Sherlock Holmes - the vampire!

Not the most likely of candidates, perhaps, but Holmes has some very unusual characteristics. Unusual amongst humans, that is.

Firstly, Holmes is a very erratic eater. Can you remember any instances of Holmes eating in any of the books?

I can't. However, I recall many mentions of his habit for not eating when he is on a case. The world's greatest detective, a man who spends most of his life investigating crime, and he doesn't eat during an investigation. That would put his meals so few and far between we can only be amazed he never fainted during the course of his longer cases.

Even when not on a case, however, Holmes is scarcely ever observed at a meal. From the Study in Scarlet, Watson's description of Holmes mentions "he had invariably breakfasted and gone out before I rose in the morning". How convenient.

This behavior would be difficult to believe in a human, however makes perfect sense for a being whose main food group is blood. He doesn't eat food because he doesn't need or want food.

Then there's his strength. Holmes is a thin, wiry sort of fellow. And yet, in the Speckled Band, this little scene takes place after a menacing thug has bent Holmes' poker as a show of strength:

----

"He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, straightened it out again.

----

Ever tried to bend, or unbend, a steel poker? It's not easy. A serious bodybuilder could probably do it, but a man as lazy and "excessively lean" as Holmes was described to be? Never. Beyond human capabilities. But vampires are very well-known for their superhuman strength.

And what of his appearance in general? And as any fan of Holmes will know, he had black hair, swept back in a widow's peak. He was tall, thin, and somewhat pale. A more stereotypical vampire is hard to imagine.

And then there's his clothing - the famous hat and coat. Very distinctive, and not terribly gothic, you might think. However, whilst his clothing might not have been black, the typical vampire wears a cloak, which is a vital part of the turning-into-a-winged-bat trick, and Holmes' coat is very much like a cloak, being long and flappy.

But Holmes' main characteristic was his amazing feats of deduction. A simple glance at a person could tell him most of their life history.

Why can nobody else do this? It seems an easy enough trick, after all. Did Holmes only ever meet people whose lives were etched on their person? Or did he have another trick?

Psychometry is the ability the read the history of people or objects just by seeing or touching them. Exactly what Holmes always used to do. His explanation of observation and deduction were simply a cunning subterfuge to hide his true powers. It's much easier to know the history of something and then point out all the things that make that history evident, than it is to deduce the history of something from it's appearance.

Similarly, it's easy to solve crimes if, just by going to the scene at which it occurred, you can 'sense' what happened there before.

An interesting proof of this is in the Hound of the Baskervilles. Holmes does not solve this case all that fast, by his standards. Not only that, but he is first found in the area by Watson, living rough on the moor. Why does he want to do this? Because he doesn't want people to know he was there? Surely not, he appears to have been busy enough finding things out, he must have interviewed a number of people. His presence on the moor could not have been secret. There is no reason for him to be out on the moor.

Unless you view the matter from the vampire perspective - Holmes had to sleep on the moor, as he had not been invited in to the Hall. And what's more, the mystery was solved very shortly after he entered the Hall grounds - the scene of the original crime! Psychometry at work again. He solves the crime only when he has acces to the place it occurred.

And what of his death? A curiously unsatisfying explanation is given of his return from seeming demise - he states that he wanted to hunt down criminals who thought him dead. And then explains that they didn't think he WAS dead, as he had been witnessed alive and well by the nasty man who rolled boulders down at him.

Wouldn't it be more likely to simply assume Holmes DID indeed fall to the bottom of the Falls with Moriarty, but, being a vampire, was not killed by the drop? However, vampires don't like running water, so whilst he might have survived, he might well have had problems in getting free again - explaining his lengthy absence.

So there you have it - Sherlock Holmes: an amazing man, or an unremarkable vampire?