What do you think?
Rate this book
A very Strange Bed
A Terribly Strange Bed" is a short story by Wilkie Collins, first published in 1852 in Household Words, a magazine edited by Charles Dickens.
Written in the narrative, the story is about a young man staying in Paris, after finishing his college education, and is exploring the amusements there. As a change from respectable establishments, he visits a low gambling house, where a variety of unsavory characters are playing Rouge e Noir. There he meets a “dissolute-looking elderly man, formerly a soldier in the French army” who encourages him to continue to gamble. From there on, our narrator becomes a victim of an unscrupulous team of villains.
Written in the narrative, the story is about a young man staying in Paris, after finishing his college education, and is exploring the amusements there. As a change from respectable establishments, he visits a low gambling house, where a variety of unsavory characters are playing Rouge e Noir. There he meets a “dissolute-looking elderly man, formerly a soldier in the French army” who encourages him to continue to gamble. From there on, our narrator becomes a victim of an unscrupulous team of villains.
Audiobook
First published April 24, 1852
10 people are currently reading
376 people want to read
About the author
Wilkie Collins
2,364 books2,935 followersWilkie Collins was an English novelist and playwright, best known for The Woman in White (1860), an early sensation novel, and The Moonstone (1868), a pioneering work of detective fiction. Born to landscape painter William Collins and Harriet Geddes, he spent part of his childhood in Italy and France, learning both languages. Initially working as a tea merchant, he later studied law, though he never practiced. His literary career began with Antonina (1850), and a meeting with Charles Dickens in 1851 proved pivotal. The two became close friends and collaborators, with Collins contributing to Dickens' journals and co-writing dramatic works.
Collins' success peaked in the 1860s with novels that combined suspense with social critique, including No Name (1862), Armadale (1864), and The Moonstone, which established key elements of the modern detective story. His personal life was unconventional—he openly opposed marriage and lived with Caroline Graves and her daughter for much of his life, while also maintaining a separate relationship with Martha Rudd, with whom he had three children.
Plagued by gout, Collins became addicted to laudanum, which affected both his health and later works. Despite declining quality in his writing, he remained a respected figure, mentoring younger authors and advocating for writers' rights. He died in 1889 and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery. His legacy endures through his influential novels, which laid the groundwork for both sensation fiction and detective literature.
Collins' success peaked in the 1860s with novels that combined suspense with social critique, including No Name (1862), Armadale (1864), and The Moonstone, which established key elements of the modern detective story. His personal life was unconventional—he openly opposed marriage and lived with Caroline Graves and her daughter for much of his life, while also maintaining a separate relationship with Martha Rudd, with whom he had three children.
Plagued by gout, Collins became addicted to laudanum, which affected both his health and later works. Despite declining quality in his writing, he remained a respected figure, mentoring younger authors and advocating for writers' rights. He died in 1889 and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery. His legacy endures through his influential novels, which laid the groundwork for both sensation fiction and detective literature.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
March 21, 2019
Great story about gambling luck and its aftermath. I loved description of the shady gambling den in Paris and the characters, especially that of the old ex-soldier, master of that joint. Why did he offer the Englishman to stay with his winnings in the gambling house? What is so special about the bed he was given to sleep in? A very compelling tale with an interesting ending. I can recommend The Ostrich in Slough when you want another bedtime story this time one that's set in Britain. I can really recommend this tale!
October 4, 2018
A creepy villain and a very unusual bed. There’s some great writing in here. The fat man is a very interesting character & would definitely read a book or story about him!
July 12, 2018
I recently heard Wilkie Collins' A Terribly Strange Bed on OTR (old time radio) and decided to read this short story. Many times on OTR, a certain show, like Suspense will give you their version and another program will change things up a bit. The one I heard recently had his friend leave the gambling house since he felt mischief was too much for his drunkard friend. I have also heard the version where the two men are staying in the inn but one is unaware but is aroused by the friend and lastly the mickey, was given by a young girl forced to do so but warns the young man. I find it interesting to see if the author's story is changed and how much so. I generally always prefer the written word to an adaptation, but it is nice to have it in play form. It makes one wonder how many horrific ways men have be lead to their death innocently. I did not read this edition but the collected works by Delphi. Also his winning streak, it seemed to be planned by these ruffians.
