The Lair of the White Worm

The Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker is, in some respects, the exact opposite of his magnum opus, Dracula. Whereas Dracula is considered to be a literary achievement, a masterpiece, and one of the greatest horror novels ever written, The Lair of the White Worm is considered by some to one of the worst horror novels written, a novel that failed to live up to its potential (and, by extension, the pedigree of its authors).


The novel is in part inspired by the legend of the Lambton Worm. In the folklore, John Lambton, heir to Lambton Estate, did battle with a giant worm (or dragon; dragons are sometime called worms in folklore). The worm in question was eel-or-lamprey-like, with nine holes on either side of its slimy head. After his fight, Lambton discards the worm in a nearby well. Similarly, in The Lair of the White Worm, the worm in question lives in pit on an estate. The worm is used to dispose of murdered or killed people; once a body is thrown to it, it eats it up.