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Dr Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Stories of the Supernatural
Here are four frightening and suspenseful tales of human greed, evil tendencies, and sorrow, including Stevenson's classic chiller about the darker side of the human personality: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
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First published January 1, 1886
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About the author
Robert Louis Stevenson
6,924 books6,965 followersRobert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer, and a leading representative of English literature. He was greatly admired by many authors, including Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling and Vladimir Nabokov.
Most modernist writers dismissed him, however, because he was popular and did not write within their narrow definition of literature. It is only recently that critics have begun to look beyond Stevenson's popularity and allow him a place in the Western canon.
Most modernist writers dismissed him, however, because he was popular and did not write within their narrow definition of literature. It is only recently that critics have begun to look beyond Stevenson's popularity and allow him a place in the Western canon.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews
June 3, 2010
Jekyll and Hyde is one of those stories that everyone 'knows' but very few people actually have read. I was well aquainted with the general idea of the story from it's various permutations, but this is the first time I read it. One of the major differences is that in almost every version I can think of, Hyde is some hulking brute, but in the story he's actually smaller, physically. I found that interesting, and odd.
Other than that, though, I wasn't entirely enthralled with the story - mostly, I think, because I already knew the 'twist'. I did enjoy the writing, though, and found it interesting. I would give it 3 stars.
But there were other stories in this book, all of which connected on the general theme of human nature and our propensities and choices to do good or evil.
'The Bodysnatcher' was a good story - dark and sinister, and I enjoyed the ending. It explores the way that people who generally consider themselves good people can be lead along the path of doing wrong by not speaking up, by looking the other way, and then being - or at least feeling - trapped on the path of their silence. "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing," as the saying goes. I give it 4 stars.
Next was a very short short story called 'Markheim', in which a man murders a shop owner. He says it is justice, but we never really learn the reason. The beginning of the story is very good, following the murders thoughts - fear of discovery, disgust and yet triumph at the act, thoughts regarding the state and nature of death, his growing paranoia, and insistence at being just. It is delicious reading. But then it sort of devolves into cliche when another man shows up, and argues with him that he is not the good person he thinks he is. The ending, while admirable, is also predictable. Then again, it might not have been a hundred or so years ago. I give this 3 1/2
Last it 'The Imp Bottle' - a tale of an imp granting wishes, but with the cost of the immortal soul, if the person can not sell the bottle. It goes through several vagueries, and is told more like a folk tale than with the same literary styles of the other stories. All in all this was my least favorite of the lot. I'd give it 2 1/2.
Other than that, though, I wasn't entirely enthralled with the story - mostly, I think, because I already knew the 'twist'. I did enjoy the writing, though, and found it interesting. I would give it 3 stars.
But there were other stories in this book, all of which connected on the general theme of human nature and our propensities and choices to do good or evil.
'The Bodysnatcher' was a good story - dark and sinister, and I enjoyed the ending. It explores the way that people who generally consider themselves good people can be lead along the path of doing wrong by not speaking up, by looking the other way, and then being - or at least feeling - trapped on the path of their silence. "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing," as the saying goes. I give it 4 stars.
Next was a very short short story called 'Markheim', in which a man murders a shop owner. He says it is justice, but we never really learn the reason. The beginning of the story is very good, following the murders thoughts - fear of discovery, disgust and yet triumph at the act, thoughts regarding the state and nature of death, his growing paranoia, and insistence at being just. It is delicious reading. But then it sort of devolves into cliche when another man shows up, and argues with him that he is not the good person he thinks he is. The ending, while admirable, is also predictable. Then again, it might not have been a hundred or so years ago. I give this 3 1/2
Last it 'The Imp Bottle' - a tale of an imp granting wishes, but with the cost of the immortal soul, if the person can not sell the bottle. It goes through several vagueries, and is told more like a folk tale than with the same literary styles of the other stories. All in all this was my least favorite of the lot. I'd give it 2 1/2.
October 5, 2023
Stevenson has never been my favorite author, but this story, better than any other, illustrates so plainly Romans 7:15, 17-19 -- "For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate... So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing."
This time around, the late Sir Ian Holm read me this short, impactful little book. A delightful, if heavy, way to prepare for the upcoming school year. Class discussion is going to be fabulous as we contrast Stevenson's view of evil with Mary Shelley's.
Update 10/7/20:
Generally, I don't read a book twice in three months, but Jekyll and Hyde was even better the second time around. A fabulous read. Highly recommended.
Update 7/19/21:
A quick re-read in preparation for a Books & Bourbon meeting in which we discussed Good and Evil. Most of the group went with epic selections of good fighting evil, but I love Stevenson's take on it.
Update 9/19/21:
A few days ago, someone was wrong on the internet and I needed to pull out my copy of Jekyll and Hyde to prove it. And since it was sitting right next to my bed, I figured I might as well re-read it. Never would have guessed that this would be one of the books I return to so often, but it truly is excellent.
Update, 7/15/23:
Re-reading the books for my Brit Lit class this summer so I can update my teaching notes. Stevenson's use of language is incredible and he packs so much into this short novel. A must-read, for sure.
Update, 10/4/23:
This book gets better every time I read it.
This time around, the late Sir Ian Holm read me this short, impactful little book. A delightful, if heavy, way to prepare for the upcoming school year. Class discussion is going to be fabulous as we contrast Stevenson's view of evil with Mary Shelley's.
Update 10/7/20:
Generally, I don't read a book twice in three months, but Jekyll and Hyde was even better the second time around. A fabulous read. Highly recommended.
Update 7/19/21:
A quick re-read in preparation for a Books & Bourbon meeting in which we discussed Good and Evil. Most of the group went with epic selections of good fighting evil, but I love Stevenson's take on it.
Update 9/19/21:
A few days ago, someone was wrong on the internet and I needed to pull out my copy of Jekyll and Hyde to prove it. And since it was sitting right next to my bed, I figured I might as well re-read it. Never would have guessed that this would be one of the books I return to so often, but it truly is excellent.
