The Haunted Hotel

by Wilkie Collins

In the year 1860, the reputation of Doctor Wybrow as a London physician reached its highest point. It was reported on good authority that he was in receipt of one of the largest incomes derived from the practice of medicine in modern times.

• ISBN10: 0486243338
• ISBN13: 9780486243337
• Publish Date: 2 November 2011 (first published October 1990)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 8 December 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Dover Publications Inc.
• Edition: New edition
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 144
• Language: English

Reviews

[empressbrooke]

Wilkie Collins, a close friend of Charles Dickens, is best known for his novels The Woman in White and The Moonstone, and The Haunted Hotel is very similar in its tone and atmosphere. The Countess Narona steals away Lord Montbarry from Abby Lockwood. Despite Abby's forgiving nature, the Countess is convinced that Abby has doomed her to a tragic ending. When Montbarry dies and his courier disappears, Montbarry's family slowly unravels the mystery that is left behind.

Collins has a tendency to constantly switch narrators, a technique that is also present here. It can be disconcerting until you meet all the characters and get a feel for each of them. He uses each narrator well, however, as each one is able to fill in parts of the story that the others are not able to.

The resolution of The Haunted Hotel is particularly horrific, which is odd, given how simplistic it is compared to the many serial killer and horror novels I've read. The chills come from the total depravity and indifference that the villains exhibit towards the victims and towards each other.

The Haunted Hotel is available in many editions; I recommend one that contains Collins' other (very) short stories as well.