# Sherlock Holmes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [April 10, 2003, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes/167749 "2003-04-10T10:58:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Richard\_Jastrzebski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/90db22/32.png) [@Richard\_Jastrzebski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Jastrzebski)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes/167749/1 "2003-04-10T10:58:34Z")
Another parody you ought mention concerning Sherlock Holmes is the hilarious sendup by The Firesign Theater “The Tale of the Giant Rat of Sumatra”, Columbia records, @ 1974. If you have ever been a Firesign fan, this album brings back the “electrician” from their 1st LP. “A tale for which the world is not yet prepared” is mentioned once on both sides (twice in the actual story), & there’s plenty storyline alluding to Holmes’ cocaine use. -FZ ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes/167749/2 "2003-04-10T21:20:25Z")
Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Board, **Richard** , glad to have you with us. Man oh man, I haven’nt heard Firesign in ages. In any case, this is a comment on a Staff Report, so is moved to that forum. The Staff Report being commented on is: [Was Sherlock Holmes real?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/msherlock.html) ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Steinhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b77776/32.png) [@Tom\_Steinhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Steinhart)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes/167749/3 "2003-04-11T01:08:23Z")
Saberhagen also addressed “The Giant Rat of Sumatra” in his “Holmes-Dracula File.” Read it and discover how Holmes and the Count are related. Are we going to start a new debate on whether Sir Harry Flashman was real or fictional? ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes/167749/4 "2003-04-11T14:28:19Z")
\<\< Are we going to start a new debate on whether Sir Harry Flashman was real or fictional? \>\> Those who know Flashman (and love him) don’t need to debate this question. For the rest, who gives a tuppence what they think, they won’t even know whom we’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes/167749/5 "2003-04-11T22:49:28Z")
I want to add that I’ve recently read the entire two-volume Baring-Gould work, mentioned in the Staff Report, and found it to be incredibly well-done and complete. It’s won me a couple of debates, too. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes/167749/6 "2003-04-12T00:35:17Z")
One of Sterling Lanier’s Brigadier ffellowes stories involved the Brigadier’s father encountering Holmes and the giant rat of Sumatra. It appeared in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, but I don’t remember the title. I think “A Father’s Tale?”