Update, 7/15/23:
Re-reading the books for my Brit Lit class this summer so I can update my teaching notes. Stevenson's use of language is incredible and he packs so much into this short novel. A must-read, for sure.
Update, 10/4/23:
This book gets better every time I read it.
May 27, 2022
I enjoyed rereading Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde but the short stories were what appealed to me the most from this book, particularly “The Body Snatcher” and “Markheim”. I didn’t like “The Bottle Imp” nearly as much: the build up was too slow for me; overall, it didn’t seem to suite Stevenson’s writing style. Stevenson’s stories combine all the same macabre aspects of Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories and the psychological & moral elements of Dostoyevsky’s novels. I’ll definitely be reading more of his works soon.
July 21, 2018
This is one of those books that I had a general idea of the story but was surprised when I read it how little I knew. Originally, I gave this book a 2 star rating and very judgmentally abandoned the book after the first short story. One of my problems was that I thought this was going to be a book of children's stories. I thought I knew Robert Louis Stevenson from Treasure Island and his poems, and I thought I liked him. My children and I thoroughly enjoyed Treasure Island. However, after reading Dr. J. and Mr. H. and the first short story in this particular book called "The Body-Snatcher," I was pretty sure that Mr. Stevenson must be possessed. That's a bit of an exaggeration, but I had no idea that he could so convincingly and deeply portray evil, and I didn't like it. Note well: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written for adults.
I was reading this book with my high school son to fulfill and over-the-summer reading assignment. We started trying to decide what other book we might read, but in the end he suggested just finishing the last two short stories for the sake of his ability to get back to his summer vacation. I am glad we did because the other two short stories, "Markheim" and "The Bottle Imp," were much better, and I could see that Mr. Stevenson had not sold his own soul to the devil, and that the title story and even "The Body-Snatcher" were not completely bereft of morality. I am glad we kept reading. I am even more an admirer of Mr. Stevenson's storytelling ability than before reading this book as it is far more varied than I imagined, and I am glad that I have made my peace with The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I'm not the sort who would ever like a story like "The Body-Snatcher," but I'll give this 4 stars for the rest of the book.
I was reading this book with my high school son to fulfill and over-the-summer reading assignment. We started trying to decide what other book we might read, but in the end he suggested just finishing the last two short stories for the sake of his ability to get back to his summer vacation. I am glad we did because the other two short stories, "Markheim" and "The Bottle Imp," were much better, and I could see that Mr. Stevenson had not sold his own soul to the devil, and that the title story and even "The Body-Snatcher" were not completely bereft of morality. I am glad we kept reading. I am even more an admirer of Mr. Stevenson's storytelling ability than before reading this book as it is far more varied than I imagined, and I am glad that I have made my peace with The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I'm not the sort who would ever like a story like "The Body-Snatcher," but I'll give this 4 stars for the rest of the book.
July 3, 2020
In some ways, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a victim of its own success. The book has been adapted for numerous film, TV and radio productions, and most readers will enter into reading the book with a number of pre-conceptions about how the story will run.
The story that many will expect to see runs as follows. Dr Jekyll is a good man who performs benevolent works. However he develops a portion that turns him into Mr Hyde, an entirely evil man who lives a life of vice. When Hyde’s excesses become too much, Jekyll seeks to avoid the transformation taking place by refusing to take the potions anymore, but he finds that he can no longer control himself, and he keeps reverting back to Hyde until finally the story ends tragically.
Broadly speaking these elements can be found in Stevenson’s story, with an important qualification that will I discuss shortly. However this storyline, the essence of all adaptation of Jekyll and Hyde, can only be found in the last chapter of the book.
It is admittedly a long chapter in a short novella, and essentially counts for the whole of the book’s third act, but what about the rest of the book? This centres on the lawyer, Gabriel John Utterson, and the curious things that he sees and hears in relation to Jekyll’s relationship with an unpleasant man called Hyde, the truth only emerging at the end.
For readers familiar with the popular versions of the story, the original Stevenson work might at first seem like a lot of foreplay for a small amount of action. I suspect that it did not seem that way to first-time readers in the 1880s. The book probably played out as a mystery in which early readers were puzzled by the events, and left trying to guess what was really happening until Stevenson revealed the truth in the last chapter.
Who is Hyde, and what is the hold that he has on Jekyll? Why would Jekyll make out his will to this vile man, and why does he protect him? It is even possible that some readers were disappointed by the supernatural elements, and had been hoping for a more prosaic explanation.
Mystery is at the centre of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The story is structured like a mystery story, and the solution only exposes more mysteries, those of the human heart.
There are other puzzles along the way. Despite numerous characters discussing their encounters with Hyde, why can none of them describe his physical appearance? We know that Hyde is smaller than Jekyll, that he appears to be deformed but nobody can say exactly how, and that his visage inspires great abhorrence in those who see him.
However nobody at any point in the story can say just what he looks like. The reader’s mental image is probably shaped by the most memorable Hyde that they saw on screen, but Stevenson leaves this entirely to our imagination.
The precise evil of Hyde is similarly indefinable. We see two particular acts of viciousness on Hyde’s part. He crashes into, and tramples over a little girl. He murders Sir Danvers Carew, a well-liked Member of Parliament. What is Carew doing on the street when Hyde beats him to death? 'He is seen addressing a gentleman on the sidewalk, “with a very pretty manner of politeness.'' Is this a euphemism that implies he was cruising? Is this a homophobic murder?
These two crimes are awful and Jekyll mentions them both in his final account, as if they are the worst acts that Hyde has done. He may only have mentioned them however because Hyde was caught out doing them. Perhaps there were worse.
Stevenson does not tell us what Hyde got up to. If knocking a young girl down was so awful, then perhaps we can rule out paedophilia. If murdering one man was bad, then maybe Hyde did not kill others, or had only a limited role in the criminal underworld.
Perhaps his actions, horrifying by Victorian terms, are fairly mild by today’s standards. Perhaps Hyde’s worst vices were excessive drinking, drug abuse, frequenting brothels or burlesque houses, and petty crimes of theft or burglary. Perhaps he performed homosexual acts, something that would have seemed more shocking in the nineteenth-century. In contrast to most movie versions of the story, this Jekyll does not evince any interest in women.
