Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde & Other Tales

by Robert Louis Stevenson, Caroline McCracken-Flesher (introduction)

This new dark Collectable edition brings a fresh perspective on Stevenson's dark, celebrated evocation of duality: polite society undermined by the weakness deep within itself. Three of Stevenson’s other dark tales reveal him to be a shrewd and skillful storyteller – The Body Snatcher, The Pavilion on the Links, The Story of a Lie.

384 pages, Hardcover

Published April 29, 2025

About the author

Robert 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.

Reviews

[Caroline Grande · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story collection is very good. The only story I had trouble with was "The Story of a Lie." I found it very slow and boring. It did not have any gothic horror or suspense like all the other stories had, and it felt out of place in this collection. I was so offput by "The Story of Lie" that I stopped reading this book for months as I was worried the 3 remaining stories would also be a disappointment. However, all the other stories were enjoyable and easy enough to read and be entertained by. The title story, "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde," in particular is great. It's a classic for a reason. Even though I knew the basic premise, I was still very engaged and read all 10 chapters in one sitting.

Below is my rating for all the stories in this collection:

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: 4.5 stars
The Body Snatcher: 4 stars
The Story of a Lie: 2 stars
Markheim: 3.5 stars
The Bottle Imp: 4.5 stars
The Pavilion on the Links: 4 stars

Overall, a nice collection and worth a read!