The Baskerville Curse

The Hound of the Baskervilles

This thread traces how a family legend shapes fear around the Baskervilles before its apparent supernatural force is exposed as a human plot.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

Hugo’s Legend Hugo’s Legend from "The Hound of the Baskervilles". Hugo’s Legend A family story Hugo Baskerville kidnaps a farmer’s daughter and unleashes hounds to pursue her.

Hugo’s Legend from "The Hound of the Baskervilles". Hugo’s Legend A family story Hugo Baskerville kidnaps a farmer’s daughter and unleashes hounds to pursue her.

Hugo’s Legend A family story Hugo Baskerville kidnaps a farmer’s daughter and unleashes hounds to pursue her. A warning inherited A monstrous hound kills Hugo, giving later generations a frightening account of the family’s past. The manuscript urges descendants to avoid the moor at night.

Charles’s Fear Charles’s Fear from "The Hound of the Baskervilles". Charles’s Fear Legend made personal Sir Charles Baskerville believes the family curse may threaten him and asks whether a spectral hound has been seen.

Charles’s Fear from "The Hound of the Baskervilles". Charles’s Fear Legend made personal Sir Charles Baskerville believes the family curse may threaten him and asks whether a spectral hound has been seen.

Charles’s Fear Legend made personal Sir Charles Baskerville believes the family curse may threaten him and asks whether a spectral hound has been seen. A vulnerable heirloom His weak heart and fearful imagination make him susceptible to a staged apparition. The legend supplies the murderer with a weapon of suggestion.

A Fatal Night A Fatal Night from "The Hound of the Baskervilles". A Fatal Night The gate Sir Charles waits at the moor gate after receiving a letter from Laura Lyons.

A Fatal Night from "The Hound of the Baskervilles". A Fatal Night The gate Sir Charles waits at the moor gate after receiving a letter from Laura Lyons.

A Fatal Night The gate Sir Charles waits at the moor gate after receiving a letter from Laura Lyons. Flight and death A hound drives him down Yew Alley; terror and heart disease kill him before it bites. The scene appears to confirm the old legend.

Henry Hears the Hound Henry Hears the Hound from "The Hound of the Baskervilles". Henry Hears the Hound A terrifying sound Sir Henry Baskerville hears a distant cry across Dartmoor and recognizes it as a hound.

Henry Hears the Hound from "The Hound of the Baskervilles". Henry Hears the Hound A terrifying sound Sir Henry Baskerville hears a distant cry across Dartmoor and recognizes it as a hound.

Henry Hears the Hound A terrifying sound Sir Henry Baskerville hears a distant cry across Dartmoor and recognizes it as a hound. Doubt gains force The sound makes the curse seem less like a nursery tale and more like an immediate danger. Watson cannot yet explain it naturally.

The Legend Unmasked The Legend Unmasked from "The Hound of the Baskervilles". The Legend Unmasked A visible monster A huge dog, made luminous with phosphorus, charges after Sir Henry through the fog.

The Legend Unmasked from "The Hound of the Baskervilles". The Legend Unmasked A visible monster A huge dog, made luminous with phosphorus, charges after Sir Henry through the fog.

The Legend Unmasked A visible monster A huge dog, made luminous with phosphorus, charges after Sir Henry through the fog. Human design exposed Sherlock Holmes and his companions shoot the animal and reveal its physical, manufactured terror. The family curse collapses into evidence of murder.

During the Great Rebellion

The months before the investigation

May 4, before the investigation

During Watson and Henry’s first nights on Dartmoor

Near the end, during the ambush