Jose Rizal meets Sherlock Holmes amid Jack the Ripper murders in this horror story from Pinoy author

If you're looking for a horror story closer to the heart as Halloween draws near, then this thrilling tale between Jose Rizal and Sherlock Holmes may just do the trick!

"The Ophthalmologist's Case," a short story written by self-published horror author Wincy Aquino Ong, brings readers to 1888 in 221B Baker Street at the time of the Whitechapel murders.

Sherlock Holmes and John Watson find themselves visited by an interesting client: Dr. Jose Rizal himself.

"I've always asked writer friends of mine who's the Filipino equivalent of Sherlock Holmes and often, they had no idea how to answer that, but then the idea came to me that it would most definitely be Jose Rizal who could match Sherlock Holmes' brains," Ong told GMA News Online on Thursday.

According to Ong, the idea came to him back in 2015 when he was in London and saw Sherlock Holmes Museum on Baker Street, Jose Rizal's lodgings in Primrose Hill, and a tourism office offering Jack the Ripper walking tours.

"I then connected those three dots, did my research, and in about twelve months, completed this detective story," the horror author said.

After reading many of historian Ambeth Ocampo's books and watching BBC's "Sherlock" series, Ong said he decided to "make a pastiche Sherlock adventure with Rizal as his nemesis."

"This Ilustrado from a backwater colony matching wits with the greatest sleuth in Victorian England," he said. "It was like I was possessed and I just couldn't stop writing the two characters."

Ong said that the story unfolds within only 24 hours and has several Philippine history Easter eggs as the detective digs through Rizal's belongings.

"There's also a cameo of a certain homicidal painter who's a friend of Rizal," Ong hinted.

"It's all really so exciting, digging up on the bizarre trivia about Ilustrados, Freemasons and prostitutes in Victorian England," he added. "It's such a strange and different world from where we are now. It was almost like writing a science fiction story."

The short story is part of the "Tales For a Rainy Season," an e-book containing 10 other horror stories.

The book is now available at the Amazon Kindle store for only Php 193. Ong said it will also be available in print form soon. 

—Kaela Malig/MGP, GMA News