As with Hyde’s outward appearance, we have to use our imagination to get what his inner life was. We have more clues about Jekyll’s motives, but they certainly raise eyebrows.
The traditional interpretation of Jekyll and Hyde is to see them as the dichotomy of good and evil, and that is how their names are often used in a metaphorical sense. However this is a misrepresentation of what Stevenson is saying.
The obvious problem with this reading of Jekyll and Hyde is that we would have to ask why, if Jekyll is so kind and virtuous, would he take a potion that makes him evil, and continue to take it, even though he is conscious of the actions of his double. The only possible explanation is that Jekyll is not as good a man as he seems, and that is what Stevenson thinks.
It is hinted early on that Jekyll led a wilder life in his youth. He is now a respectable figure who cannot let himself go for fear of scandal. Jekyll uses Hyde as a means to explore those levels of depravity that he is unable to reach, thanks to the rigid morals of Victorian society.
Hyde represents the evil side of Jekyll, but it is only the evil with the good parts removed. Jekyll has both those sides in his nature. Hyde represents his secret desires. That those desires take in violence and murder indicates that behind his buttoned-down public persona, Jekyll has some very dark impulses indeed, darker than most of us.
Still, Stevenson tells us, one cannot find a way to abdicate our moral responsibility, not even in private away from public gaze. Indulgence in addictive vices will prove compulsive, and the seemingly-good man will finally give way to the depravity beneath. The only way to get through life is to acknowledge those darker impulses within us, and perhaps to occasionally give way to them, but not to surrender ourselves to them.
If you are interested in cinema, you might enjoy reading my blog article looking at the 1931 film version of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, which is the best version of the story: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress...
There are a few other stories in my book, so I will deal with them more briefly. The Bottle Imp is a variation on Faust, combined with the traditional genie in a bottle stories. The story is set in Hawaii. A poor native of the island, Keawe buys an unbreakable bottle from another gentleman. An imp resides in the bottle.
The imp has the ability to grant wishes, but the danger is that if the purchaser dies without selling the bottle to someone else, then he will go to hell. However as an added complication, each buyer has to sell the bottle for a smaller amount than he purchased it, with the result that the risk of damnation grows closer with every buyer.
Needless to say, circumstances arise where Keawe has bought the bottle for such a low amount that he is struggling to sell it again, and he and his wife start a frantic journey to find somewhere it can be sold.
It is an effective little fantasy, well told. Amusingly enough Stevenson wrote the story for his Samoan friends, thinking that they would enjoy a story with a European basis. However Samoan stories are based on real-life occurrences, so many Samoans believed that Stevenson literally owned the bottle.
Faustian deals mark all four stories in this volume. Markheim deals with a murderer (the titular character), who kills an antique dealer with a view to stealing his money. As Markheim searches the store for the dealer’s wealth, the devil appears and tries to tempt him into worse actions.
The story seems to bear the influence of Edgar Allan Poe, and Stevenson evokes a suitably creepy atmosphere. As with many tales about the Devil, the story seems to curiously have the evil one proposing actions in a way that is more likely to bring the hero to repentance than to further vice. This has always seemed strange to me. Either the devil is a bad salesman, or he is secretly doing god’s work for him.
Poe’s influence can be felt on the last story, The Body-Snatcher. Showing the influence of real-life bodysnatchers such as William Burke and William Hare, the story is set around a medical school that is not too fussy about where it gets its bodies for dissection. It soon becomes clear that some of the bodies are a little too fresh, and one of the student assistant recognises a classmate among the bodies. The story takes a supernatural turn at the end.
It is a well-told tale, and along with the other stories here, it shows that Robert Louis Stevenson had a good sense of the macabre. The imagination of the frequently bed-ridden author soared freely over a wide range of issues from pirates to bodysnatchers, and from virtuous young men being kidnapped to medics engaging in unethical actions.
Throw aside your expectations of the stories and soak up the mood, the atmosphere, and the teasing ambiguities in some of Stevenson’s best works.
The story that many will expect to see runs as follows. Dr Jekyll is a good man who performs benevolent works. However he develops a portion that turns him into Mr Hyde, an entirely evil man who lives a life of vice. When Hyde’s excesses become too much, Jekyll seeks to avoid the transformation taking place by refusing to take the potions anymore, but he finds that he can no longer control himself, and he keeps reverting back to Hyde until finally the story ends tragically.
Broadly speaking these elements can be found in Stevenson’s story, with an important qualification that will I discuss shortly. However this storyline, the essence of all adaptation of Jekyll and Hyde, can only be found in the last chapter of the book.
It is admittedly a long chapter in a short novella, and essentially counts for the whole of the book’s third act, but what about the rest of the book? This centres on the lawyer, Gabriel John Utterson, and the curious things that he sees and hears in relation to Jekyll’s relationship with an unpleasant man called Hyde, the truth only emerging at the end.
For readers familiar with the popular versions of the story, the original Stevenson work might at first seem like a lot of foreplay for a small amount of action. I suspect that it did not seem that way to first-time readers in the 1880s. The book probably played out as a mystery in which early readers were puzzled by the events, and left trying to guess what was really happening until Stevenson revealed the truth in the last chapter.
Who is Hyde, and what is the hold that he has on Jekyll? Why would Jekyll make out his will to this vile man, and why does he protect him? It is even possible that some readers were disappointed by the supernatural elements, and had been hoping for a more prosaic explanation.
Mystery is at the centre of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The story is structured like a mystery story, and the solution only exposes more mysteries, those of the human heart.
There are other puzzles along the way. Despite numerous characters discussing their encounters with Hyde, why can none of them describe his physical appearance? We know that Hyde is smaller than Jekyll, that he appears to be deformed but nobody can say exactly how, and that his visage inspires great abhorrence in those who see him.
However nobody at any point in the story can say just what he looks like. The reader’s mental image is probably shaped by the most memorable Hyde that they saw on screen, but Stevenson leaves this entirely to our imagination.
