Strange Stories

In Short

This volume brings together dynamic short stories exploring the boundaries of science, society, and human nature. A English-educated West African man succumbs to the irresistible pull of ancient tribal rites; a Chinese scholar faces fatal political ruin at home after embracing Western ideas; an Oxford scholar inadvertently discovers a secret door into an ancient Egyptian pyramid; and utopian visions demand horrifying personal sacrifices. Through vivid satire, gothic mystery, and early science fiction, Grant Allen examines the friction between modern enlightenment and primal impulse, delivering sharp social commentary alongside chilling narrative twists.

The Story

The anthology journeys across diverse speculative landscapes, opening in the British empire with the tragic tale of John Creedy. Educated at Oxford and completely assimilated into English life, Creedy returns to West Africa as a Christian missionary alongside his sweet English bride, Ethel. However, the overpowering force of his ancestral heritage reasserts itself, driving him into a hypnotic frenzy where he sheds his European clothes and joins a Fantee ritual dance. When Ethel awakens from her fever, Creedy lies to spare her heart, pretending her glimpse of his breakdown was a delirium before she passes away, leaving him broken.

The narrative scope shifts to global cultural clashes and scientific hubris. In London, a brilliant Chinese diplomat named Mr. Chung falls in love with an English girl, Effie, but is recalled to Pekin and thrown into the harrowing Thien-Shan prison on charges of witchcraft for adopting Western ideas. Facing imminent execution, he writes a final, selfless letter begging his friends to hide his brutal fate from Effie. In another tale, a man wandering in the Egyptian moonlight discovers a hidden revolving stone at the base of a great pyramid. Entering the dark granite passage alone, he sees a mysterious light filtering through an inner stone door, signaling secret human occupation inside a monument thought locked for centuries.

Dark humor and radical social experiments carry the collection into moral paradoxes. A curate named Walter Dene accidentally injures a beloved dog while casually murdering a parishioner to remove what he considers a "superfluous person," remaining entirely unbothered by his crime as he carries the pet to the veterinary surgeon before church services. Elsewhere, a Victorian researcher accidentally knocks over a vessel of "pausodyne"—a mysterious drug—in his sealed underground laboratory, falling into a suspended animation that isolates him from his era. In a far-future utopian society, rational progress comes with a grim price: a distraught father named Clarence must yield to the community's rigid laws and sacrifice his own flawed infant daughter rather than let her grow up as a limping cripple in a world of physical perfection.

The stories culminate in deep political satire and historical reversals. In Andorra, Don Pedro solves a national financial crisis brought on by an empress’s extravagant taste for champagne and foie gras by simply printing paper money and declaring it valid currency. Finally, an English narrator in India listens to an old native groom recount the Sepoy Mutiny from the rebel perspective. The quiet old man describes his total ruin under British rule before vanishing into the night with a terrifying prediction that the native rulers will eventually unite to eradicate every Feringhee in the land.

How It Unfolds

The voyage begins A thoroughly Oxford-educated native missionary named John Creedy returns to West Africa with his delicate English wife Ethel, but he secretly succumbs to the raw power of tribal ritual. When Ethel catches a fleeting glimpse of his breakdown, Creedy falsely reassures her that it was merely a feverish delusion so she may die in peace.

The scholar's exile A refined Chinese scholar, Mr. Chung, forms a deep emotional connection with an English girl named Effie while staying in London. Upon his sudden recall to Pekin, he is imprisoned in a loathsome dungeon for adopting Western ways and secretly writes a poignant farewell letter asking that Effie never learn of his impending execution.

The dark corridor An inquisitive traveler exploring an Egyptian pyramid in the moonlight accidentally discovers a massive stone block that rotates on a hidden central pivot. Venturing inside the dark granite passage, he discovers faint light glowing through an inner doorway, hinting at secret, active human habitation hidden deep within the ancient ruin.

The cold calculation In a technologically advanced future phalanstery, Clarence grieves over his newborn daughter's physical imperfection alongside the community's unyielding hierarch. Though tormented by his natural human affection, Clarence surrenders the child to be humanely eliminated rather than allow her to live as an isolated, limping cripple in a world dedicated to perfect health.