Here is one radio version but I have heard others too. Suspense June 7, 1954.
https://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com...
Here is one radio version but I have heard others too. Suspense June 7, 1954.
https://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com...
July 14, 2018
Locked Room #3, all the way from 1852. It's hard to believe that for years, Collins outsold Dickens.
CRIME=3 stars. There have been murders in a locked bedroom, and here a gambler decides to spend the night in the gambling house rather than risk a trip home with pockets full of winnings. But the owners of the gambling house have a trick to get their money back. Will our hero survive the night?
SOLUTION=3 stars. The solution may have been original back in 1852, but as to how the murders are committed, well, if you've seen a few Bond films, or a few episodes of Wild, Wild West, and you know a bit about murders in a locked room, this story will seem familiar.
SUMMARY: The more I read Wilkie Collins, the more I like his writing, especially his light, comical touches. 3 stars overall.
CRIME=3 stars. There have been murders in a locked bedroom, and here a gambler decides to spend the night in the gambling house rather than risk a trip home with pockets full of winnings. But the owners of the gambling house have a trick to get their money back. Will our hero survive the night?
SOLUTION=3 stars. The solution may have been original back in 1852, but as to how the murders are committed, well, if you've seen a few Bond films, or a few episodes of Wild, Wild West, and you know a bit about murders in a locked room, this story will seem familiar.
SUMMARY: The more I read Wilkie Collins, the more I like his writing, especially his light, comical touches. 3 stars overall.
May 22, 2014
A rather unusual tale... so a young man staying in Paris, looks for amusement, ends up doing some gambling, wins lots of money, meets a strange guy, ends up in some room...
and then there is the bed... but what is it about this bed?
and then there is the bed... but what is it about this bed?
April 20, 2023
Such a creepy story! I loved it! When a man wins a lot of money from a run-down casino, things start to get very odd. No spoilers! Highly Recommend this short story!
August 9, 2020
I very Rarely give 4* to a short story but it is certainly worth it in my opinion. Not a unique storyline but well written.
June 13, 2017
There's more than a little of Edgar Allen Poe about this early piece from Wilkie Collins. Specifically "The Pit and the Pendulum" or "The Cask of Amontillado"; the short story as set piece horror, the 19th century equivalent of Saw or Captivity.
In playing on the uncanny nature of an unfamiliar bedroom there's also a degree to which it calls forward to MR James's "Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad" – and given that's one of the scariest short stories ever written, it's a very good thing to put me in mind of.
Short and satisfying. Unsettling rather than outright terrifying, but in some ways that's harder to achieve. The cold prickle on the back of your neck, the sense of things not quite being as safe as you'd assumed, stays with you a lot longer than a jump scare or body horror.
In playing on the uncanny nature of an unfamiliar bedroom there's also a degree to which it calls forward to MR James's "Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad" – and given that's one of the scariest short stories ever written, it's a very good thing to put me in mind of.
Short and satisfying. Unsettling rather than outright terrifying, but in some ways that's harder to achieve. The cold prickle on the back of your neck, the sense of things not quite being as safe as you'd assumed, stays with you a lot longer than a jump scare or body horror.
April 21, 2017
Quite a fun and unsettling story. Four-poster beds were already scary to me.
October 12, 2018
A classic by Mr Collins, written before "The Woman in White".
A young Englishman out on the town in Paris wins big in an illicit gambling den, then gets shit-faced with a local vagabond on champagne and can't make his way home with the winnings. Oh dear, what ever will he do? And just how will the bad guys try to cheat him out of his loot? Listen and find out.
Listened to here, narrated by the very talented Ian Gordon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on628...
A young Englishman out on the town in Paris wins big in an illicit gambling den, then gets shit-faced with a local vagabond on champagne and can't make his way home with the winnings. Oh dear, what ever will he do? And just how will the bad guys try to cheat him out of his loot? Listen and find out.