The precise evil of Hyde is similarly indefinable. We see two particular acts of viciousness on Hyde’s part. He crashes into, and tramples over a little girl. He murders Sir Danvers Carew, a well-liked Member of Parliament. What is Carew doing on the street when Hyde beats him to death? 'He is seen addressing a gentleman on the sidewalk, “with a very pretty manner of politeness.'' Is this a euphemism that implies he was cruising? Is this a homophobic murder?
These two crimes are awful and Jekyll mentions them both in his final account, as if they are the worst acts that Hyde has done. He may only have mentioned them however because Hyde was caught out doing them. Perhaps there were worse.
Stevenson does not tell us what Hyde got up to. If knocking a young girl down was so awful, then perhaps we can rule out paedophilia. If murdering one man was bad, then maybe Hyde did not kill others, or had only a limited role in the criminal underworld.
Perhaps his actions, horrifying by Victorian terms, are fairly mild by today’s standards. Perhaps Hyde’s worst vices were excessive drinking, drug abuse, frequenting brothels or burlesque houses, and petty crimes of theft or burglary. Perhaps he performed homosexual acts, something that would have seemed more shocking in the nineteenth-century. In contrast to most movie versions of the story, this Jekyll does not evince any interest in women.
As with Hyde’s outward appearance, we have to use our imagination to get what his inner life was. We have more clues about Jekyll’s motives, but they certainly raise eyebrows.
The traditional interpretation of Jekyll and Hyde is to see them as the dichotomy of good and evil, and that is how their names are often used in a metaphorical sense. However this is a misrepresentation of what Stevenson is saying.
The obvious problem with this reading of Jekyll and Hyde is that we would have to ask why, if Jekyll is so kind and virtuous, would he take a potion that makes him evil, and continue to take it, even though he is conscious of the actions of his double. The only possible explanation is that Jekyll is not as good a man as he seems, and that is what Stevenson thinks.
It is hinted early on that Jekyll led a wilder life in his youth. He is now a respectable figure who cannot let himself go for fear of scandal. Jekyll uses Hyde as a means to explore those levels of depravity that he is unable to reach, thanks to the rigid morals of Victorian society.
Hyde represents the evil side of Jekyll, but it is only the evil with the good parts removed. Jekyll has both those sides in his nature. Hyde represents his secret desires. That those desires take in violence and murder indicates that behind his buttoned-down public persona, Jekyll has some very dark impulses indeed, darker than most of us.
Still, Stevenson tells us, one cannot find a way to abdicate our moral responsibility, not even in private away from public gaze. Indulgence in addictive vices will prove compulsive, and the seemingly-good man will finally give way to the depravity beneath. The only way to get through life is to acknowledge those darker impulses within us, and perhaps to occasionally give way to them, but not to surrender ourselves to them.
If you are interested in cinema, you might enjoy reading my blog article looking at the 1931 film version of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, which is the best version of the story: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress...
There are a few other stories in my book, so I will deal with them more briefly. The Bottle Imp is a variation on Faust, combined with the traditional genie in a bottle stories. The story is set in Hawaii. A poor native of the island, Keawe buys an unbreakable bottle from another gentleman. An imp resides in the bottle.
The imp has the ability to grant wishes, but the danger is that if the purchaser dies without selling the bottle to someone else, then he will go to hell. However as an added complication, each buyer has to sell the bottle for a smaller amount than he purchased it, with the result that the risk of damnation grows closer with every buyer.
Needless to say, circumstances arise where Keawe has bought the bottle for such a low amount that he is struggling to sell it again, and he and his wife start a frantic journey to find somewhere it can be sold.
It is an effective little fantasy, well told. Amusingly enough Stevenson wrote the story for his Samoan friends, thinking that they would enjoy a story with a European basis. However Samoan stories are based on real-life occurrences, so many Samoans believed that Stevenson literally owned the bottle.
Faustian deals mark all four stories in this volume. Markheim deals with a murderer (the titular character), who kills an antique dealer with a view to stealing his money. As Markheim searches the store for the dealer’s wealth, the devil appears and tries to tempt him into worse actions.
The story seems to bear the influence of Edgar Allan Poe, and Stevenson evokes a suitably creepy atmosphere. As with many tales about the Devil, the story seems to curiously have the evil one proposing actions in a way that is more likely to bring the hero to repentance than to further vice. This has always seemed strange to me. Either the devil is a bad salesman, or he is secretly doing god’s work for him.
Poe’s influence can be felt on the last story, The Body-Snatcher. Showing the influence of real-life bodysnatchers such as William Burke and William Hare, the story is set around a medical school that is not too fussy about where it gets its bodies for dissection. It soon becomes clear that some of the bodies are a little too fresh, and one of the student assistant recognises a classmate among the bodies. The story takes a supernatural turn at the end.
It is a well-told tale, and along with the other stories here, it shows that Robert Louis Stevenson had a good sense of the macabre. The imagination of the frequently bed-ridden author soared freely over a wide range of issues from pirates to bodysnatchers, and from virtuous young men being kidnapped to medics engaging in unethical actions.
Throw aside your expectations of the stories and soak up the mood, the atmosphere, and the teasing ambiguities in some of Stevenson’s best works.
September 3, 2023
Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde: 4⭐
I've set the rating for this book purely on this story bc it takes up half the book and is the only reason I (and most people) read this book at all. I love reading classics so that I can understand more references and this one had an instant pay-off. I enjoyed the story even though it was obvious what was happening the whole time. It would have been such a banger to read at the time of release. It was also super short so didn't dwindle on too long about anything which I liked - straight to the nitty gritty.
The Bottle Imp: 2⭐
This one was a little painful not gonna lie. The only thing that made it a 3 was the very ending which made me smile. Otherwise it was watching people make stupid decisions over and over with the risk being going to hell forever?? Count me out.
Markheim: 2⭐
This story set up the characters pretty well and I was keen to know more about Markheim's background. In terms of plot it was pretty weak but I did like the vibe it gave of being in this brokers shop, hearing things and freaking out.
