All That Was Monstrous

The Adventure of the Devil's Foot

The Holmes stories frequently have an air of gothic horror, but this tale seems to stand out.  The story really has a Lovecraftian atmosphere at times, despite Sherlock's repudiation of supernatural influences upon the course of events.  The description of the Cornish landscape is striking: "In every direction upon these moors there were traces of some vanished race which had passed utterly away, and left as its sole record strange monuments of stone, irregular mounds which contained the burned ashes of the dead, and curious earthworks which hinted at prehistoric strife."  Time, decay, and forgetfulness weave their way into the land, becoming surreal and menacing.  Watson even describes it as "that land of dreams."

The fate of the victims is quite horrific -- involving not only death but madness --  yet the climax of the story comes when Holmes and Watson subject themselves to approximately the same circumstances, by way of testing Holmes' theory of poisonous vapors.  Watson recounts, "A thick black cloud swirled before my eyes, and my mind told me that in this cloud, unseen as yet, but about to spring out upon my appalled senses, lurked all that was vaguely horrible, all that was monstrous and inconceivably wicked in the universe."  The last part is perhaps the most crucial for the Lovecraft connection.  Holmes deals in the world of the wicked -- yet it is a world that is largely comprehensible, driven by motives variously savage or calculating, but always human.  Watson fears something else here -- not the criminal mind or the violent weapon, but the evil in the universe that cannot be explained.

The episode has a dramatic and rather charming conclusion, as Watson grabs Holmes (who has been similarly affected by the noxious vapors) and drags him to safety outside: "I dashed from my chair, threw my arms round Holmes, and together we lurched through the door, and an instant afterwards had thrown ourselves down upon the grass plot and were lying side by side, conscious only of the glorious sunshine which was bursting its way through the hellish cloud of terror which had girt us in."  Holmes even apologies for putting his friend into danger with the experiment, and Watson rather sweetly replies "You know... that it is my greatest joy and privilege to help you."  The whole scene is an intriguing symbol of a certain kind of urgent friendship.  Sometimes you have to tackle someone into the sunlight.