The rebel's tale A English traveler sits in silence as an old native groom plainly narrates his devastating personal losses during the Indian Mutiny from the Indian perspective. The old man offers no dramatic anger, but calmly promises that one day the native rulers will unite to rise up and wipe out the British rule entirely.

The People

• John Creedy: An Oxford-educated African missionary who desperately desires to live as a cultured European gentleman alongside his English wife, Ethel. He is thwarted by the overwhelming psychological force of his original heritage, ending up broken, lying to his dying wife to save her from heartbreak.
• Mr. Chung: A brilliant, gentle Chinese diplomat in London who seeks intellectual integration between East and West while loving an English girl named Effie. He is thwarted by the reactionary suspicions of his home government, ultimately accepting his tragic execution in a Pekin prison as an inevitable consequence of living outside his culture.
• Walter Dene: A calm, utterly detached clergyman who desires to smoothly eliminate unwanted people from his environment without causing unnecessary disturbance. He is momentarily thwarted by an unexpected injury to a little dog named King Charlie, though he proceeds to church services without the slightest moral remorse.
• Clarence: A devoted father living in a future utopian society who desires to protect his newborn daughter, Olive's baby. He is thwarted by his own deep allegiance to the state's rigid eugenic laws, ultimately choosing civic rationalism over his personal parental love.
• The Old Syce: A quiet Indian groom who quietly desires the complete expulsion of British rulers from his homeland after losing his land and family during the Mutiny. Stymied by the present military dominance of the British, he holds firmly to a quiet, unyielding hatred and the hope of future rebellion.

In Its Own Voice

"My soul! Do you think, you negro wench, I wouldn't give my poor, miserable, black soul to eternal torments a thousand times over, if only I could give her little white heart one moment's forgetfulness before she dies?"

John Creedy fiercely defends his desperate lie to his dying wife after reverting to his native Fantee traditions during a feverish night.

"I am not sorry to die, for it is a mistake for a man to have lived outside the life of his own people, and there was no place left for me on earth."

Writing secretly from a Beijing prison cell, Mr. Chung reflects calmly on his fatal position after embracing Western ideas.

"Inflation is a very simple financial process indeed. It consists in writing on a small piece of white paper, 'This is a Dollar,' or, 'This is a Pound,' as the case may be, and then compelling your creditors to accept the paper as payment in full..."

The narrator dryly explains Don Pedro's absurd economic solution to the bankrupt treasury of Andorra.

What It's Really About

Beneath its entertaining plots, the collection interrogates the fragile veneer of modern civilization, Victorian scientific confidence, and imperial authority. Allen repeatedly demonstrates that high education, legalistic utopias, and scientific progress cannot fully suppress fundamental human drives, cultural ties, or brutal political realities. Whether exploring the psychological strain of cultural assimilation, the moral coldness of absolute utilitarian logic, or the absurdity of state economics, the stories expose the vulnerabilities hidden within human institutions. They ask whether human beings can truly escape their origins or control the unforeseen outcomes of their own intellectual pride.

Why Read It Today

This collection will appeal to enthusiasts of classic speculative fiction, nineteenth-century gothic mysteries, and sharp social satire. Reading it feels like stepping into a vibrant late-Victorian laboratory of ideas where science, culture, and dark irony constantly intersect. Allen writes with exceptional clarity, crisp pacing, and an engaging narrative momentum that makes these imaginative tales surprisingly modern in structure.

Modern readers should be prepared for period difficulties, particularly the unvarnished colonial attitudes, racial stereotyping, and paternalistic assumptions typical of late nineteenth-century British literature. The narrative dialect in certain domestic conversations and the blunt imperial framing reflect the age in which they were written. Yet these elements also make the book a fascinating historical artifact. What stays with you long after reading is Allen's willingness to challenge his era's self-satisfied optimism, offering dark, unforgettable glimpses into the limits of progress.