Hound of the Baskervilles

McOmber (Jesus and John) turns a classic Sherlock Holmes story into an eerie, disquieting, gay-sex-filled tale. Watson arrives in Dartmoor without the great detective to investigate Charles Baskerville’s murder (apparently “buggered to death” with giant dog prints around him). Charles’s cousin Henry, who suffers from “hysteria masculina” and has a doctor-prescribed sexual automaton, worries he’ll be killed next as part of a curse on the family line brought about by a depraved ancestor. Seeking answers, Watson follows young household servant Barrymore into an underground chamber full of strange beings. The mystery isn’t solved there, but the men do wind up having sex. Watson’s subsequent encounter with reputed witch Beryl Stapleton sends him spectrally back to London, where he witnesses Holmes, who’s implied to be Watson’s ex, having sex with a stranger. After a disconsolate Watson is attacked, he tries to rush Barrymore safely to London—only for Holmes to arrive and claim to have solved the case from afar. Watson’s era-plausible shame-tinged sexuality makes for a fascinating portrait, and the unexpected twists are sure to keep readers hooked. Holmes fans open to liberal reworkings—along with any lover of erotic queer horror—will enjoy this supernatural mystery. (Oct.)