Listened to here, narrated by the very talented Ian Gordon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on628...
August 9, 2025
Good writing. Okay story.
November 29, 2017
An amazing book.... Scary but enjoyable -A book to read if you like suspense as well as a death plot
January 9, 2024
A cautionary tale as a reminder not to sleep in the rooms of a gambling house after you've just won all their money. Good story, exciting, quick read.
May 20, 2014
Free download available at Project Gutenberg.
Opening lines:
Before I begin, by the aid of my wife's patient attention and ready pen, to relate any of the stories which I have heard at various times from persons whose likenesses I have been employed to take, it will not be amiss if I try to secure the reader's interest in the following pages by briefly explaining how I became possessed of the narrative matter which they contain.
Opening lines:
Before I begin, by the aid of my wife's patient attention and ready pen, to relate any of the stories which I have heard at various times from persons whose likenesses I have been employed to take, it will not be amiss if I try to secure the reader's interest in the following pages by briefly explaining how I became possessed of the narrative matter which they contain.
June 22, 2013
The hero of the story wins big at a seedy gaming house. Too drunk and fearful of being able to make it home alive with his winnings, he spends the night in an offered room of the gaming house. All is not as it seems.
4 STARS
4 STARS
November 3, 2017
Too long , but Masterful Writing , and an undoubtedly intriguing suspenseful premise . Given that i judge Writing , any form of it , by how much i am inclined to reread it , this was a pleasant one-time read !
March 6, 2014
[image error]
Wilkie Collins' unnerving story of a young man, flushed and foolish with gambling success and champagne. Read by Robin Baile.
Wilkie Collins' unnerving story of a young man, flushed and foolish with gambling success and champagne. Read by Robin Baile.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 21, 2017
Wilkie Collins is one of my favorites I'm so glad I finally took the time to read this short story. Definitely a Poe sort of vibe with this one. Full of dark suspense.
January 23, 2018
I really enjoyed this. It seemed a unique idea and I could really picture it as I read.
Read
July 21, 2019Good one
January 17, 2024
I actually listened to this as part of an audiobook of 3 Wilkie Collins short stories but I can’t find that on Goodreads so I decided I’d just do each of the stories individually.
Writing from a different time is a bit hard to judge, I’d say it’s a pretty average story by today’s mysteries standards, but it might have been super innovative at the time, 3.5. It moved along nicely compared to some very wordy old writing, but it was a short story, you can’t get too long winded.
The set up of an artist telling the story that someone told him I think is a stylistic choice of the time to have first person writing but it’s not the kind of style I’d enjoy in a modern book.
Crazy plot idea, was anyone going to that much trouble to suffocate drunk gamblers when you could just rob them in the street?
Writing from a different time is a bit hard to judge, I’d say it’s a pretty average story by today’s mysteries standards, but it might have been super innovative at the time, 3.5. It moved along nicely compared to some very wordy old writing, but it was a short story, you can’t get too long winded.
The set up of an artist telling the story that someone told him I think is a stylistic choice of the time to have first person writing but it’s not the kind of style I’d enjoy in a modern book.
Crazy plot idea, was anyone going to that much trouble to suffocate drunk gamblers when you could just rob them in the street?
January 4, 2022
[Audiobook narrated by Simon Stanhope, from the 1856 version of the text, narration which does not include the frame story.]
What a short, anxiety inducing story. I would have liked it to be more intense, but I liked the premise. I liked how everything leading to the intrigue was so reasonable. I can find no fault in the main character's actions following his winning, he did everything right. I also liked the conclusion, it made sense. What I'm saying is this short story is great, it's very well written. Again, I would have liked it to be a bit more intense, but even so, it's really good.
What a short, anxiety inducing story. I would have liked it to be more intense, but I liked the premise. I liked how everything leading to the intrigue was so reasonable. I can find no fault in the main character's actions following his winning, he did everything right. I also liked the conclusion, it made sense. What I'm saying is this short story is great, it's very well written. Again, I would have liked it to be a bit more intense, but even so, it's really good.