The Body Snatcher: 1⭐
Absolute trash. It really started off well with the buddies who drink at the same pub every single night. Love the idea and would love to hear more about their relationship. Then it went on adventure all to be tied up by a 'mic dropping plot twist' that made no sense. I feel like the intention was for the reader to be like "OMG! 😱" but it was more "wut..." It felt like a filler episode.
I've set the rating for this book purely on this story bc it takes up half the book and is the only reason I (and most people) read this book at all. I love reading classics so that I can understand more references and this one had an instant pay-off. I enjoyed the story even though it was obvious what was happening the whole time. It would have been such a banger to read at the time of release. It was also super short so didn't dwindle on too long about anything which I liked - straight to the nitty gritty.
The Bottle Imp: 2⭐
This one was a little painful not gonna lie. The only thing that made it a 3 was the very ending which made me smile. Otherwise it was watching people make stupid decisions over and over with the risk being going to hell forever?? Count me out.
Markheim: 2⭐
This story set up the characters pretty well and I was keen to know more about Markheim's background. In terms of plot it was pretty weak but I did like the vibe it gave of being in this brokers shop, hearing things and freaking out.
The Body Snatcher: 1⭐
Absolute trash. It really started off well with the buddies who drink at the same pub every single night. Love the idea and would love to hear more about their relationship. Then it went on adventure all to be tied up by a 'mic dropping plot twist' that made no sense. I feel like the intention was for the reader to be like "OMG! 😱" but it was more "wut..." It felt like a filler episode.
December 26, 2024
Excellent thriller! I read this as a young woman, and then reread with my teen son, slowly over several months at random bedtimes when we could catch some time alone. Creepy and well written!
January 7, 2024
Very enjoyable.
I really liked "The Bottle Imp".
I really liked "The Bottle Imp".
September 23, 2022
I've had this edition since I was a kid, but haven't read it in years. Stevenson's one of my favorite authors though, so I've always wanted to come back and revisit this. Especially, Jekyll and Hyde, because my foggy memory was that the narrative structure was so different from any adaptation I've ever seen.
Jekyll and Hyde is very good, but it's structured as a mystery, leaving until the end the revelation that Jekyll and Hyde are the same person. It's a good mystery and Stevenson's an excellent storyteller, but it does lose some re-readability if you already know the story. Which everyone does and that's why film adaptations always rework it so that we're watching the origin story play out.
There's still some good, universal stuff about the duality of humans though and that makes it a story worth coming back to. I was surprised though to discover that Jekyll himself isn't a good man trying to separate the two halves of himself so that he can become more good. He's often played that way in retellings, but Stevenson writes him as a guy who very much loves being bad and is simply looking for a way to do that without suffering the consequences. And by 'consequences,' I mostly mean legal. He may have pretensions of avoiding moral consequences early on, but he quickly figures out that he knows exactly what Hyde's doing and doesn't care. He continues to become Hyde anyway. It's only when Hyde starts to become the dominant personality that Jekyll regrets anything. It's all good stuff to think about though.
The other stories in this collection are mostly even better than Jekyll and Hyde. 'The Bottle Imp' is a great horror story about a guy making a deal with a demon and trying to get out of it. That's an over-simplification though and the story is super tense as the main character (and eventually his wife) try various things to escape their fate, but are continually thwarted.
'Markheim' is another great story with a theme similar to Jekyll/Hyde, but I think it's even better at expressing it. It's about a guy who murders a shopkeeper and goes looking for the victim's loot, but while he's searching he encounters a mysterious stranger (a ghost? the devil?) who challenges him about what he's done and his perception of himself. Their discussion about good and evil and what makes a person one or the other is excellent.
The final story, 'The Body Snatcher,' is another great thriller with some tense moments. The ending is a little out of nowhere for me, but the story is still quite spooky by a master teller.
Jekyll and Hyde is very good, but it's structured as a mystery, leaving until the end the revelation that Jekyll and Hyde are the same person. It's a good mystery and Stevenson's an excellent storyteller, but it does lose some re-readability if you already know the story. Which everyone does and that's why film adaptations always rework it so that we're watching the origin story play out.
There's still some good, universal stuff about the duality of humans though and that makes it a story worth coming back to. I was surprised though to discover that Jekyll himself isn't a good man trying to separate the two halves of himself so that he can become more good. He's often played that way in retellings, but Stevenson writes him as a guy who very much loves being bad and is simply looking for a way to do that without suffering the consequences. And by 'consequences,' I mostly mean legal. He may have pretensions of avoiding moral consequences early on, but he quickly figures out that he knows exactly what Hyde's doing and doesn't care. He continues to become Hyde anyway. It's only when Hyde starts to become the dominant personality that Jekyll regrets anything. It's all good stuff to think about though.
The other stories in this collection are mostly even better than Jekyll and Hyde. 'The Bottle Imp' is a great horror story about a guy making a deal with a demon and trying to get out of it. That's an over-simplification though and the story is super tense as the main character (and eventually his wife) try various things to escape their fate, but are continually thwarted.
'Markheim' is another great story with a theme similar to Jekyll/Hyde, but I think it's even better at expressing it. It's about a guy who murders a shopkeeper and goes looking for the victim's loot, but while he's searching he encounters a mysterious stranger (a ghost? the devil?) who challenges him about what he's done and his perception of himself. Their discussion about good and evil and what makes a person one or the other is excellent.
The final story, 'The Body Snatcher,' is another great thriller with some tense moments. The ending is a little out of nowhere for me, but the story is still quite spooky by a master teller.
October 18, 2021
Quite different and intriguing. Suspenseful throughout!
July 12, 2024
"There is something more, if I could find a name for it. God bless me, the man seems hardly human! Something troglodytic, shall we say? Or can it be the old story of Dr. Fell? Or is it the mere radiance of foul soul that thus transpires through, and transfigures, its clay continent? The last, I think; for oh, my poor old Harry Jekyll, if ever I read Satan's signature on a face, it is on that of your new friend."
