Arthur would call this story "a real creeper."

It is of course "The Hound of the Baskervilles," my favorite story.

It's the tale of a young man returning from abroad to inherit his family mansion on Dartmoor.

He's haunted by a legend... [Dog howling] the curse of a mysterious ghost hound, who, it appears, may have killed his uncle.

Arthur thought he had the makings of a great ghost story.

There was this phantom hound.

There was the spooky setting of Dartmoor.

What he needed was a hero.

At the heart of this Gothic tale, there was a mystery to be solved, and one man would be perfect for the job... but Arthur had spent the last 8 years trying to make a name for himself away from Sherlock Holmes.

Could he really be tempted to bring him back?

Here's part of a letter that Arthur wrote to his editor, which I think gives an insight into what was going on in his mind at the time.

He'd offered the story to "The Strand Magazine" at his normal rate of £50 per 1,000 words, but then he raises the possibility of bringing back Holmes.

He says, "The revival of Holmes would attract a great deal of attention," and he suggests that he writes the story with Holmes in it, but he wants twice his usual rate, £100 per 1,000 words.

Which would they choose?

Ha ha ha!

Arthur got his cash.

In fact, by making it one of the longer Sherlock stories, Arthur rather conveniently earned exactly the same amount as he'd recently spent building a 14-bedroom mansion in Surrey.

He got around the fact that Sherlock was supposed to be dead by setting it before the Reichenbach Falls.

[Water rushing, man screaming] This was a prequel, and the detective made a suitably spectacular return.

[Wind blowing] "There outlined as black as an ebony statue "on that shining background, "I saw the figure of a man upon the tor, "his arms folded, his head bowed as if he were "brooding over that enormous wilderness of peat and granite which lay before him."

♪ Sherlock was back, more brooding and more brilliant than ever.