A surprisingly underwhelming collection from the author of Treasure Island. I expected 'Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' to be more compelling than it was, given its reputation. It is rightly famous, and innovative for its time, but its baseless pseudo-science and Victorian scandal-horror has not aged well. It reads pleasantly enough, with a racy plotting that can be seen as an antecedent of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, but it has long since been surpassed in the horror genre.

Ditto for the second story in this collection: 'The Body-Snatcher' is a tight, atmospheric Gothic horror story that drips malevolence from the page, even if its campfire-horror-story ending can appear rather lame to modern readers. The other four stories are of little consequence and don't make the book into a satisfying collection. 'Markheim' was decent, though a weak Dostoevsky imitator, but 'A Lodging for the Night' was far too busy and wordy. 'Thrawn Janet', written almost entirely in thick Scots dialect, is probably good but it is hard to tell. The final story, 'The Misadventures of John Nicholson', is another busy story that has aged poorly. Though I am pleased to have finally read 'Jekyll and Hyde' because of its cultural importance, this collection has made me feel like I've been on a misadventure of my own. ( )

I feel kind of weird even starting to review a story that is so well known so, instead of doing that, I'm going to keep it brief and leave this more as a 'recommendation'. First off, I realised how ignorant I was because I had no idea that this was written by Robert Louis Stevenson! Cue shame face...

Also, I might never have gotten round to reading this (thinking I already knew it!) if it hadn't been included in a '100 Free Classics' thing that came with my eReader. But it did, so I decided to give it a go. Lesson #2: This is actually a novella and a brief jaunt at only 80 pages (ePages that is...)

So, this story is more or less embedded in literary culture and is cited in loads of modern media (for some reason The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is the one that sticks in my head!) - so no major surprises there. The narrator is a lawyer by the name of Utterson and, because the story is so short, the action kicks off right away with a tale of Mr Hyde's general despicability.

The chronology is really interesting and we hear all about Mr Hyde marauding about London before we understand why and Dr Jekyll's perspective doesn't come until the very end, making it a fantastic finale.

Overall: Try it - it's a great (short) example of 19th century literature and the dark and brooding London it portrays is fantastically atmospheric! This would probably serve best for someone looking to branch out into 'classic' literature but who is concerned about the time some such novels can take. ( )