November 2, 2020
Jekyll and Hyde is such a cool story. Honestly? I’d love to read a full size novel exploring the ideas in the book in more depth. The length and pacing overall was a bit tedious somehow, but it’s a good one to walk away and think about.
Markheim, on the other hand, really snuck up and surprised me. Really enjoyed it and am already on planning to read it again! Another one to walk away thinking about! This devil or whatever said at one point that it didn't matter what you do at the end of your life - if you convert and at the last minute get saved and go to heaven. It doesn't care about your soul. What matters to it is all the bad things you already did throughout your life, which will have a ripple effect long after you go, bringing more people down than the one it lost when you are saved. It really puts into perspective that you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket. "You do not know the day nor the hour" aside, your actions have more consequences that affect more than just you. More than just in your lifetime. And it's a tricky and convincing lie to be told otherwise. Also, the story goes on to illustrate that it doesn't matter who you are, where you are, or what you did. It's never too bad and never too late to decide to do the right thing.
Markheim, on the other hand, really snuck up and surprised me. Really enjoyed it and am already on planning to read it again! Another one to walk away thinking about! This devil or whatever said at one point that it didn't matter what you do at the end of your life - if you convert and at the last minute get saved and go to heaven. It doesn't care about your soul. What matters to it is all the bad things you already did throughout your life, which will have a ripple effect long after you go, bringing more people down than the one it lost when you are saved. It really puts into perspective that you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket. "You do not know the day nor the hour" aside, your actions have more consequences that affect more than just you. More than just in your lifetime. And it's a tricky and convincing lie to be told otherwise. Also, the story goes on to illustrate that it doesn't matter who you are, where you are, or what you did. It's never too bad and never too late to decide to do the right thing.
May 12, 2009
If three stars means it was okay, then three stars it is. It's always fun to read Victorian literature because you come across great words like "multifarious." However, this one just wasn't gripping. There were a lot of letters that were included in the text and they broke up the narrative too much. In fact, the book ended with a letter without even coming back to the impressions of the main character who was reading the letter. I expected it to be suspenseful, but it isn't up to par with other supernatural classics such as Frankenstein. I don't think I'll read the following stories in the book (unless I'm desperately trying to find an excuse to procrastinate something.)
February 23, 2014
There were four stories in this collection: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Tale of the Body-Snatchers, Markheim and The Bottle Imp. Of course, the twist to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has been spoiled for most everyone by now. Does anyone remember that Bugs Bunny episode “Hyde and Hare”? I didn’t realize that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a mere short story, I had assumed it was a novel. The Tale of the Body-Snatchers is a fairly straight forward ghost story. Markheim reminded me a bit of The Tell Tale Heart. The Bottle Imp is maybe a reworking of Aladdin in a Polynesian setting. I found all four stories to be only mildly entertaining.
December 8, 2021
Overall the author did a wonderful job at keeping the reader’s attention with suspense and cinematic-like imagery.
The only con is interestingly a pro too. Ambiguity is a double-edged sword in this work as the author uses this device as a way to immerse readers in the mystery yet creates a convoluted narrative.
Although the ending ties the majority of mystery together the details of Mr. Hyde’s origin and purpose were glossed over.
The only con is interestingly a pro too. Ambiguity is a double-edged sword in this work as the author uses this device as a way to immerse readers in the mystery yet creates a convoluted narrative.
Although the ending ties the majority of mystery together the details of Mr. Hyde’s origin and purpose were glossed over.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 26, 2023
Stevenson uses the strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to dive into humanity's complex, and in Stevenson's view, dual nature. While this story was an intriguing vehicle to explore the potential depth of depravity that resides in all of us, at times it felt like too simplistic of a dichotomy.
His other short stories were interesting, but it is not surprising that they're not among what he is best remembered for.
His other short stories were interesting, but it is not surprising that they're not among what he is best remembered for.
June 10, 2009
Now,This book is a real scary and horror one.in my opinion,even Dracula wasn't this scary!!but it's not the events of the story that make it frightening.it's the fear of losing one's good nature to its devil self,that makes you tremble in the end.
This book is full of,full of morality.so that one can't get it all at once and has to think it over and over again.
This book is full of,full of morality.so that one can't get it all at once and has to think it over and over again.
May 15, 2009
The thing I love about books like this is the author's view on mortality, good vs. evil, things that make you think deeper than just the storyline going on. I wish I didn't know the story about it being one man because it certainly would've been the twist of the century, but it was still a good short story! :)
July 29, 2021
The collection includes the famous tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and the short stories the body-snatcher, markheim and the bottle imp. These stories didn't really leave a lasting impression on me but I'm glad that I've finally read the well known classic of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde which I have been wanting to do for a long time because of various pop culture references.
August 6, 2023
The classic science fiction tale of a man who leads the life of a respectable doctor by day and a violent killer at night. This version also includes the following short stories: The Bottle Imp, Markheim, and The Body Snatcher. A must read classic novel for all ages.
October 25, 2016
I thought that it was different then the books I've been reading but then is actually just like the the books I've been reading. I gave it 5 stars for efficiency and for being one of the books I've read that the chapters are only in the beginning of the book.
March 13, 2018
"Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is, of course, the most famous of these stories, but "The Bottle Imp," may have been my favorite, and "Markheim," and "The Body-Snatcher" had my heart pounding til the end.
January 9, 2010
the book was okay, but i did really like the story the bottle imp.
July 5, 2023
I finally managed to read my tenth grade homework assignment! ...and, quite honestly, it's a lot more boring than I thought it would be...
Summary: dudes see a creepy dude, lawyer dude asks around and finds out more about creepy dude, creepy dude murders government dude, cool dude who was sheltering in place finally emerges and talks to lawyer dude about his will leaving everything to creepy dude, creepy dude vanishes, cool dude holes up again after like two months, creepy dude appears again and dies, somebody finds a letter from cool dude exsplaining everything...
The problem is, like too many of the Sherlock Holmes stories, so much is secondhand and told, not shown. The first half is minor observations and anecdotes. The second half is a how it was done.
The second story in the book, The Bottle Imp, is much more interesting, and not just because I didn't already know what it was about.
Summary: cool guy meets guy with bottle, guy with bottle explains that the bottle grants almost any wish (except extended life, I guess) at the cost of whoever dies while still in possession of the bottle burns in Hell forever, also the bottle must be sold at a loss to get rid of it, or else it goes back to the seller, cool guy buys it but changes his mind and sells it to a friend, cool guy meets hot lady, cool guy sees he has leprosy, cool guy tries to get the bottle back, friend says he sold it, new owner says the bottle was passed around a lot and is now only worth two cents, cool guy really wants to marry hot lady and buys the bottle for one cent, cool guy cures self but then is haunted by his fate, hot lady finally gets the story out of cool guy and points out French centimes are less than one cent, hot lady finds centimes and gets rando to buy the bottle from cool guy but then she buys the bottle from rando as per agreement, cool guy finds out and gets second rando to buy the bottle for two centimes and says to sell it to him for one, second rando sees the bottle can make awesome rum and says, fuck you dude I want this bottle! ...cool dude is surprised but lets him go and lives happily ever after with hot lady.
Like, stuff HAPPENS, vs. it's a story about stories. Imagine that!
The other stories:
- Markheim: Completely forgettable. Like, thoroughly. 100% forgot I even read it.
- The Body Snatcher: I know I should have remembered what I read, but nope! At least I can vaguely guess the plot from the title, though!
The Bottle Imp is great (sort of)! The others, ehhh... I'd rather have been assigned The Bottle Imp in class.
Summary: dudes see a creepy dude, lawyer dude asks around and finds out more about creepy dude, creepy dude murders government dude, cool dude who was sheltering in place finally emerges and talks to lawyer dude about his will leaving everything to creepy dude, creepy dude vanishes, cool dude holes up again after like two months, creepy dude appears again and dies, somebody finds a letter from cool dude exsplaining everything...
The problem is, like too many of the Sherlock Holmes stories, so much is secondhand and told, not shown. The first half is minor observations and anecdotes. The second half is a how it was done.
The second story in the book, The Bottle Imp, is much more interesting, and not just because I didn't already know what it was about.
Summary: cool guy meets guy with bottle, guy with bottle explains that the bottle grants almost any wish (except extended life, I guess) at the cost of whoever dies while still in possession of the bottle burns in Hell forever, also the bottle must be sold at a loss to get rid of it, or else it goes back to the seller, cool guy buys it but changes his mind and sells it to a friend, cool guy meets hot lady, cool guy sees he has leprosy, cool guy tries to get the bottle back, friend says he sold it, new owner says the bottle was passed around a lot and is now only worth two cents, cool guy really wants to marry hot lady and buys the bottle for one cent, cool guy cures self but then is haunted by his fate, hot lady finally gets the story out of cool guy and points out French centimes are less than one cent, hot lady finds centimes and gets rando to buy the bottle from cool guy but then she buys the bottle from rando as per agreement, cool guy finds out and gets second rando to buy the bottle for two centimes and says to sell it to him for one, second rando sees the bottle can make awesome rum and says, fuck you dude I want this bottle! ...cool dude is surprised but lets him go and lives happily ever after with hot lady.
Like, stuff HAPPENS, vs. it's a story about stories. Imagine that!
The other stories:
- Markheim: Completely forgettable. Like, thoroughly. 100% forgot I even read it.
- The Body Snatcher: I know I should have remembered what I read, but nope! At least I can vaguely guess the plot from the title, though!
The Bottle Imp is great (sort of)! The others, ehhh... I'd rather have been assigned The Bottle Imp in class.
March 26, 2025
It's hard to review the title story because everyone has had it spoiled already. Even so, I think the ending drags on a bit. Too much is left unsaid about Hyde's supposed crimes. I think this is a Victorian conception of general evil that doesn't work nowadays. I wanted more details on what Hyde did that made him so bad.
I also don't really like the idea that everyone has an evil side that is longing to go out and do evil... for what goal? Just doing bad things to do bad things? It doesn't make a lot of sense. The story doesn't really justify what Hyde wants, what enjoyment or satisfaction he gets out of anything.
The pacing is off too. There is a lot less tension after Hyde dies on page 60 and then we have 40 more pages left.
The Bottle Imp is kind of interesting. I like the ending because it seems like an impossible situation to resolve, yet the author comes up with one. It follows a logic that you can buy but wouldn't have been actively thinking about. I like stories set in San Francisco and Hawaii.
Markheim is kind of interesting in that it's a well done example of reverse psychology. You have to put aside some of the implications of what the stranger maybe should have done if they have such power, to prevent Markheim from harming others, rather than intervening after the fact. And you might have to put aside feelings about the word "evil". But you could replace "evil" with something like "selfish, deluded, insecure". The story implies that someone who would continually think they had everything all figured out even as they kept losing all of their money on risky stock market plays, is also the kind of person who would justify committing murder to themself. Replace "evil" with whatever word you would use for that kind of person.
The Body Snatcher was not that great. The ending doesn't make much sense. It seems like a quick attempt to capitalize off of events in the news at the time.
I also don't really like the idea that everyone has an evil side that is longing to go out and do evil... for what goal? Just doing bad things to do bad things? It doesn't make a lot of sense. The story doesn't really justify what Hyde wants, what enjoyment or satisfaction he gets out of anything.
The pacing is off too. There is a lot less tension after Hyde dies on page 60 and then we have 40 more pages left.
The Bottle Imp is kind of interesting. I like the ending because it seems like an impossible situation to resolve, yet the author comes up with one. It follows a logic that you can buy but wouldn't have been actively thinking about. I like stories set in San Francisco and Hawaii.
Markheim is kind of interesting in that it's a well done example of reverse psychology. You have to put aside some of the implications of what the stranger maybe should have done if they have such power, to prevent Markheim from harming others, rather than intervening after the fact. And you might have to put aside feelings about the word "evil". But you could replace "evil" with something like "selfish, deluded, insecure". The story implies that someone who would continually think they had everything all figured out even as they kept losing all of their money on risky stock market plays, is also the kind of person who would justify committing murder to themself. Replace "evil" with whatever word you would use for that kind of person.
The Body Snatcher was not that great. The ending doesn't make much sense. It seems like a quick attempt to capitalize off of events in the news at the time.
October 5, 2021
This was a good compilation of Stevenson's short horror stories. Some were better than others. The main title Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was fantastic (4 out of 5 stars). The Victorian ideas of morality, purity, and citizenship are a refreshing break from real life. Poor Dr. Jekyll has no self-control and does what he wants in the form of Mr. Hyde, which on paper, isn't too bad, well, except for , but we all can infer what Hyde is really doing on a normal day. Lovers, booze, excess food, staying up late and sleeping in? While this is a rather tame horror story in today's terms, it makes the reader question their own impulses, and ask "what am I denying?" A solid read, and short!
The Bottle Imp was not what I was expecting. This story was alright, written well, engaging, but did not convey any sense of terror or horror. This one is steeped in Victorian morals and just didn't work for me. Other books have done a better job of portraying a tormented soul. This one didn't cut it for me. I didn't buy the main character's fear of hell and damnation. I also thought it was funny that it took the main characters so long to find a buyer. They clearly were hanging out with the wrong crowd for a good portion of the story.
Markheim. What even was this? Instead of being scary, I found it rather comical that .
The Body Snatcher had potential. Out of the three shorter stories, this was my favorite, but dragged down with excess random details and not enough about the juicy bits.
The Bottle Imp was not what I was expecting. This story was alright, written well, engaging, but did not convey any sense of terror or horror. This one is steeped in Victorian morals and just didn't work for me. Other books have done a better job of portraying a tormented soul. This one didn't cut it for me. I didn't buy the main character's fear of hell and damnation. I also thought it was funny that it took the main characters so long to find a buyer. They clearly were hanging out with the wrong crowd for a good portion of the story.
Markheim. What even was this? Instead of being scary, I found it rather comical that .
The Body Snatcher had potential. Out of the three shorter stories, this was my favorite, but dragged down with excess random details and not enough about the juicy bits.
July 26, 2022
Jekyll and Hyde has been woven into culture yet this was my first time reading the classic gothic novela. It's paired with 3 other short stories, and honestly author Stevenson struggles with 'show, don't tell.' They're fun to read, despite the Victorian diction.
In J and H, regardless of knowing the twist, protag Utterson, a somehow loveable lawyer befriends the doctor yet does not realize what's happening to his bud until reading a remarkable yet long-winded confessional letter of Jekyll's final fate. It really frustrated me that Jekyll, though remorseful for Hyde's actions, did not have much ownership. He's rather passive to his 'darker side', which is perhaps the true horror, thus morphing the whodunit into a fable.
Likewise, The Bottle Imp reads like a fairytale. There's a sweetness between a couple that goes sour when one discovers a wish granting genie. But there's always a cost. This might be my favorite of the collection. Markheim also has a message at the end, but it's clunky reading. There's too many details for a Christmas story. The author loves to play with consequences, because this one is more overt on naming the devil. Last, The Body-Snatcher has some themes of playing God, but it was quite a buildup for no falling action and minimal explanation.
In J and H, regardless of knowing the twist, protag Utterson, a somehow loveable lawyer befriends the doctor yet does not realize what's happening to his bud until reading a remarkable yet long-winded confessional letter of Jekyll's final fate. It really frustrated me that Jekyll, though remorseful for Hyde's actions, did not have much ownership. He's rather passive to his 'darker side', which is perhaps the true horror, thus morphing the whodunit into a fable.
Likewise, The Bottle Imp reads like a fairytale. There's a sweetness between a couple that goes sour when one discovers a wish granting genie. But there's always a cost. This might be my favorite of the collection. Markheim also has a message at the end, but it's clunky reading. There's too many details for a Christmas story. The author loves to play with consequences, because this one is more overt on naming the devil. Last, The Body-Snatcher has some themes of playing God, but it was quite a buildup for no falling action and minimal explanation.
June 4, 2024
These tales don't horrify as much as they once did compared now with a modern thriller, but they speak quite deep to the human psyche of on the topic of greed and excess and the evil that surfaces within us having indulged.
Jekyll and Hyde could well be a euphemism for substance abuse and the way an abuser in the throes of painful addiction can change into a completely different person while under the influence. He speaks of the futility of willpower and even harbouring reservations against complete surrender to reform.
The Bottle Imp I thought was a straightforward reflection of our tendencies to "sell our soul" for whichever earthly pleasure we most seek, and even under threat of eternal damnation, once removed from danger, we'd gladly do it again.
The Body Snatcher was not so much a tale of the supernatural but still a suggestion of how we might care less for the fortune of strangers than we do about making a few quick bucks.
Jekyll and Hyde could well be a euphemism for substance abuse and the way an abuser in the throes of painful addiction can change into a completely different person while under the influence. He speaks of the futility of willpower and even harbouring reservations against complete surrender to reform.
The Bottle Imp I thought was a straightforward reflection of our tendencies to "sell our soul" for whichever earthly pleasure we most seek, and even under threat of eternal damnation, once removed from danger, we'd gladly do it again.
The Body Snatcher was not so much a tale of the supernatural but still a suggestion of how we might care less for the fortune of strangers than we do about making a few quick bucks.
May 3, 2023
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a very well known character, though I had never before read their original story. I was a little underwhelmed to be honest. It was such a short story compared to what I expected. I don’t feel there was really much to the story. Just a couple of instances of strange happenings around Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and then letters revealing their story. I didn’t find this super entertaining as a story.
The other stories within the book were alright. Both Markheim and Body Snatcher I found to not be interesting. I barely got through them. However, the Bottle Imp was very good. I was hooked from the beginning. It was a super interesting idea for a short story and was definitely the highlight of this book.
The other stories within the book were alright. Both Markheim and Body Snatcher I found to not be interesting. I barely got through them. However, the Bottle Imp was very good. I was hooked from the beginning. It was a super interesting idea for a short story and was definitely the highlight of this book.
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