The Dark Side of Literature Trivia Quiz

Answer: Robert Louis Stevenson

'Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' takes the reader, through the eyes of lawyer Gabriel Utterson, on a quest through the fog-swirled streets of Victorian London in an attempt to uncover the mystery of Dr Jekyll's mysterious transformation into Mr Hyde. Robert Louis Stevenson's book coined the expression 'a Jekyll and Hyde character', which is still used colloquially today to describe someone who seems to have two completely separate sides to their personality.

The book, which was first published in 1886, has been adapted into several films, starring actors including John Barrymore (1920), Fredric March (1931) and Spencer Tracy (1941) in the dual roles of the title.

Answer: James Bond

The brains behind the criminal organisation 'SPECTRE', Blofeld appears in three Bond novels, 'Thunderball', 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' and 'You Only Live Twice', in which Bond ends up killing him. In 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' he is the man behind the murder of Bond's new wife, Tracy, on their wedding day. Complete with his white, blue-eyed cat, Blofeld has been portrayed in the Bond films by Donald Pleasence, Telly Savalas and Charles Gray, among others.

Answer: Count Olaf

Following the deaths of their parents, the orphaned Baudelaire children are initially sent to live with the scheming Count Olaf, a distant cousin. He is not so much interested in them as in gaining control of their inheritance, and treats them miserably. Escaping his evil clutches at the end of the first book in the series, each subsequent book describes a different way he goes about trying to achieve his aim, each time being cleverly thwarted by the children.

There are thirteen books in the series, the first one 'A Bad Beginning' was published in 1999 and the final book aptly titled 'The End' was published in 2006. Lemony Snicket is the pen name of American writer Daniel Handler.

Answer: Voldemort

Since his first appearance from under Professor Quirrell's turban in 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone', Voldemort is the ultimate baddie of J K Rowling's wizarding world. Regaining his body in 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' he goes from strength to evil strength in his quest to kill Harry, but finally succumbs to the inevitable, taking his Death Eaters with him, in the seventh and final book 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'.

Answer: Leland Gaunt

Set in Stephen King's fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine, the outwardly charming Leland Gaunt opened a long-awaited new shop which had piqued the town's curiosity for weeks. He seemed to have an uncanny knack of knowing exactly what people most wanted and supplying it for them at a ridiculously cheap price. From the moment young Brian Rusk bought a much-desired baseball card for his collection the scene was set.

The townspeople only find out the true price of their 'needful thing' when in return Gaunt asks them to play a prank on one of their neighbours, which in turn leads to rapidly escalating violence and horror until he is finally thwarted by Sheriff Alan Pangborn.

Answer: Bill Sikes

Bill Sikes (or Sykes as the name is sometimes spelled) finally met his end in his attempt to escape over the London rooftops while being chased by an angry mob. He ended up hanging by the neck, either intentionally or accidentally, but had that not happened he would certainly have faced the hangman's noose.

Charles Dickens gave us some memorable villains. The obsequious and 'umble' Uriah Heep is from 'David Copperfield', the cruel and spiteful Daniel Quilp from 'The Old Curiosity Shop' and sadistic schoolmaster Wackford Squeers is the antagonist in 'Nicholas Nickleby'.

Answer: He drowns himself in the Seine

Released from prison after nineteen years, Jean Valjean is befriended by Bishop Myriel and encouraged to make a fresh start in life. Eventually he becomes Mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer, and a wealthy man to boot, under the new identity of Monsieur Madeleine.

This works out spectacularly well until he is recognised by Javert, who proceeds to make his life a misery. Eventually, despite all he has gone through, when Valjean finally has the opportunity to kill Javert he has the compassion to let him go. Faced with conflicting views of law and morality concerning Valjean, Javert is unable to live with his conscience and jumps to his death into the Seine.

Answer: Mrs Danvers

Manderley's devious housekeeper Mrs Danvers is loyal to the memory of the former mistress of the house, Rebecca, and when Maxim de Winter brings home his new bride she does everything in her manipulative powers to undermine the new marriage. Eventually she sets fire to Manderley in an outpouring of spite; whether or not she dies in the attempt is not made clear in the book.

All the other choices are fictional housekeepers too; the long-suffering Mrs Hudson is the landlady of 221b Baker Street for Sherlock Holmes; Mrs Barrymore is another Conan Doyle creation as the housekeeper in 'Hound of the Baskervilles' and Mrs Fairfax is the housekeeper in Charlotte Bronte's 'Jane Eyre'.

Answer: Bram Stoker

Irish author Abraham 'Bram' Stoker (1847 - 1912) in fact wrote twelve novels and numerous short stories, but it is with 'Dracula', first published in 1897, that he is most associated. Born and educated in Dublin, he later attended Trinity College, Dublin, where he was a contemporary of Oscar Wilde. In 1878 he married Florence Balcombe, who had previously been courted by Wilde. Bram Stoker's other great love was the theatre, and for several years he was manager of the Lyceum Theatre, London, under Sir Henry Irving.

Answer: james moriarty

Surprisingly, despite his fame as Holmes's main adversary, Professor James Moriarty only appeared in two of the Holmes books. He first appeared in print in 'The Adventure of the Final Problem' because Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wanted to kill off Holmes in order to pursue other works, so the culmination of the two geniuses grappling and falling to their deaths over the Reichenbach Falls was intended to achieve that objective.

It was only due to much public pressure that he changed his mind and brought Holmes back in his short story 'The Adventure of the Empty House', which was the start of many more adventures.

The only other book Moriarty appears in is 'The Valley of Fear' which, although published after the character had been killed, related to prior events. Moriarty has, however, been written about several times in the Holmes stories and novels by other authors over the years and his reputation as Holmes's arch nemesis is beyond doubt.