November 18, 2024
I found this in a 1930 volume called The Omnibus of Adventure" that belonged to my grandmother. Since I've read and enjoyed several.of Collins's mystery novels, I decided to give this one a try and it didn't disappoint. A gambler wins big and is tricked into deciding to spend the night in one of the gambling house's rooms. He spends a sleepless night and is glad of it once he realizes what is strange about the bed he's in. A nice little mystery/horror story.
The version I read is 16 pages long and differs a fair bit from the Goodreads description.
The version I read is 16 pages long and differs a fair bit from the Goodreads description.
November 12, 2023
“Sólo era consciente de dos ideas: una, que no debía dejar ni por un solo instante mi pañuelo repleto de dinero; la otra, que debía tumbarme de inmediato en algún sitio y disfrutar de un buen sueño” ~ Una cama terriblemente extraña de Wilkie Collins.
Relato de misterio escrito en el siglo XIX así que no esperéis encontrar miedo ni terror. Ya vamos de tres vueltas con relación a lo que provocaba pesadillas en en 1880.
En esta ocasión, el protagonista, un inglés en Francia, narra en primera persona su experiencia de una noche en la que sale con un amigo. Visitan una especie de casino y aunque nuestro protagonista no es muy dado al juego, esa noche tiene buena mano.
Con todas sus ganancias, sus amigos le convencen para que se quede a dormir en el mismo hotel que alberga el casino pero su noche no es tranquila sino más bien llena de pesadillas y algo tiene que ver la cama en la que reposa. ¿Dónde estará el misterio?
Un relato de unas veinte páginas que se lee de un tirón y que aunque no me ha resultado de wow, sí me ha gustado cómo está escrito y las críticas que el autor, del que leeré más sin duda, esconde entre líneas.
Relato de misterio escrito en el siglo XIX así que no esperéis encontrar miedo ni terror. Ya vamos de tres vueltas con relación a lo que provocaba pesadillas en en 1880.
En esta ocasión, el protagonista, un inglés en Francia, narra en primera persona su experiencia de una noche en la que sale con un amigo. Visitan una especie de casino y aunque nuestro protagonista no es muy dado al juego, esa noche tiene buena mano.
Con todas sus ganancias, sus amigos le convencen para que se quede a dormir en el mismo hotel que alberga el casino pero su noche no es tranquila sino más bien llena de pesadillas y algo tiene que ver la cama en la que reposa. ¿Dónde estará el misterio?
Un relato de unas veinte páginas que se lee de un tirón y que aunque no me ha resultado de wow, sí me ha gustado cómo está escrito y las críticas que el autor, del que leeré más sin duda, esconde entre líneas.
August 30, 2018
Reminiscent of Poe thematically, but with none of the verve for the macabre that works so well in his stories.
A man is drugged after winning at gambling and is encouraged to stay the night in a guest room. Unbeknown to him the bed in which he stays is elaborately doctored to compress and therefore crush the sleeper to death.
A man is drugged after winning at gambling and is encouraged to stay the night in a guest room. Unbeknown to him the bed in which he stays is elaborately doctored to compress and therefore crush the sleeper to death.
October 14, 2023
Little Lord Fcukpants discovers the game of craps on a random night on the town and proceeds to break the bank with nonstop wins. He brags to the first character who congratulates him on his winnings only to learn, much later, that all that shines is not friendship.
A cautionary tale for the gullible & naive.
A cautionary tale for the gullible & naive.
July 20, 2025
Este relato me pareció muy majete. Me hizo gracia la situación en la que se encontró el protagonista, creo que estuvo super bien planteada, aunque luego se perdiese un poco de tensión por la manera en la que se solventa todo. Es por eso por lo que no lo tengo en mayor consideración, pero un buen relato en general.
August 1, 2020
A creepy tale of what happens when an Englishman breaks the bank in a seedy gambling house and plied with too much champagne unwisely agrees to spend the night in the said gambling house in a strange four poster bed.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews