Whether it’s coming face to face with the Great Old Ones and Lovecraft's Mythos (as in Del Rey's short story collection, Shadows Over Baker Street), being confronted by a zombie plague (Wildstorm's Victorian Undead), or, as in The Tangled Skein, discovering the truth about undead evil and pursuing the Prince of Darkness, Dracula, there’s something incredibly appealing about Holmesian crossovers, especially, as in the case of The Tangled Skein, when said crossovers feature contemporary literary creations.

Written as a sequel of sorts, to The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Tangled Skein, as has already been mentioned, finds Holmes having to question the logic of everything that he has come to know and rely on, as he, along with his faithful companion and fellow sleuth Watson, thanks to an encounter with Abraham Van Helsing, realise that the things that go bump in the night are more than the product of old wives' tales, and that even the most horrific fictions contain an element of truth.

From Baker Street to Devon (and Baskerville Hall), The Tangled Skein hurtles along at an unholy pace, twisting and turning its way to the final battle between Dracula and Holmes. Nicholas Briggs and Richard Earl are as reliable as ever as Holmes and Watson and leap into the story with gusto and bravado, which in turn helps to ensure that the rest of the ensemble (especially John Banks and Giles Watling) turn their performances up a couple of notches, delivering one of the best Holmes tales that I’ve been privileged to experience, leaving me with a rabid desire to track down and buy the novel (by David Stuart Davies) on which the play is based. Peter Cushing was right. It would be an incredible film…

The Tangled Skein is available to buy now, plus it can be ordered with the rest of series two as part of our CD or download subscription package.