The Lair of the White Worm

Bram Stoker wrote Dracula in 1897 and The Lair of the White Worm 14 years later (1911). Dracula is a masterpiece. The Lair of the White Worm is decent--but not a masterpiece.

Page by page Stoker's style is unmistakable:

• A small group of people are faced with a supernatural problem
• An older, knowledgeable gentleman leads the investigation
• They conduct a series of quiet meetings to review the facts, make inferences, and decide on actions
• Geography, history, society, and biology are discussed and well described
• They can't take their problem to the authorities because no one will believe them

The approach is well thought out--like an engineering problem. If such a thing were to really happen, anybody with a scientific or engineering-oriented mind would handle it the same way. Bram Stoker strikes me as an early version of Tom Clancy. Both put a lot of research and logic into their work.

There are a number of strange and imaginative things going on simultaneously throughout the book. Unlike Dracula, however, they don't relate to each other very well, but they do make the book unique and interesting and give it a mysterious schizophrenic atmosphere. Among other things:

• A Roman goes mad in the top of a castle
• A giant hawk-shaped kite flies over the countryside
• Massive flocks of pigeons come and go
• Psychic battles take place during tea
• A giant snake prowls around at night and takes the form of a woman during the day

The book's shortcoming is its top level lack of organization--which is surprising given its logic at the detailed level. Dracula, by comparison, is so well organized, so cleverly continuous through its epistolary format, and so logically sequenced, it looks as if Lair was a crude predecessor that Stoker must have refined for years to make Dracula. The fact though is that Dracula came first! Perhaps Lair was more of a crude rehash written for a few bucks later in life. I don't know.

Because of the disorganization, The Lair of the White Worm proceeds like a Grade-B horror movie:

• People meet and struggle, separate, and meet again as if nothing happened
• Main characters disappear for no reason for several chapters at a time
• Time passes randomly--things that should take months might take just hours and vice versa
• People get murdered and no one reacts or follows up with the authorities
• Many strange but unrelated things are going on simultaneously

You shouldn't be surprised that it was actually made into a Grade-B horror movie, though you might be surprised that it starred a young Hugh Grant! 

Despite its shortcomings, I still liked the book. It was fun to read. I liked its logic and its unmistakable Stoker feel. I'm used to discontinuities from watching Grade-B movies. It certainly helps that it has all those strange and  imaginative things going on. 

References:
Bram Stoker. The Lair of the White Worm [Kindle Edition]. 1911.
Bram Stoker. Dracula [Kindle Edition]. 1897.
Tom Clancy. The Hunt for Red October. Berkley Books. 1984.
The Lair of the White Worm. Dir. Ken Russel. Perf. Amy Donohoe, Hugh Grant. 1988. Movie.