One of the greatest gifts Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave to pastiche writers was a list of unrecorded cases, such as Merridew of the Abominable Memory, and the Case of the Politician, the Lighthouse and the Trained Cormorant. All ideas that pastiche writers have latched on to and given their take on Doyle’s carelessly chucked out gems.

In “Sherlock Holmes and the House of Pain”, by Stephen Seitz, the case in question is arguably the most famous: The Giant Rat of Sumatra.

A female missionary goes missing in London’s notorious East End, where rats of unusual size have been spotted. When Watson persuades Holmes to take on the case, the scene is set for an interesting story indeed.

Stephen Seitz’s use of H. G. Wells’ Dr. Moreau, as well as Arthur Conan Doyle’s other well known character, Professor Challenger, creates a nightmarish story of science gone mad.

The relationship between…