal
The Fourth Man
The Gypsy
The Lamp
Wireless
The Witness for the Prosecution
The Mystery of the Blue Jar
The Strange Case of Sir Arthur Carmichael
The Call of Wings
The Last Séance
SOS
These stories were not published in the United States until much later. The stories were included in the US collections: The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories (1948), Double Sin and Other Stories (1961) and The Golden Ball and Other Stories (1971).
I found an interesting tidbit about the first publication of The Hound of Death. It was first offered as part of an advertising campaign for The Passing Show, a magazine published by Odhams, a British publishing company. Readers could use a coupon from the magazine and seven shillings to get one of six books: The Hound of Death, Jungle Girl (Edgar Rice Burroughs), The Sun Will Shine (Mary Edginton), The Veil'd Delight (Marjorie Bowen), The Venner Crime (John Rhode) and Q33 (George Goodchild). An edition of The Hound of Death for sale in bookshops was published in February 1936.
The Hound of Death - An American journalist travels to Cornwall to find out if a legend from WWI is actually true. This story was first published for this collection. I could find no references to adaptation for television. This story was adapted by BBC4 as a radio drama in the early 2000s. It was "modernized" though so story elements were fundamentally changed.
The Red Signal - A medium gives a warning at a dinner party which comes true in dreadful ways. First published in the UK in The Grand Magazine in 1924 and was later included in HOD. It was not published in the United States until 1948 when it appeared in The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories. The story was adapted for television by The Agatha Christie Hour episode 8 (television) in 1982 and for Suspense (CBS) in 1952.
The Fourth Man - A group riding on a train discusses a case of multiple personalities. This story was first published in The Grand Magazine in 1925. It wasn't published in the US until The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories in 1948. It was adapted for television in 1982 (The Agatha Christie Hour, episode 4).
The Gypsy - A man confides in a friend the strange reasons for the breakup of his engagement to a young girl. But the tale has more to do with a nightmare the man has endured since childhood. As far as I could find through my research, this story was first published for this collection. I could find no television adaptations of this story, although BBC 4 Radio modernized this story as a full-cast radio drama in the early 2000s.
The Lamp - A widow is looking for a home to rent. When she is offered a very nice spacious home at a low rent, she immediately inquires what is wrong with the house. Apparently, it comes with a ghost... This story was first published in this collection. It was not published in the US until 1971 when it was included in The Golden Ball and Other Stories. BBC4 Radio adapted this story as a full-cast radio drama (BBC 4 Extra: Haunted - episode 15 from July 7, 1984.) You can listen to the radio drama online by searching for the story under audio on Internet Archive. I could find no television adaptations listed for this title.
Wireless - A woman hears the voice of her deceased husband over the radio for several days. The effects are disastrous...for more than one person. The story was first published in the Sunday Chronicle Annual in 1926. After appearing in HOD (UK), this story was not printed in the US until The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories in 1948. I found no adaptations of this story for radio or television.
The Witness for the Prosecution - This story was first published in 1925 in Flynn's Weekly (US) under the title "Traitor's Hands.'' It is one of Christie's most adapted stories. It was included in this story collection in 1933 and in The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories (1948, US). Christie adapted it into a play in 1953.A film version was made in 1957, and it has been adapted for television multiple times. BBC4 Radio modernized the story for a full-cast radio dramatization (available in audio format - Agatha Christie: Twelve Radio Mysteries) in the early 2000s. Radio City Playhouse also did a radio drama based on the story in 1949. The audio of that OTR episode is available online.
The Mystery of the Blue Jar - Jack Hartington is dragged into a strange mystery after hearing a haunting cry of "Murder! Help! Murder!'' coming from a nearby cottage. This story was first published in The Grand Magazine in 1924. After appearing in HOD in the UK, the story wasn't published in the US until 1948 (The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories). I found no radio adaptations of this story, but it was used in an episode of The Agatha Christie Hour (episode 7, 1982).
The Strange Case of Sir Arthur Carmichael - Dr Edward Carstairs is called in to investigate a case. It seems the personality and behavior of young Sir Arthur Carmichael changed overnight and others in the house hear the strange yowling of a cat at night. This story was first published in this collection. It was not published in the US until 1971 (The Golden Ball and Other Stories). It has never been adapted for television or radio.
The Call of Wings - Silas Hamer is a happy man. He's made a fortune and has the sort of life he wants. Then, he hears a street musician playing a song and his outlook, and his fate, is strangely changed. This story was first published in this collection. US publication was not until 1971 (The Golden Ball and Other Stories). I could find no adaptations of this story for radio or television.
The Last Séance - A medium who is retiring decides do do one last séance with disastrous results. This story was first published in Ghost Stories Magazine in 1924 under the title The Woman Who Stole a Ghost. It also appeared in The Sovereign Magazine in 1927 as The Stolen Ghost. After appearing in HOD in 1933, it was later included in Double Sin and Other Stories in the US (1961). It was adapted by BBC Radio4 (full cast, modernized).
S.O.S. - A man gets stranded in the middle of nowhere and encounters a family at a secluded house with strange results. This story was first published in The Grand Magazine in 1926. After appearing in HOD, it was not published in the US until 1948 (The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories). I found no adaptations for this story.
I listened to audio versions of all of these stories and enjoyed each one! I couldn't find an audiobook (or print for that matter!) of the actual Hound of Death book, so I had to listen to these stories using three other audio books -- The Golden Ball and Other Stories, The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories, and Double Sin and Other Stories. But, I had to smile when it turned out that those three audio books actually used the narration from a prior HOD audio book with the stories read by Christopher Lee. Lee's voice and style really gravitate towards suspense/horror/supernatural themes...so his narration really made these stories come to life for me.
My favorite? It's so hard to pick! Probably The Mystery of the Blue Jar because the plot was entertaining and even funny in places. The ending actually made me laugh out loud. :) The Lamp follows closely in second place because I love ghost stories! There were a couple stories in this collection that I felt were a bit too far to the fluff side (The Call of Wings for example was my least favorite of the collection), but none of the tales were bad.
Enjoyable listen, even if I had to juggle more than one audio book to hear them all! This was my first reading of all 12 of these stories! I've loved Agatha Christie's writing since I was 9 years ago...but I never read any of the short stories before now. Loving this! For me, it's like discovering new Christie stories! I'm in heaven!
In 2020 I started a quest to read all of Christie's writing in publication order (or as close as I can get). I'm up to the 1930s now and having a great time! I am finding that many of her short stories were written early in her career and gathered into book form later, so I'm backtracking and picking up these stories before starting another novel. Fun times! Loving this!
On to the next!
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