L'hôtel hanté by Wilkie Collins

Featured

L'hôtel hanté by Wilkie Collins

(3 User reviews) 821

By Henry Gutierrez Posted on Jan 25, 2026

In Category - Feel-Good Reads

Authors: Collins, Wilkie, 1824-1889 Published By : Collins, Wilkie, 1824-1889

Book Language: French

Picture this: you're in Paris, staying at a charming hotel that should be perfect. But something is very wrong. The servants are terrified, guests keep vanishing, and every night brings new, unexplainable noises. That's the setup in Wilkie Collins' 'L'hôtel hanté' (The Haunted Hotel). This isn't your typical ghost story with rattling chains. It's a slow-burn mystery where the real horror might not be a specter, but the people staying there. The central question hooks you immediately: what happened to Lord Montbarry, who disappeared from that very hotel? Is his aristocratic widow hiding something? And why does a sensible doctor feel such overwhelming dread in Room 14? Collins builds the tension brick by brick, making you question every character's motive. It's less about a jump scare and more about that creeping feeling you get when you're alone in a strange place at night. If you like mysteries where the setting is a character itself and the answers are satisfyingly clever, give this classic a try. It's a short, sharp shot of Victorian suspense.

File: L'hôtel hanté by Wilkie Collins

Wilkie Collins, a master of sensation fiction, takes us to Paris in this compact, gripping tale. 'L'hôtel hanté' begins with a mystery: Lord Montbarry has died abroad under strange circumstances. His brother, a doctor, and a family lawyer travel to Venice to settle his affairs, only to find he married his former fiancée's maid, the mysterious Countess Narona, just before his death. The new widow is unsettlingly calm about the whole affair.

The Story

The heart of the story shifts to a grand hotel in Paris, where the Countess and her new husband take up residence in a suite—specifically, Room 14. Almost immediately, the hotel staff is plagued by a sense of horror. Guests report awful smells and terrifying visions. The sensible doctor, who is also staying there, investigates and feels a profound, unnatural dread in that room, though he sees nothing. The mystery deepens as we learn the hotel is built on the site of the old Montbarry palace. Collins weaves together letters, witness accounts, and the doctor's own logic to piece together the truth of what happened to Lord Montbarry, revealing a plot driven by greed and guilt rather than mere superstition.

Why You Should Read It

What I love about this story is how smart it is. Collins plays a brilliant trick. He sets up a classic haunted house (or hotel) scenario, but then uses it to explore a very human crime. The terror doesn't just come from potential ghosts; it comes from the Countess Narona herself. She's a fantastic character—calculating, intense, and possibly unhinged. The real haunting is the psychological one, the guilt and fear that can't be contained. Collins was a pioneer of detective fiction, and you can see it here in the doctor's methodical investigation. He represents science and reason trying to confront something that feels irrational.

Final Verdict

This book is perfect for readers who enjoy classic mysteries with a Gothic flavor. If you like stories by Arthur Conan Doyle or the atmospheric tension of Susan Hill's The Woman in Black, but prefer a puzzle you can read in one or two sittings, this is for you. It's also a great entry point into Victorian literature—it's short, fast-paced, and surprisingly modern in its focus on psychological suspense over pure melodrama. Just be prepared: you might think twice before asking for a specific room number on your next trip.

🔓 Public Domain Notice

This masterpiece is free from copyright limitations. Share knowledge freely with the world.