The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of the four crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes.

This was the first appearance of Holmes since his apparent death in "The Final Problem", and the success of The Hound of the Baskervilles led to the character's eventual revival.

[3] One of the most famous stories ever written,[3] in 2003, the book was listed as number 128 of 200 on the BBC's The Big Read poll of the UK's "best-loved novel".

It transpires that strange things are already happening to Sir Henry; one of his old boots has been stolen, he has received an anonymous letter warning him against the moor, and someone has been following him in a hansom.

Upon arriving in Dartmoor, Watson, Mortimer and Sir Henry learn that Selden, a convicted murderer, has escaped from Princetown Prison and is loose on the moor.

The Stapleton siblings stand out; Jack is over-friendly, drops hints about the hound, and warns Watson against attempting to cross the dangerous Grimpen Mire.

Another neighbour, Mr. Frankland, is a perpetual busybody and troublemaker, including threatening to bring a lawsuit against Dr. Mortimer for excavating nearby barrows.

Holmes decides to use an unwitting Sir Henry as bait; he orders him to visit Stapleton that evening, and then walk across the moor on foot.

After they leave, Holmes explains to Watson that Jack Stapleton was really Rodger Baskerville II, the secret son of Sir Charles' youngest brother.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote this story shortly after returning to his home, Undershaw in Surrey, from South Africa, where he had worked as a volunteer physician at the Langman Field Hospital in Bloemfontein during the Second Boer War.

[14] Moreover, Devon's folklore includes tales of a fearsome supernatural dog known as the Yeth hound that Conan Doyle may have heard.

Arthur Conan Doyle was apparently a family friend who often stayed there and may have been aware of a local legend of the hound of the Baskervilles.

The structure of the novel starting and ending in the familiar setting in London is used to ‘delimit the uncanny world associated with the Gothic landscape of the moors', with varying degrees of success.

[7] Doyle wrote[citation needed] that the novel was originally conceived as a straight 'Victorian creeper' in the style of Le Fanu, with the idea of introducing Holmes as the deus ex machina arising only later.

It was printed in the United Kingdom as a novel in March 1902 by George Newnes Ltd.[20] It was published in the same year in the United States by McClure, Philips & Co.[21] In 1902, Doyle's original manuscript of the book was broken up into individual leaves as part of a promotional campaign by Doyle's American publisher – they were used in window displays by individual booksellers.

[40] A dramatisation of the novel by Felix Felton aired on the BBC Light Programme in 1958 as part of the 1952–1969 radio series, with Carleton Hobbs as Sherlock Holmes and Norman Shelley as Dr. Watson.

[41] A different production of The Hound of the Baskervilles, also adapted by Felton and starring Hobbs and Shelley with a different supporting cast, aired in 1961 on the BBC Home Service.

The first starred Roger Rees as Holmes, Crawford Logan as Watson and Matt Zimmerman as Sir Henry and was broadcast in 1988 on BBC Radio 4.

[45] Clive Nolan and Oliver Wakeman adapted The Hound of the Baskervilles as a progressive rock album in 2002, with narration by Robert Powell.

[47] In 2014, L.A. Theatre Works released their production, starring Seamus Dever as Holmes, Geoffrey Arend as Watson, James Marsters as Sir Henry, Sarah Drew as Beryl Stapleton, Wilson Bethel as Stapleton, Henri Lubatti as Dr. Mortimer, Christopher Neame as Sir Charles and Frankland, Moira Quirk as Mrs. Hudson & Mrs. Barrymore, and Darren Richardson as Barrymore.

[49] In 2020, Lions Den Theatre released a new adaptation of the novel written and directed by Keith Morrison on the company's YouTube channel.

[50] In 2021, Audible released a dramatisation by George Mann and Cavan Scott, starring Colin Salmon as Holmes and Stephen Fry as Watson.

[51] In 2022, The Hound of the Baskervilles was adapted and conducted as a "concert drama" by Neil Brand, with the music directed by Timothy Brock, and performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

The Daily Telegraph described it as a ‘wonderfully delightful spoof’, while The Sunday Times praised its ‘mad hilarity that will make you feel quite sane’.

[57] Ken Ludwig authored an adaptation entitled Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery which premiered as a co-production at Arena Stage (Washington, D.C.) in January 2015 and McCarter Theatre Center in March 2015.

In 2022, to commemorate the book's 120th anniversary, a new staging was produced in the form of a live radio play reading, adapted by Martin Parsons, and starring Colin Baker and Terry Molloy as Holmes and Watson.